Assessing climate change impact in hospitality sector. Simplified approach using building resources consumption signature

Abstract

Climate impact assessments and the development of adaptation strategies requires the study of vulnerabilities and risk to climate variables. The energy and water consumption demand in hotel usually change with occupancy rate and climate. In this article a simplified methodology is presented and applied to identify the climate change impact in hospitality sector using the building energy and water signature. This methodology is applied to sixteen hotels (nine in Lisbon and seven in Algarve) with four and five stars rating. The results show that is expect an increase in water and electricity consumption (manly due to the increase in cooling) and a decrease in gas consumption (for heating). The hotels in Algarve are more vulnerable than Lisbon hotels.