Kevin Sweeney

I’m writing this column from a hotel room in Galway, Ireland. To enter my room, I slid a thin electronic key in and out of the receptacle above the handle; the mechanism read the magnetized strip, and the lock clicked open. The key system is familiar to anyone who has stayed at a hotel in the past decade.

Once in the room, I placed the key in a vertical slot at eye level, just inside the door. This time, the key remained in the slot; its presence there allowed me to turn on lights in the room. Without the key, the lights won’t stay on, which means that when I leave the room I won’t accidentally leave a light on.

When I go downstairs this evening for a pint (and, despite jet lag, I will), the hallway will likely be dark. I can touch the illuminated light switch next to my door, and the hall lights will stay on for two minutes, long enough for me to catch the elevator downstairs. If I dally and the lights go dark, I’ll just tap another of those tiny illuminated switches and the lights will be on again. The hallways are bright when I need them to be, and they are dark for those long stretches when they are unoccupied.

It’s all quite easy. And, of equal interest to me, it’s all quite visible. These kinds of devices are a visible reminder that this isn’t my dear Grandma Fallon’s Galway. They give me a sense that the Irish are getting smarter about their energy use. They give me a sense that there may be more cleantech innovations hidden behind the varied facades here in Galway, and the brick facades in Georgian Dublin.

These kinds of energy-saving technologies are fairly common in Europe and Asia. My impression of a hotel, or the client who might select the hotel, is often shaped by innovations like these. They also shape my impression of the country or region I’m visiting. There are many steps hotel managers can take to reduce their environmental impact, but these customer-facing innovations can make an important projection. They can suggest, to companies and investors, that the community is, at the very least, tech-savvy.

Last June, San Francisco’s Orchard Garden Hotel became the third American hotel (and fourth globally) to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The award is highlighted in promotional materials, but the most elegant presentation occurs subtly in the guest rooms: The Orchard Garden is the city’s first hotel to use a key-controlled electrical system. Guests don’t need to read about the innovations, because they experience them. That’s what all visitors to the region should experience.