One of the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is an increased awareness of cleanliness, health and wellness. In the hospitality business this has manifested itself as a desire among guests to stay in the cleanest room possible—and many are willing to pay extra to achieve that desire.
“I think we can safely surmise that the COVID-19 pandemic greatly altered hoteliers’ and guests’ perspectives on clean air and clean hotel rooms,” said Jerad Adams, senior manager, product management, Friedrich Air Conditioning.
According to Adams, post-pandemic studies continue to show that hotel guests consider clean air as one of their top priorities when selecting accommodations. However, he said, hoteliers have generally backed away from full-scale indoor air quality (IAQ) investments and promotions and are solely focusing on MERV 13 filtration.
But there are exceptions—including entirely new segments of the hospitality market catering to well-being travel.
“While the exceptional pandemic-fueled IAQ demand has generally subsided, it did leave a lasting impact, and some hoteliers are finding creative ways to capitalize on the added consumer interest in clean air,” Adams said. “Pandemic initiatives such as Hilton’s Clean Room Program have continued to create unparalleled consumer awareness while placing significant pressure on other hoteliers to adapt.”
Integrating Technology
Hoteliers seeking IAQ product education can easily get lost in a vast array of third-party options and technologies, Adams noted. That’s why Friedrich has moved to offer its customers factory-certified IAQ accessories that have been selected and tested to meet Friedrich’s performance criteria while addressing air quality in the room, near the source.
Under a suite of accessory offerings called Friedrich FreshAire IAQ, the company has embraced American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and other scientific recommendations on how to best achieve exceptional IAQ by addressing not only advanced make-up air and filtration, but also integrating sophisticated air purification and UV-C lighting capabilities.
“Friedrich gives hoteliers options at initial installation, replacement opportunities or retrofitting upgrades,” Adams said. “We now work directly with IAQ manufacturers and suppliers to ensure the product meets its full capabilities in our equipment while not eroding system performance.
“We are heavily communicating the many benefits of our FreshAire IAQ in-room technology to hoteliers so that they can better market the benefits to their guests. We see very quick ROI opportunities as guests are willing to pay a small nightly premium for a healthy air, clean air certified room.”
In-room applications, Adams noted, also reduce the heavy cost burden and labor of installing whole-building system solutions and dedicated outdoor air systems.
“Hoteliers will continue to see this across the industry in all future HVAC equipment,” he concluded.
Air and Surface Purification
Healtheair, a division of Extreme Microbial Technologies, offers an air and surface purification system that can turn any hotel guest room into a wellness room. Christopher Griffin, director of sales, explained that the Healtheair technology consists of a naturally occurring process of converting air and humidity into energized hydrogen peroxide (E-H2O2). When a Healtheair cell is installed into an existing PTAC or VTAC unit, a proprietary photocatalytic conversion occurs and, with the assistance of the existing air flow, disperses E-H2O2 into the entire space.
According to Griffin, the E-H2O2 cleanses the air and surfaces in the room, continuously and actively seeking out, attacking and neutralizing allergens, odors, VOCs, bacteria and viruses. He added that E-H2O2 is odorless, tasteless, invisible and completely safe for humans, pets and plants.
The fact that the E-H2O2 is dispersed into the room’s air flow makes the Healtheair system much more effective than a disinfectant spray, Griffin noted. “Our E-H202 circulates throughout the entire room, not just the places that housekeeping touches.”
Griffin said the technology is familiar in healthcare, schools and food manufacturing but is just making inroads into hospitality.
“Basically, we’re creating a wellness room,” Griffin said. “A wellness room could be many different things: it could have a Peloton bike or a yoga mat or extra water filtration. But air and surface purification are the most important parts of any wellness program because that's where it all begins.”
The Healtheair cells need to be replaced every two years, but hotels that use the system charge an average upgrade fee of $15/night per room to stay in a Healtheair room. According to Griffin, Healtheair’s most popular plan allows for the installation, marketing, training and maintenance of the cells for free, and splits the upgrade fee with the hotel.
“If you can effectively and consistently clean indoor air and surfaces, you've created a whole new vertical for revenue,” he said.
The Joys of a New PTAC
RoomOne Solutions was founded to help hoteliers deal with their old PTAC units in an environmentally friendly way—including refurbishing units that are still operational and recovering the refrigerant and recycling the scrap metal from those that aren’t. Improving room IAQ is a potential side benefit.
“When hoteliers are replacing an existing PTAC, no manufacturer has any interest in talking to them about their old unit,” said Jeff Pudelek, president of RoomOne Solutions. “And at the end of the day, if a hotelier doesn’t use our service, the overwhelming likelihood is that their older PTAC units will end up in a landfill, which is obviously bad for the environment.”
Nathan Faircloth, director of business development, pointed out that a side benefit of installing a new PTAC is that the new unit will likely be more energy efficient than the unit it is replacing, and also may offer more advanced IAQ-related features.
“Many of the units are being manufactured with new materials—for example, a thin antimicrobial coating on the coil that prevents mold and mildew,” Faircloth said. “So even if a hotelier is buying and installing a base model unit, they’re going to gain better indoor air quality and lower energy consumption. Just making the replacement is a positive, and we help by making the process easier.”