Telkonet Keeps Motel 6 Ahead With Its Energy Management Initiatives

Wednesday, October 17, 2007; Posted: 11:00 AM

GERMANTOWN, Md., Oct 17, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- TKO | charts | news | PowerRating -- Telkonet, Inc. (AMEX:TKO), the leading technology solutions provider for broadband networking, end-to-end service support and energy management, today announced that Motel 6 has signed a four year energy maintenance agreement for Telkonet SmartEnergy across thirty-nine Motel 6 properties in North America. The management agreement initially involves 4,700-plus rooms and over 10,000 rooms when fully implemented. This latest contract underlines Motel 6's long-standing commitment to green initiatives, having implemented this in-room energy management system technology beginning in 2002 to reduce energy usage in unoccupied rooms. A key element of the maintenance agreement involves Telkonet conducting preventative maintenance and regular updates on its occupancy sensors, packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) controllers and smart thermostats to ensure optimum system efficiency and performance, while helping Motel 6 to achieve a fast return on investment.

Motel 6 holds a recognized leadership role for green energy management practices, receiving Energy Star Leader status from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2006 for improving energy efficiency.

Dan Gilligan, vice president of utilities for Motel 6 parent company, Accor North America, commented, "We have long realized the benefits of implementing energy efficiency programs, both from a financial and guest impact. Our number one priority is to enhance the guest experience and optimize guest comfort. With Telkonet's in-room energy management products, we are significantly reducing energy usage and extending our HAVC equipment life, while allowing guests to control the temperature while they are in their rooms. By augmenting this approach with an ongoing maintenance program, handled for us directly by Telkonet, we believe that we are maximizing our investment for the longer term. We are totally committed to this approach - it is socially and environmentally responsible and recognizes the value to our business as well as to our customers."

The installation of Telkonet SmartEnergy typically reduces heating and cooling related energy consumption by approximately 30%. The patented Telkonet SmartEnergy system incorporates a packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) controller or smart thermostat which communicates with an unobtrusive occupancy sensor to monitor and adjust to conditions, such as changing weather, room temperature and HVAC efficiency. The system automatically tracks room occupancy to optimize temperature settings for room-by-room savings by relaxing the temperature when a room is empty and then recovering to guests' temperature set-points within a pre-defined number of minutes upon their return. This automated process of relaxing the HVAC unit in an unoccupied area is especially beneficial for hotels and motels to realize maximum energy savings. Telkonet SmartEnergy thermostats include programmable parameters that allow guests to adjust room temperatures within a range dictated by hotel management.