Improving Energy Efficiency and Guest Experience
Sri Lanka’s hotel industry is embracing eco-innovation as a pathway to lower energy costs and elevate the guest experience.
From new hotel construction in Sri Lanka to retrofitting heritage resorts, owners and developers are adopting green technologies to reduce electricity bills and gain a competitive edge. Energy expenses make up a significant portion of hotel operating costs, especially with rising tariffs (stratnewsglobal.com).
By investing in smart energy systems, renewables, and sustainable design, sustainable hotels in Sri Lanka can significantly cut costs while meeting the expectations of eco-conscious travelers.
This article explores five key areas – from smart energy management and solar power to biophilic design and sustainable construction materials – offering practical steps to create energy-efficient hotel renovations and new builds that lead in sustainability.
Adopting Smart Energy Systems for Hotels
Modern smart energy systems allow hotels to use power more efficiently through automation and data-driven management.
AI-driven energy management platforms can analyze usage patterns and optimize electricity and HVAC operations across a property. For example, Hilton Worldwide’s AI-based system LightStay uses predictive analytics to track and adjust energy use, helping achieve a 20% reduction in energy consumption across thousands of hotels.
Sri Lankan hotels can deploy similar solutions on a smaller scale – integrating AI into Building Management Systems (BMS) to forecast demand and automatically calibrate lighting, cooling, and heating.
IoT sensors and automated controls make energy savings seamless. Smart occupancy sensors can detect when guests leave a room or an area and then switch off lights and air-conditioning automatically.
Many Sri Lankan hotels already use key-card systems that cut power when rooms are unoccupied; IoT takes this further by monitoring energy in real-time and eliminating waste even in lobbies and conference halls.
Automated climate control adjusts indoor temperatures based on weather and occupancy.
For instance, intelligent thermostats can learn peak usage times and pre-cool rooms efficiently, or turn up the setpoint slightly at night to save energy without compromising comfort.
Investing in smart lighting systems also pays off. Replacing traditional bulbs with LED lighting and adding motion detectors and daylight sensors can reduce lighting energy use by 50-80%.
These systems ensure lights are only on when needed and dim automatically when natural light is sufficient, cutting energy waste. Overall, a combination of AI analytics and IoT-driven controls can cut hotel energy use by 20-30% through optimized operations.
The result is not only lower utility bills but also a more reliable operation (with fewer outages or overloads) and a high-tech guest experience.
Guests appreciate when room conditions (lighting, temperature) adjust smoothly to their needs, and staff benefit from automated systems that flag any inefficiencies in real time.
In short, smart energy management is a win-win for sustainable hotels in Sri Lanka aiming to boost both profitability and service quality.
Reducing Energy Costs with Solar and Efficient HVAC
Sri Lanka’s tropical climate offers abundant sunshine, making solar energy one of the most effective eco-innovations for hotels. Installing rooftop solar photovoltaic panels or solar farms on hotel properties can significantly offset grid electricity consumption.
Leading hotel groups in Sri Lanka have demonstrated this at scale – Jetwing Hotels invested over USD 1 million to add 1.6 MW of solar PV capacity in 2024, expanding their total solar to 2.6 MW (jetwinghotels.com). Once fully operational, these installations will allow Jetwing to meet 24% of its total electricity needs through solar power alone.
Even smaller hotels can start with a few dozen kilowatts of panels to power lighting, pools, or guest rooms. Thanks to net metering policies, excess daytime solar power can be fed back to the grid for credits, improving return on investment.
Several beach resorts and city hotels have also embraced solar hot water systems – using the sun to heat water for guest showers and laundry, which cuts down on electric heater usage.
Upgrading to energy-efficient HVAC systems is another high-impact step. Air conditioning often accounts for the largest share of a Sri Lankan hotel’s energy bill due to the tropical heat.
By replacing old chillers or split units with modern high-efficiency models (such as inverter-driven VRF systems or energy-efficient chillers), hotels can dramatically reduce electricity use.
Regular maintenance like cleaning filters and tuning boilers/chillers ensures optimal performance. Some innovative properties have gone a step further:
Jetwing Lagoon installed Sri Lanka’s first vapor-absorption chiller that uses steam from a biomass boiler (burning cinnamon wood) instead of electricity for cooling.
This clever system meets the air-conditioning needs through renewable energy, cutting reliance on the grid. While an advanced solution, it underscores how rethinking conventional HVAC with eco-friendly alternatives can slash costs and carbon footprints.
