Holiday Energy Optimization: A Practical 6-Step Guide for Retail and Hotel Buildings

Reducing peak-season energy costs while maintaining comfort and performance

December brings a surge in energy demand for retail and hospitality assets. Whether it’s longer hours at shopping centers or fully booked hotel floors, building systems face intensified use during the run up to the holidays – and so do operating budgets.

And with energy rates often rising in the winter (just as many building systems are pushed to their limits), inefficiencies that may not have surfaced previously can rapidly become costly critical issues.

Looking to ensure reliable and efficient performance during this fast, furious – and yes, festive – holiday busy period? Our six-step holiday energy optimization guide is built for facilities teams, energy managers, and building operators who want to control costs, uphold guest and tenant comfort, and gain a clearer view of system performance during the final weeks of the year.

Step 1: Understand How Holiday Operations Change Energy Demand

Start by identifying how your buildings behave differently in November through January.

In a retail setting, look for shifts in peak load timing. Are stores staying open later, and does that change your HVAC or lighting demand? Review how seasonal displays or exterior lighting might be adding to your evening loads.

In a hotel or resort, increased occupancy from holiday travelers will likely mean more hot water, laundry, and HVAC use. Are you seeing earlier system ramp-ups in the morning? Are guest floors staying conditioned longer into the night?

Review historical energy and BMS data to spot:

• When and where demand increases
• How your load shapes change
• Which systems run longer or cycle more often

Developing a baseline will help you separate expected seasonal increases from avoidable inefficiencies that can be identified and remediated before costs run up in the background.

Step 2: Identify and Resolve System Inefficiencies Early

Even small inefficiencies, like zones drifting out of setpoint or HVAC systems short-cycling, can cause larger problems when buildings are running longer and harder.

If you're managing retail, check for equipment that may be toggling between heating and cooling during extended hours. Seasonal setpoints are often left unchanged from summer or shoulder months. Take time to review and update these.

In hotels, suites or common areas that had manual overrides for past events might still be running off-schedule. Walk the floors, check your BMS, and clear out stale overrides or settings that could lead to discomfort when occupancy peaks.

Not using automated fault detection? Even a focused manual review can surface problems before they escalate during busy periods.

Step 3: Align Energy Use With Utility Pricing

If your utility charges time-of-use or demand-based rates, the holidays can hit hard – especially during evening shopping hours or morning guest ramp-ups.

To reduce exposure in retail buildings, consider pre-conditioning spaces in the early morning before peak rates begin. Then, hold temperatures through the busiest hours without re-running HVAC at full capacity.

In hospitality settings, stagger system start-ups across guest floors rather than powering everything up at once. Review occupancy trends to fine-tune when equipment actually needs to run.

You may also have opportunities to participate in demand response events, which are often more available during the winter season. Review opportunities with your local utility providers. 

Step 4: Monitor Comfort Conditions Proactively

When buildings are crowded, comfort issues surface fast – and can directly affect sales, satisfaction scores, and tenant relations.

In retail, pay special attention to high-traffic zones. Are entrances and vestibules holding temperature? Are CO₂ levels climbing in busy areas? Use BMS data to confirm ventilation is keeping up with actual foot traffic.

For hotels, monitor overnight conditions. Are guest rooms recovering temperature before check-in? Is humidity staying within range during periods of high usage?

Rather than waiting for complaints, use metrics like zone compliance, CO₂, and humidity to get ahead of issues. This also gives you a clearer view into how your systems are performing under stress.

Step 5: Prioritize Buildings Based on Readiness and Opportunity

Not every building in your portfolio will offer the same optimization potential. And during the holidays, your team’s time is limited.

For retail, identify which locations have automated systems you can adjust remotely – and which rely on local or manual controls. Focus deeper interventions on those with BMS integration or central plants. Apply basic schedule or setpoint checks to simpler sites.

In hospitality, larger properties with central plants or higher utility spend are often the best targets for optimization. Smaller or seasonal properties might benefit most from a holiday-specific tune-up: clearing overrides, checking thermostats, and confirming occupancy-based lighting.

Prioritize based on complexity, control capability, and financial exposure, then act accordingly.

Step 6: Use the Holiday Period as a Benchmarking Window

The holidays are an annual stress test. Once the season ends, use the data you’ve gathered to inform future planning.

In retail, analyze how systems performed during extended hours. Did you need to override schedules often? Were there areas that didn’t maintain comfort or had unusual loads?

In hotels, track which systems required frequent intervention. Were any comfort issues concentrated in specific wings or floors? Did your controls respond as expected?

These reviews support future seasonal readiness, help justify upgrades, and can inform recommissioning, capital planning, and forward-looking sustainability strategies. 

6-Step Holiday Energy Optimization Checklist

Below, we've summarized these steps into a concise operational checklist you can apply to your buildings today:

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to overhaul your buildings to optimize for the holidays. Even a few targeted adjustments – better schedules, tighter comfort monitoring, smarter system sequencing – can meaningfully reduce costs and improve occupant experience during this busy time of year. 

And what you’ll learn now? It’s not just applicable to the holidays. Your learnings today will help you build a stronger foundation for improved year-round energy performance – truly, the gift that keeps on giving. 

About Noda

Noda is a data and analytics company on a mission to make every building smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable. Recently ranked in the top 10 tech companies leading the charge on climate action, its AI-powered suite of products surface unique insights that empower real estate teams to reduce costs, decrease time spent on routine work, and find and act on opportunities to save energy and carbon. Discover how Noda's solutions can unlock the potential of your assets and accelerate the transition to net zero. Visit us at noda.ai to learn more.