Of comfort and cost: Examining indoor comfort conditions and guests' valuations in Italian hotel rooms

Among co-benefits that energy efficiency interventions in buildings entail, occupants' improved comfort is one of the most acknowledged. In this study, a monetary valuation of improvements in comfort conditions in accommodation facilities was carried out. With an interdisciplinary approach to the problem, the evaluation was two-folded, aimed at monetizing co-benefits and extra costs of improved indoor environmental quality. Comfort co-benefits were estimated by employing the economic-based Contingent Valuation Method. In this framework, survey results allowed calculating respondents' Willingness to Pay for excellent comfort conditions in hotel rooms, quantified in a 14% increase of the room rate. The energy approach, based on dynamic simulations, allowed to quantify extra costs of improved thermal condition in a reference existing hotel. These findings suggest that guests' appreciation of comfort is higher than the investment costs required to provide them with comfortable conditions and highlight that energy efficiency measures are often necessary to reach the desired indoor comfort level.