In addition to equipment upgrades, simple passive cooling techniques can keep hotels cooler naturally. Building design plays a big role in reducing the need for mechanical air-conditioning.
Features like shaded verandas, courtyards, and ventilated lobbies allow cross-breezes to flow. Strategic use of open spaces and even water features (like ponds or fountains in courtyards) can promote natural ventilation and dissipate heat, minimizing reliance on artificial cooling systems.
For example, the famed Heritance Kandalama hotel was designed with open-air corridors and courtyards that funnel breezes, plus an eco-friendly orientation that avoids direct sun – significantly lowering indoor temperatures without A/C.
Simply painting roofs white or installing “cool roofs” that reflect sunlight can lower a building’s heat gain. Hotels are also adding insulation to roofs and walls during renovations, so that cooled air stays in and the tropical heat stays out.
These passive measures, combined with efficient HVAC and solar power, enable a hotel in Sri Lanka to drastically cut its electricity bills while maintaining guest comfort.
Biophilic Design: Bringing Nature into Hotels
Biophilic design is an emerging trend in hospitality – integrating nature and natural elements into the built environment. In Sri Lankan hotels, biophilic design not only creates a lush, relaxing ambiance for guests but also can improve energy efficiency.
Elements like green walls, indoor gardens, and water features have a cooling effect and reduce the need for air-conditioning. For instance, indoor plants and vertical gardens help purify air and slightly humidify and cool a space, acting as natural air conditioners.
A courtyard pond or fountain in a hotel lobby can lower surrounding air temperatures through evaporation, while also providing soothing sound that enhances guest relaxation. Architects often position greenery to shade windows or open atriums, which cuts down on solar heat entering the building.
The iconic Kandalama Hotel famously blends into the forest with vegetation draping its facade and rooftop, keeping the structure cooler and visually merging with the landscape.
Beyond the thermal benefits, biophilic features greatly enhance guest experience. Humans have an innate affinity for nature, and studies show that guests in biophilic environments report higher satisfaction and comfort. In fact, one survey found 90% of people felt increased satisfaction in spaces with natural elements, leading to more repeat business and positive reviews.
Guests appreciate touches like living plant walls in the lobby, open-air pavilions, or rooms with abundant natural light and views of greenery. These features reduce stress and make the stay memorable.
In the Sri Lankan context, hotels can draw on the island’s rich biodiversity – incorporating native flora in landscaping, using local bamboo or rattan in décor, and showcasing water lily ponds or tropical fish tanks.
Such biophilic design not only creates a unique sense of place but also signals a hotel’s commitment to wellness and sustainability, which can attract modern travelers who value eco-friendly practices (fhahoreca.com).
To implement biophilic design practically, hotel owners can start small: add potted plants and herbal gardens in indoor and outdoor spaces, install a green wall panel behind the reception, or use nature-inspired color palettes and materials in renovations. Over time, bigger projects like a rooftop garden or open-air lounge can be pursued.
Many upscale properties globally, especially in Asia, have proven that lush greenery and contemporary luxury go hand in hand – for example, Singapore’s PARKROYAL Collection features 15,000 m² of sky gardens on its facade, drastically lowering energy use for cooling.
Sri Lankan hotels can take inspiration and become regional leaders by fusing modern architecture with natural beauty.
The result is a distinctive guest experience where visitors feel closer to Sri Lanka’s famed tropical environment, all while the hotel saves energy through the passive cooling and insulating effects of biophilic integration.
Sustainable Materials for Hotel Construction and Renovation in Sri Lanka
Choosing sustainable building materials is crucial for developers aiming to construct or renovate hotels with a lower environmental footprint.
In Sri Lanka, using eco-friendly materials not only reduces carbon emissions but can also improve a building’s thermal performance (thus saving energy) and showcase local culture.
One standout option is bamboo, a rapidly renewable material. Treated bamboo can replace timber or even steel in certain building elements due to its high tensile strength and flexibility.
Some eco-resorts have successfully used laminated bamboo for roofs and support structures, achieving a beautiful natural aesthetic while cutting down on high-carbon steel and concrete.
For instance, the Wild Coast Tented Lodge in Yala integrates woven bamboo in its lodge structures, providing strength and tropical style; the design leverages natural cooling so effectively that it minimizes the need for air conditioning.
Recycled and locally sourced materials also play a big role. Sri Lanka’s Rainforest Ecolodge built its cabins with reclaimed materials, the decks use discarded railway sleepers, and the chalets are built from bamboo and timber off-cuts.
