Merriam‑Webster Definition of WINDOW. an opening especially in the wall of a building for admission of light and air that is usually ....
Growing up hotels were exotic destinations. We were a big family and a summer vacation was packing tents on the roof of the car and heading off to a series of provincial campgrounds. No A/C in the car so windows were open as we motored down the highway. Tent flaps let in the night breeze. Fresh air is always a fond memory of the luxury of childhood holidays.
Growing older and life became more urbane and more urban. Staying in hotels became part of life and before long a career. Hotels usually had retrofitted air conditioning units stuck under old casement windows. If a guest preferred the city night noises to the battleship drone of the A/C they could always open their window.
Fast forward. Most new hotels have windows that never contemplated being opened. If windows ever did open they are today often screwed shut in the name of safety. So now we have a sealed box of a room that is dependent upon a complex system of air exchange.
So let’s take a look at this engineered system. Makeup air, conditioned or not, is dumped into the hallways and finds its way under the guest room door and out a bathroom vent to create a flow of air. The wall unit that is found in the guest room only has one job - to heat or cool the air, stagnant or not that is in the room.
With this in mind walk the property with your Chief Engineer and test the bathroom vents with a ply of kleenex and see if there is a draw. Go up on the roof and check the vent exhaust fans. Put your hand on them to see if they vibrate and that the motors are working. Once during a transition I found 70% of the roof exhaust vent fans were broken and one of the make up air units wasn’t feeding 10 floors. The result was a building filled with stale air, a literal malaise. The poor air becomes a subliminal background problem that affects the good health and mood of your guests and your staff.
Do yourself, your guests, and your staff a favor and check to see how well your air circulation is working.
[email protected]
RSS Feed