From ESOS Compliance to Energy Efficiency Delivery, in a National Hotel Estate

A large UK hospitality operator with a national estate of over a hundred hotels needed to meet its ESOS compliance obligations, while also identifying credible opportunities to reduce Carbon emissions, energy consumption and operating costs across a diverse portfolio of properties.

The organisation wanted to move beyond compliance and develop a practical, investable energy efficiency programme that could be approved by senior stakeholders and delivered without disrupting hotel operations.

Working as lead energy consultant, we supported the organisation from ESOS assessment through to the development, approval and delivery of a targeted energy efficiency investment programme.

The challenge

The client operated a highly varied estate, with significant differences in building age, layout, and building services systems. This made it difficult to identify energy efficiency measures that could be deployed consistently and at scale.

Key challenges included:

A wide range of property types requiring different technical solutions.
Limited appetite for capital investment without strong evidence of return.
Operational sensitivity in a 24/7 hospitality environment.
Concerns from maintenance teams about the reliability and maintainability of new technologies.

While ESOS compliance provided a starting point, there was a clear risk that the findings would remain theoretical unless they could be translated into robust, delivery-ready investment cases.

Our approach

Our approach focused on de-risking decisions at every stage — technically, financially and operationally — while maintaining a clear line of sight to delivery.

1. Estate segmentation and targeted site selection

We began by reviewing the full estate and grouping properties into representative archetypes based on factors such as size, age, and building services configuration.

From this, a targeted list of sites was selected for detailed assessment. This ensured that the analysis captured the diversity of the estate while remaining proportionate in time and cost.

2. Opportunity identification and portfolio prioritisation

Energy efficiency opportunities were identified across the assessed sites and grouped into common project types.

Rather than treating each site in isolation, we scaled the findings across the wider estate to understand:

The potential energy and carbon savings by project type.
Indicative capital costs at portfolio scale.
The relative attractiveness of different measures

Projects were then filtered and prioritised based on return on investment, capital intensity and operational impact. This resulted in a short list of measures with a clear investment rationale.

3. Business case development and governance engagement

The prioritised opportunities were developed into clear, evidence-based business cases and presented to the client’s sustainability and property leads.

Assumptions were tested, refined and explored further to generate structured outputs to support internal decision-making. The resulting investment cases were presented to the organisation’s sustainability steering group, providing senior stakeholders with a clear view of costs, benefits and risks.

4. Pilot studies and data validation

One priority project was selected for deeper investigation to further reduce delivery risk before any wider rollout.

Detailed studies were undertaken at around ten representative sites to capture:

Installation costs by building type.
Actual and projected energy savings.
Practical installation and operational considerations

This data was used to refine the business case and confirm whether the project was suitable for deployment across the wider estate.

5. Procurement and delivery support

Once approval was given to proceed, we supported the client through procurement and delivery.

This included:

A review of the UK and international market to benchmark approaches and technologies.
Identification of key manufacturers and installers.
Development of tender specifications.
Longlisting and shortlisting of suppliers.
Review of tender submissions and recommendation of a preferred supplier.

Following supplier appointment, we provided oversight during installation, ensuring works were delivered in line with the agreed scope, payment milestones aligned with delivery progress and the energy saving focus was maintained.

6. Managing operational and maintenance concerns

A key barrier to progress was concern from maintenance teams about the operational implications of the proposed technology.

Rather than treating this as a blocker, we worked directly with the client to:

Document specific concerns and perceived risks.
Provide evidence-based responses to each issue.
Engage specialist contractors where required.
Run targeted workshops with maintenance and operational teams.

This process helped build confidence in the proposed solution and demonstrated that the risks were understood and manageable. Importantly, the project also resulted in an increased maintenance budget aligned with the operation of the new systems, reframing the project as a benefit rather than a risk to maintenance teams.

The outcome

The programme resulted in:

A board-approved, investable energy efficiency programme.
A validated pilot project delivered across multiple sites.
Clear evidence to support decisions on wider rollout.
Improved confidence from operational and maintenance teams.
A delivery-ready supply chain aligned with the client’s requirements.

By moving systematically from compliance to prioritisation, validation and delivery, the client was able to turn ESOS from a regulatory obligation into a practical driver of Carbon, energy and cost reduction.

Why this matters

Many organisations identify energy efficiency opportunities but struggle to progress beyond high-level recommendations. This example demonstrates the importance of:

Prioritising investable projects rather than long lists of measures.
Reducing risk before committing capital.
Engaging operational teams early and constructively.
Designing programmes with delivery in mind from the outset

This approach helps ensure that energy and Carbon strategies lead to real-world impact rather than reports that sit on the shelf.

This example is drawn from the Changing Footprint team’s experience in previous roles.