Success Story: Hotels

I. CUSTOMER ENVIRONMENT / PROJECT CONTEXT

Customer profile:

Le Méridien Group is part of the Starwood Group, a leading hospitality group that includes other famous brands Sheraton, Four Points, W hotels, Aloft, Luxury Collection, Element, Westin and St Regis and is represented in most major markets around the world.

Located right in the heart of the Montparnasse district, just a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower, Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Luxembourg Gardens, Le Méridien Montparnasse offers all the services of a first-class international hotel. Its 953 spacious and comfortable rooms and suites offer a panoramic view of Paris. They are appointed with all the facilities required for both business and pleasure. 597 rooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access.

The hotel's 37,700-square-feet conference centre (one of Europe's largest in-hotel centres) can accommodate from 10 to 2,000 people in an exceptional setting. All meeting rooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access while WiFi is available in all public areas.

The gourmet restaurant Montparnasse'25 is recommended by the top guides and the buffet-style Justine restaurant offers excellent cuisine; both have an excellent reputation.

Customer objective and constraints:

Since the building was more 30 years old, it was necessary to renew the electrical infrastructure. After an audit, the customer was convinced that it was time to renew its power system.

he previous electrical equipment was from Merlin Gerin, and Schneider Electric was in a good position to propose the refurbishment.

The main customer requirements for this renewal were:

•  Refurbishment of the power distribution system
•  Higher power availability to comply with new hotels directives
•  Compliance with the latest standards
•  Safety & security improvement 
•  No interruption of hotel operation during contract execution
•  Engineering and project management services 
•  Life-cycle services to guarantee business continuity over time

II. SOLUTION IMPLEMENTATION

Implementation methodology (main phases):

•  Commercial approach of the End-User
•  Services provided to help him matainaing the Electrical network
•  First phase of the project : Engineering from Schneider Electric experts and engineering company
•  Second phase : global solution proposal ( MV, LV, and Power measuring)
•  Third phase : contract execution, commissionning
•  Fourth phase : yearly services contracct

Duration:

• 1 year

Solution overview (services, products, systems, architectures...):

How did we estimate the energy savings (methodology, tools, ...)

• The objective of this project was to replace the old electrcial equipment.
• However, the new equipment are more energy efficient, and we also provide Power meter for all switchboard to help customer measure the energy consumption.
• All these datas will be gathered at the BMS level for energy optimizing

III. RESULTS / ACHIEVEMENT

Customer benefits:

• Guest delight:

The hotel experienced no interruption during the whole refurbishment period and hotel guests suffered no inconvenience

• Peace of mind:

For the hotel's engineering director, this major renovation of the main electrical distribution was designed, installed and commissioned extremely satisfactorily, despite the high level of complexity of the hotel's electrical network.

Availability: the automatic electrical network reconfiguration was carried out at both the medium-voltage and low-voltage level to provide continuity of services

• Operational efficiency:

No business was lost during the renovation period.

All relevant electrical device information and measurements can be sent automatically to the BMS. This will assist with maintenance and operation.

For maintenance and operation, a customized services contract has been signed between Schneider Electric and the customer to ensure support in case of any problems.

Customer testimonies (Verbatim):

" I chose Schneider Electric because people know my process, and my constraint, and they were able to provide a global solution and related services after comissionning" 

Schneider Electric differentiating values VS competitors:

We provided a complete package including:

• 5 medium-voltage SM6 units (20 kV), with SEPAM digital relay
• 2 double MV incomer switchboards
• 3 MV distribution switchboards  Medium-voltage SM6-NSM changeover equipment certified by EDF authority, allowing incomer permutation
• Controller at the low-voltage level, allowing automatic source transfer@ Transformers
• Interface with 2 Gensets (800 kVA x 2)
• 10 low-voltage Okken switchboards with a high availability level
• Power meter with Modbus communication facility will be connected to Johnson Control BMS
• And a full services contract after the warranty period covering all-year and around-the-clock (24/7, 365) services from medium voltage to low voltage, which guarantees the customer the services of a specialist at any time in case of a problem, and a manufacturer maintenance service to maintain power performance throughout the life cycle.
• The challenge was :  no shutdown during the refurbishing