What Emerging Energy, Tesla and Hospitality Design Have in Common

Augment your competitive edge by innovation and disruption

At first glance it might seem like an unlikely connection. What do they have in common? All of them use a highly-integrated design process and are key drivers and game changers, augmenting the competitive edge by innovation and disruption.

Energy research and innovations are changing the world as we know it. Lifestyle and retail are increasingly becoming influenced by hospitality and entertainment, while stores and malls as we knew it are closing due to the convenience of web based commerce. Shopping, working and service industries must provide alternatives that become lifestyle molecules. New hotels brands are mushrooming while large mergers and acquisitions are changing the game. Intelligent technology can now deliver both enhanced guest experiences through personalization and virtual reality, and increase operations efficiency by analyzing how hotels are generating and managing energy performance.

We are at the forefront of both sides of the changing world; we thrive on challenges and incubate new ideas for adaptive reuse, energy generation and conservation as well as innovative modular construction technology and delivery methods.

Energy innovations are game changers. Our engineers have worked closely with Tesla and their top integrators in dispatching state-of-the-art energy storage solutions.  We have developed over 400 solid oxide fuel cell technology projects with Bloom Energy; producing electrons onsite, cleaner and more efficiently in our communities. We have helped put Solar on over 200 commercial roofs. We install Electric Vehicle Charging stations. We strive for each project and each electron produced and used to be more efficient than the last, by innovating energy process and driving increased clean energy adoption.  

The grid is transforming today from centralized to decentralized energy generation. We are key players in the ongoing transformation where energy can be generated cleaner, stored, and distributed on site to limit peaks and outages, while increasing opportunities for onsite solar and wind energy usage across the user spectrum. To date our engineers have installed over 700 unique distributed generation projects totaling 225MW of power!

How does energy innovations transform our future?

 Fuel cell technology generates electric energy efficiently and quietly. The process was developed in mid-1800’s and has since been refined to the commercially available products today. Simply put, the electrons are separated from the fuel source (i.e. Natural Gas, Hydrogen, Methane) by flowing the fuel source over wafer-like elements with heat and oxygen. Unlike the combusting, polluting and ineffective fossil fuel power sources, the by-products of fuel cells are energy, heat, water and reduced emissions. Today fuel cells can power cars, large residences, hotels, commercial developments - and even cities.

The second familiar electro-chemical system is the well-known battery. Batteries store energy chemically, and cover back into electrical energy when called upon. With the increase in electrical vehicle adoption, smart energy consumption and generation, large stationary batteries are beginning to proliferate our communities home, commercial and utility facilities.

As an example, the overall efficiency of an automotive gas fueled engine is about 20 percent. A battery-powered electric car is about 72 percent efficient. However, this is not the whole story: the electricity used to power the car must be generated somewhere, which brings it down to an overall efficiency of 26 percent using traditional power sources. If the electricity is generated by a hydroelectric plant for instance, it is basically free as it didn't burn any fuel (or create CO2) to generate it, and the efficiency of the electric car is about 65 percent. Scientists are refining designs to continue to boost fuel cell efficiency. One approach is to combine fuel cell and battery-powered vehicles by using a battery to power the car, while the fuel cell recharges the battery.

What Is Happening in The Retail, Lifestyle, And Commercial World?

Like autonomous fuel cells, we can now shop anything with a few clicks in the comfort of our home; we can work from home, study online without ever setting a foot in a classroom and instantly connect with the rest of the world, creating virtual global alliances through abbreviated social media encounters, Tweets and technology. We are however becoming increasingly isolated, and the role of retail, financial services, education and hospitality is changing by demands to embrace lifestyle, creativity and to create authentic interactions and personalized explorations.

No longer do we want neutral efficient boxes or hotels that look the same wherever in the world you arrive and wake up. We want to be intrigued, surprised, entertained and social. Hotel lobbies are becoming unique social encounter generators, We-Work spaces are becoming new creative think-tanks and social platforms, where work-hard play-hard is cherished and creative thoughts are generated and shared. Retail spaces are changing from large sterile beige malls to alternative colorful places to gather and unfold, in places where music is curated by DJ’s, and art is becoming integrated or generated collectively.

Cafes were catalysts for the movement of working and meeting informally in public. Banks are now becoming hospitality inspired service providers. Schools should be teaching innovation, creative thinking and research as technology is changing the future faster than the curriculum can adapt. We predict that hotels will become community centers which serve the local population living or working around the hotel. Co-living, co-working and co-generating could be the next trend in hospitality, in a world where collaboration becomes an increasingly important aspect of life. Locals may not need a room, but they do need a service.

Summary

Emerging Energy, Ultimate Intelligence and Hospitality are breeding grounds for ever more innovation and are game-changers.  Personalization and customization is the next manifestation in the evolution of brands. Emerging energy and technology makes it possible to generate, store and deliver personalized power on demand. Hotels need to look beyond the boundaries of their own industry to take stock of what is happening not only in travel, but the grater world beyond it. Robo-butlers speaking any programmed language can deliver chores, while hotel workers become community ambassadors and deliver personalized service. With the emerging technology in design and architecture hotels can become made-to-order to look completely different in now-time and construction can be manufactured and delivered turn-key as modular smart components or 3D printed on site. Soon, the technology used in hotels will be totally fueled by solar and geothermal technology, creating Eco-friendly hotels.  

 As architects and designers, we are fortunate to have inquisitive minds, programming and analytical skills, and we are used to be challenged to create new unique experiences.  Let us create spaces and experiences where positive energy can be shared in spaces that fuel our minds by creating memorable social experiences. 

“Energy research and innovations are changing the world as we know it”