Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CROWDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Bill Fizer says he's found a way to remedy that problem.
Fizer is president of Lodging Technology Corp., a Roanoke company manufacturing and selling the 3-inch-square infrared sensor systems. The sensor mounts in the corner of a hotel room and can sense by body heat if there is a person in the room. If there is no one in the room for at least five minutes, the sensor, called the Guestroom Energy Management (GEM) System, takes control of the room's heating and cooling system and slows it to a pre-set temperature for unoccupied rooms.
When a guest arrives, the GEM System reverts control, so the occupant can set the temperature.
Fizer developed the system in 1979 when he was manager of research and design for Universal Communications Systems, a subsidiary of American Motor Inns in Roanoke. AMI was the predecessor of Krisch Hotels, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last January and in December said it would forfeit its properties to settle with lenders.
"During the energy crunch of the mid '70s," Fizer said, "energy costs accelerated rapidly and hotel travel declined because of the long gas lines and the expense of the gasoline. [AMI Chairman] Adolph Krisch asked me to look at ways to reduce energy costs in the hotel properties.
"I looked at products that were on the market at that time, even installed some in some AMI properties, but we didn't find them suitable. They aggravated the guests, didn't save much energy, weren't reliable."
In 1979, Fizer spent about six months developing the original infrared sensor system for hotels. The first unit was larger than the current GEM System, about 8-by-4-inches, and did not blend in with the room's decor as well as the beige GEM model.
In 1984, when AMI was sold to Prime Motor Inns of New Jersey, Fizer left Universal Communications and became an independent sales representative for the sensor system. In 1990, he started his own firm, Enermetrix, which he renamed Lodging Technology Corp. last June.
There are GEM systems in more than 90,000 hotel rooms in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Each sensor costs about $249 installed, depending on location, number of rooms, wall structure and type of heating and air conditioning unit.
"The system applies to any hotel room, no matter what kind of air conditioning and heating unit it has," Fizer said. "If the guest can set the temperature, then the GEM System can control it.
"It's as though the hotel had a housekeeper to follow the guests around all day long, every guest, every time they left the room, and go back and turn the air conditioner down, and the heat."
According to Fizer, the average rented hotel room is empty 65 percent of the time. With the GEM System, the hotel saves 30 percent to 40 percent on HVAC energy costs.
"Every dollar saved in energy goes right to the bottom line," Fizer said. "If you don't have to send a dollar to the power company, you get to keep it.
"Saving energy is like renting additional rooms; you get income from it."
Because the sensor uses passive infrared detectors, which sense body heat, it can distinguish between people and things like curtains or ceiling fans, which motion detectors would mistake for guests.
Recently, he added a feature to the GEM System, the Guest-in-Room Detector, a hand-held scanner developed in 1992 that allows housekeepers to determine if the room is occupied without having to knock on the door. The housekeeper points the scanner at the door frame. If there is no one in the room, a green light appears; if there is, a red light appears.
"With my background in the hotel industry, I knew about the problem of housekeepers inadvertently walking in on guests," Fizer said.
Also, Fizer has recently developed a new infrared sensor product called GEMLight, which reduces energy costs from lighting. It is currently in use in a hotel in Toronto with long interior hallways that stay lit 24 hours a day. Sensors placed at both ends of the hall dim the lights when there is no one in the hall and return them to full power when someone enters the hall.
Fizer's Roanoke office employs three people: Fizer; his wife Libby, who manages the inventory and does some circuit work; and Cammy Gaut, Fizer's administrative assistant. Fizer also has about 40 sales representatives around the United States. The sensors are assembled by a company in Colorado from enclosures made by Plastics One Inc. of Roanoke and a circuit board made by WayTec Inc. of Lynchburg.
One of Fizer's first customers was Daleville-based Dominion Lodging, which has sensors in 368 units at four properties. At the Sleep Inn in Roanoke County, according to Dominion Vice President Craig Andersen, the sensors have saved 23 percent to 31 percent on the heating and air conditioning bill.
by CNB