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Nation's Largest Community-College Teaching Hotel Chooses INNCOM

With eye on delivering upscale services in a ‘green' environment, Iowa college property turns to INNCOM networked enery-management system

Niantic, Conn. - October 1, 2010 - Yet another unique property has joined the growing list of hotels that feature INNCOM's cutting-edge networked energy-management system.

When it opened its doors July 26, the newly built Hotel at Kirkwood Center, at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, became the nation's largest and most comprehensive teaching hotel at a community college. Kirkwood Community College-which developed, owns and operates the property-did its homework well when it shopped for an EMS: It chose Niantic-based INNCOM International Inc., the international hospitality-industry leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing advanced integrated room automation systems.

Lee Belfield, General Manager of the Hotel at Kirkwood Center, characterizes the property as "a first-class, urban-boutique teaching hotel open to the general public." The property includes 71 guestrooms, 20,000 square feet of meeting space-including a 104-seat tiered auditorium designed to accommodate exhibition cooking and wine tastings, and a full-service upscale restaurant. As a teaching hotel, the Hotel at Kirkwood Center is staffed by Kirkwood Community hospitality and culinary students as part of their curriculum, with supervision coming from professional hospitality managers.

"Our clientele includes a strong corporate and group base that supports a transient customer looking for an upscale experience," Belfield said.

Crucial to delivering that experience, of course, is a reliable energy-management system that keeps all guest rooms and public spaces comfortably warm in winter and cool in summer. Just as crucial, however, is an EMS that can deliver this basic need in a cost-efficient way. For the Hotel at Kirkwood Center, cost-savings, reliability and environmental awareness were major reasons for choosing the INNCOM networked EMS during the development stage.

"INNCOM is tied into our vision of a highly efficient hotel and culinary space," said Tom Kaldenberg, the property's Director of Facilities. "It interfaced well with the point-of-sale software and was a good value. ‘Going green' was a driving theme on the entire project, and the energy-efficient and energy-saving features of the INNCOM EMS tied in well there, too."

Kaldenberg cited several energy-saving features of the INNCOM EMS.

"The INNCOM system sets the temperature back in rooms that are not rented, and sets the temperature at an economical level when the occupant has left the room but has not checked out," he said. "The INNCOM system will also shut off the television and lights when the occupant has been out of the room for a period of time. The best feature, though, is the ability to set the temperatures to an economical level when the room is unoccupied. This feature alone will save us a considerable amount of money."

Kaldenberg said The Hotel at Kirkwood Center has a multitude of energy-saving features, such as geothermal heat-pump units and lighting controls in public spaces.

"We even create and store ice at night to cool the kitchens during the day," he said. "The total cost avoidance for the energy savings for the entire building is $140,000 per year. Now, we don't know yet exactly what the INNCOM piece of that energy-saving picture is, but I think it will turn out to be significant."

"We are honored that our networked EMS was chosen by this unique property," said INNCOM CEO Duane Buckingham. "It's gratifying to be part of the development of the nation's largest community-college teaching hotel, and serves as further evidence that INNCOM's reputation as the global leader in developing state-of-the-art energy-management systems is well-deserved."

For more information on INNCOM and its products and services, please visit the company Web site at http://www.inncom.com/.

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About INNCOM: Founded in 1986, INNCOM develops, manufactures, and markets advanced guestroom control systems for the global lodging industry. The company's product line ranges from programmable digital thermostats to fully integrated energy management, lighting control and communication systems. All INNCOM products are designed to enhance guest comfort, safety and satisfaction while increasing bottom line profits for property owners. INNCOM systems are installed in more than 750,000 guestrooms in many of the most prestigious hotels in 26 countries.