Using recycled timber or reclaimed wood from old buildings for flooring, furniture, and paneling in hotel renovations can add character while reducing demand for newly cut wood.
Similarly, crushed concrete from demolitions can be reused for non-structural fill, and recycled metal can be used in roofing sheets or fixtures. Local entrepreneurs are even experimenting with coconut fiber (coir) composites as a green construction material.
Embracing these locally sourced alternatives lowers material transport costs and supports community businesses.
It also ensures the materials are well-suited to the local climate, for example, clay bricks or stabilized earth blocks made from local soil have better thermal insulating properties for tropical weather, meaning interiors stay cooler.
These earthen blocks, mixed with a bit of cement or lime for strength, are an excellent low-carbon alternative to conventional fired bricks and can be used for walls that naturally keep heat out.
Another innovation is using low-carbon cement and concrete in hotel construction. Cement production is a major source of CO₂, but new formulations like blended cements (with fly ash or slag) or geopolymer cement can cut emissions significantly.
Developers in Sri Lanka are encouraged to use such mixes for foundations and columns to reduce embodied carbon. Additionally, incorporating thermal-insulating materials in the building envelope yields long-term energy savings.
During renovations, adding insulation boards (such as mineral wool or polystyrene) above false ceilings or under roof tiles can dramatically decrease heat transfer, easing the load on air conditioning.
Double-glazed windows or solar-control film on glass can keep rooms cooler by blocking heat, though one must weigh the cost-benefit in Sri Lanka’s context (experts note that some window films have long payback periods unless in extremely sun-exposed spots (hospitalitysrilanka.com).
The key is to use the right material in the right place: green building materials like bamboo, recycled timber, low-carbon concrete, and insulated panels should be used in an engineered, planned way to maximize both resilience and efficiency.
By doing so, hotel construction in Sri Lanka can achieve modern luxury standards while embodying sustainability – a message that resonates with investors and guests alike.
Real-World Examples of Sustainable Hotels in Sri Lanka
To see how these eco-innovations come together, look at the sustainable hotels in Sri Lanka that are leading by example:
Jetwing Hotels – Smart Energy and Renewables
Jetwing Hotels, a major local chain, has become a benchmark for integrating renewable energy and smart systems into hotel operations. Jetwing pioneered solar energy adoption in the hospitality sector, starting with a small 20 kW solar PV array for lighting at Jetwing Blue in 2010
. As of 2024, the chain expanded to 2.6 MW of solar PV across numerous properties, now generating over 1,000 MWh annually from solar and covering 24% of its electricity needs via the sun
. Some resorts, like Jetwing Vil Uyana, have even turned parking lots into mini solar farms by installing panels as car park shade canopies
. Beyond solar, Jetwing invested in biomass boilers that burn cinnamon wood (a renewable agricultural byproduct) to produce steam for hot water and a unique air-conditioning solution. Four Jetwing hotels run absorption chillers on biomass steam, eliminating the need for grid electricity or ozone-depleting refrigerants for cooling.
Combined with solar hot water systems and biogas digesters that convert kitchen waste to cooking fuel, these innovations now supply 66% of the chain’s total energy demand from renewable sources.
Jetwing’s comprehensive approach shows that large-scale hotels can dramatically cut operational costs and emissions through a mix of solar, bioenergy, and smart management.
Guests in Jetwing properties often notice little differences like rooms powered by solar, sustainably cooled spaces, and even displays about energy savings – all of which enrich the stay knowing their vacation has a lighter environmental impact.
Heritance Kandalama – Biophilic Design and Efficiency Pioneer
Heritance Kandalama in Dambulla stands as an early icon of sustainable hotel design, proving that eco-friendly construction and luxury can coexist.
Opened in 1994 and designed by famed architect Geoffrey Bawa, Kandalama was the first LEED-certified hotel in the world and the first building outside the USA to earn LEED Green Building certification (aitkenspence.com).
The hotel is built into a rocky hillside overlooking a lake, almost invisible beneath thick foliage – a true embodiment of biophilic architecture. Its terraced structure and green-covered facades blend with the jungle, keeping the building naturally cool and shaded.
The design deliberately maximizes natural ventilation; guest rooms and public areas are open to breezes and oriented to avoid direct sun, reducing the need for air conditioning.
Kandalama also installed solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system early on, making it nearly self-sufficient in water and energy for its basic needs.
A sewage treatment plant recycled wastewater for irrigation, ensuring no pollutants enter the pristine environment.
