'Win for business, guests, and environment' as Park Hotel cuts energy consumption
“It’s a win for the business, our guests, and the environment,” said Josephine Hughes, owner of the Mullingar Park Hotel, of its successful completion of an energy efficiency project that has delivered reductions in consumption, operating costs and carbon emissions.
The project, which was independently verified by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), has achieved Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) EXEED Designed certification, recognising a commitment to best-practice energy management and performance.
Ms Hughes said: “By taking a structured design-led approach to energy efficiency, we’ve delivered measurable savings and improved performance across the entire facility. It’s a win for the business, our guests and the environment.”
The project was delivered in partnership with energy consultancy Watt Footprint, which has now supported Mullingar Park Hotel on two EXEED-certified initiatives.
The team at the hotel had worked on continual energy reduction measures over the last five years, having started looking into energy consumption in more detail during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, when – like many other businesses in Ireland – it was still using large amounts of energy even though the hotel was closed.
The management team set about digging deep to fully understand where all energy was been used. With support from Watt Footprint and grants from the SEAI, they commenced a continual energy reduction programme which cut gas usage in half and gained energy reductions of 665,900kWh/year.
Unlike many other claims about energy and carbon savings, the savings are fully measured and verified by Watt Footprint, the SEAI and the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).
The energy reductions provide real cost savings and protect the hotel from energy price volatility. There was an extra bonus in the SEAI certification process where every kW/h saved had a real monetary value under the Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme (EEOS).
Paul Mahon, chief executive of Watt Footprint, praised the commitment to sustainability. “It’s tremendous achievement by the Mullingar Park team. The impact and significant savings are clear to see, and we look forward to continuing our partnership.”
Beyond immediate energy savings, the project has strengthened the hotel’s sustainability credentials and enhanced its alignment with environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives.
Management say the improvements will support long-term asset value, provide better visibility of energy performance and enable more informed operational decision-making.
The certification process also provides independent assurance that energy savings are measurable and sustainable over time, in line with the requirements of the Irish energy management standard IS 399.
Guests are benefiting from enhanced comfort and improved indoor environmental quality, while upgraded systems have delivered greater reliability, control and operational performance.
Lessons from the project included the value of early-stage energy analysis, adopting a whole-system approach rather than focusing on individual upgrades, and maintaining continuous monitoring to ensure performance targets are met.
Strong collaboration among stakeholders was also identified as critical to delivering improvements in a live hospitality environment.
Looking ahead, the Mullingar Park Hotel team plan to explore renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic panels and battery storage, further electrifying building services, expanding smart energy management systems and pursuing additional carbon reductions in line with Ireland’s climate targets.