The economic disruption of COVID-19 may have largely come and gone, but not every sector has been able to quickly bounce back. This is particularly true for the SMBs (small to medium-sized businesses) in the hospitality sector like restaurants and hotels, which operate on tight margins—even in the best of times—and continue to face mounting costs, especially from labor, food, and energy. At the same time, these businesses are increasingly on the receiving end of consumer and stakeholder pressure to balance sustainability with profitability.
The changing hospitality landscape has led many businesses to undergo sweeping efficiency projects, from adopting ultra-high performance HVAC systems to leveraging artificial intelligence and IoT applications, installing programmable thermostats, implementing smart metering, and other improvements that boost operational efficiency. Yet, the hospitality sector is missing out on an obvious—and symbiotic—pairing with energy efficiency: water conservation.