Even 29 years later, this hotel is celebrated as a model for energy-efficient hotel design, with its seamless integration of nature yielding both aesthetic beauty and cost savings.
The hotel’s longevity and popularity have proven to investors that green construction is durable and profitable.
Guests frequently cite the magical experience of being “in nature” at Kandalama – monkeys on balconies, birds and butterflies everywhere – all made possible by the resort’s minimal interference with the ecosystem.
For hotel developers, Kandalama’s success illustrates how biophilic design and sustainable operations can enhance brand value and guest loyalty.
Wild Coast Tented Lodge – Luxury Meets Sustainability
The Wild Coast Tented Lodge adjacent to Yala National Park showcases cutting-edge sustainability in a luxury setting.
Opened in 2017, this unique resort features 36 dome-shaped tented suites (“cocoons”) and central pods that merge tent canvas with permanent structure. Sustainable materials are used throughout – notably, local bamboo and reclaimed wood give the structures strength and character.
The architecture mimics natural forms like termite mounds and rock outcrops, helping the buildings harmonize with the landscape.
This organic design isn’t just for looks; it’s optimized for climate as well. The tents and main buildings employ natural cooling principles, with cross-ventilation, high canopies, and clever use of shade, greatly lessening the need for air-conditioning.
Power demand is further minimized by efficient fixtures and LED lighting. Importantly, the lodge runs on 100% solar energy, thanks to a sizeable solar PV array and battery storage that keep the property off the grid.
Even water is conserved and recycled on-site through sophisticated treatment systems (nomadicresorts.com).
Despite being in a remote safari area, Wild Coast delivers five-star amenities – from an infinity pool to a gourmet restaurant – all with near-zero environmental impact.
This balance of indulgence and responsibility has won it global acclaim (and a full booking sheet). For Sri Lankan hotel investors, Wild Coast is a compelling case study in how eco-innovation can create a unique selling point. The resort attracts upscale travelers who seek immersive natural experiences with comfort, and they’re willing to pay a premium for it.
By leveraging design and technology to be eco-friendly, the lodge also saves significantly on long-term energy and utility costs. It stands as a benchmark that even high-end luxury can be achieved sustainably, inspiring other hotels in Sri Lanka to adopt renewable energy and green design in their upcoming projects.
Conclusion: A Green Future for Sri Lankan Hospitality
Sri Lanka’s hotel sector has a prime opportunity to lead Asia in sustainability by integrating these eco-innovations into both new projects and refurbishments.
The initiatives discussed – smart energy systems, solar power, efficient HVAC, biophilic design, and sustainable materials – are not abstract ideals but proven strategies already delivering results in hotels across the country.
The business case is clear. Lower energy consumption directly translates to reduced operating costs and higher profit margins over time. Investments in solar or efficient equipment often pay for themselves in a few years through savings.
At the same time, these green upgrades enhance the guest proposition: travelers increasingly prefer hotels that care for the environment, and they reward such efforts with loyalty and positive word-of-mouth.
Eco-conscious design can thus drive marketing advantage and allow hotels to charge premium rates or achieve higher occupancy by differentiating themselves as sustainable leaders.
For hotel owners and investors, the path to energy-efficient hotel renovations and constructions should start with an audit of current buildings, identify quick wins like LED lighting retrofits and sensor-based controls, then plan for larger upgrades like solar installations or building redesigns that incorporate natural cooling and green spaces.
Sri Lanka already benefits from government programs supporting renewable energy (with tariff incentives for solar power generation (economynext.com) and a growing pool of local expertise in green building and smart systems.
By tapping into these resources, a hotel project can be both cutting-edge and practical in its sustainability approach. The payoff is hotels that are cheaper to run, more resilient to energy price hikes, and more appealing to a global clientele that values authentic, responsible tourism.
In embracing eco-innovation, Sri Lankan hotels aren’t just reducing their carbon footprint they are also crafting memorable guest experiences, from sleeping in nature-infused rooms to enjoying the comfort of a climate-controlled smart suite that subtly conserves energy.
This fusion of technology and tradition positions Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry to thrive in the years ahead.
Energy-efficient, sustainable hotels will bolster Sri Lanka’s reputation as a world-class destination that marries luxury with respect for the planet.
By acting now to integrate these eco-friendly systems and designs, hotel owners can ensure they remain profitable, future-ready, and aligned with the island’s famed ethos of environmental stewardship.
The journey to sustainability is a continuum, but each smart innovation adopted is a step toward a greener, more prosperous future for Sri Lankan hospitality.