EnergyCAP has potential for hotel utility bill savings

TORONTO—EnergyCAP, first developed by Good Steward Software back in the early 80s, is software that can save businesses money on anything that can be measured and priced – including hydro, water, sewage, and even long distance costs. And, says Gerald Rubenovich, president EnergyCAP Canada, it has great potential for the hotel industry.

“It’s a full, robust product that manages everything from utility bills right through to greenhouse gas emissions tracking and reporting.  It pinpoints billing errors, streamlines the budget process and produces hundreds of reports on demand.”

EnergyCAP has been operating in Canada since 2003, and is currently in use in the cities of Toronto, Edmonton and London, Ontario. It is used to manage all municipal properties ranging from administrative properties, to the fire department and parks and recreation.

Of particular interest to the hotel business is the ability to track occupancy on a daily basis and relate it to energy consumption, allowing hoteliers to separate out the direct costs due to occupancy, and to create virtual bills based on square footage.  

“Hotels that use ECAP are Drury Hotels and In Suite; there are a number of other corporate organizations that utilize ECAP through our third party consulting firms,” Rubenovich said.

“It can track any item that has a unit of measurement and a cost, including long distance,” says Rubenovich. If a chain has a fleet of vehicles, it can track vehicle usage and consumption, with the intent of conserving energy.”

Rubenovich, who runs EnergyCAP’s Canadian office in Toronto, says that typically in hotels, utility bills are neglected because they are an accounting function. But the information EnergyCAP needs to make savings is readily available. While paper bills are generally very basic, electronic billing can show time-of-day usage in greater detail, drilling down to every 15 minutes.

While EnergyCAP has no Canadian hotel customers as this point, it is used in Canadian cities such as London, Ontario, provinces and territorial organizations such as Manitoba [government] and Nunavut Housing Corp., large retail organizations such as Linens & Things, universities, and most recently Toronto Community Housing.

“We haven’t been able to get a dialogue going with hotels,” says Rubenovich, adding that in the U.S. Intown Suites, a 130-unit extended stay chain based in Atlanta, is working with EnergyCAP.

“We have different versions — a product suitable for any organization regardless of size — whether they have 50,000 utility accounts or 10. And we can host these products for them – all they need is Internet access.  We can provide support, installation, customization and training all here in Canada.

EnergyCAP’s Canadian website at www.energycap.ca was to be up and running at the beginning of October.