A study on energy performance of homestay industry in Taiwan

Tourism has emerged as one of the leading service industries that spurs economic development, providing the outlines of a better way of life for the public, promoting people-to-people diplomacy, and bringing many business opportunities. In Taiwan, the homestay sector has grown rapidly along with the trends of recreational farming and ecotourism. Since the homestay sector is booming in Taiwan, the related energy demands are also rising. To achieve the goal of green homestays, the energy consumption data and other pertinent information for 2013 is obtained from 29 approved homestays. Finally, the annual energy performance of individual homestays is evaluated in terms of EUI, which is defined as the source energy consumption per unit of gross floor area. The survey data indicated that the average EUI of homestays is 176.8 kWh/m². Electricity consumption accounts for 84.6% of total energy usage, Diesel oil consumption for hot-water boiler accounts for 15.2% of total energy usage. The averaged EUI of homestays obtained in this study is more than the EUI proposed by Wang’s study in 2010 (144 kwh/m²). This result implies that the growing yearly occupancy rate of homestay sector in Taiwan lead to the increment of EUI. Average EUI is not a fair assessment of the energy performance of homestay. To develop a benchmarking system of homestays in Taiwan is suggested in this study.