Trade file · Building systems
Hospitality Radar follows 5,780 hotel projects in planning, construction and renovation. For HVAC, electrical, fire safety, energy and EV charging, about 780 of them are being specified right now, while the products are still being chosen, and about 1,140 are buying. A product that is already in the spec goes into the tender with the best odds.
Hotel projects entering specification for HVAC, electrical, fire safety, energy and EV charging, by quarter.
Hotel projects entering the purchasing window for HVAC, electrical, fire safety, energy and EV charging, by quarter.
Estimate from each project's opening year and typical lead times for this trade. Later quarters fill up as new projects are announced, so a lower bar further out is not a falling market.
Cities with the most hotel projects being specified for this trade right now. The city file opens with your trade on top.
Projects being specified now or entering specification in the next 12 months, by region.
Share of projects with a known class. Our coverage is strongest in upscale and luxury hotels; midscale and select-service projects are being added.
For HVAC, electrical, fire safety, energy and EV charging, specification typically runs from 28 to 18 months before opening and purchasing from 20 to 8 months before opening. There are two ways into a project: through the specification or through the tender. A product that is already in the spec goes into the tender with the best odds.
A specialised MEP engineering firm develops the load calculations, HVAC system selection and fire protection concept in parallel with the shell and core design, working closely with the architect and structural engineer. International brands such as Marriott and Hilton set binding minimum requirements in their design standards, for example VRF systems for individual room control or central chilled water plant on larger projects, electrical load requirements and water consumption standards. The owner or general contractor makes the actual equipment purchasing decision against these standards, usually through a tender to specialist trade contractors.
Chiller and refrigerant component lead times can stretch to a year, so suppliers who wait for a public tender often miss the actual ordering window.
Brands with science-based emission targets increasingly name building electrification and the replacement of gas heating with heat pumps as a direct lever toward their 2030 and 2050 goals. New regulation in markets such as California now bans gas water heating in hospitality from 2030, pushing the same choice into design briefs earlier.
Source: hospitalitynet.org
The next generation of guest room management systems adds lightweight AI to interpret guest behaviour and optimise energy use, rather than simply switching lights and climate on preset schedules. ABB's 2026 launch of a purpose built hospitality GRMS signals that major automation vendors now treat hotel rooms as a distinct product category, not a generic building automation application.
Source: new.abb.com
Major chains are rolling out EV charging at scale rather than on a case by case basis, with Hilton targeting up to 20,000 charge points at 2,000 hotels and IHG extending charger availability across its full US and Canada portfolio. For suppliers, this moves EV infrastructure from a discretionary add-on into a line item specified alongside core electrical design.
Source: businesstraveller.com
Regular manufacturing lead times for chillers and refrigerant circuit components run 8 to 12 weeks, but constrained categories have stretched toward a year in 2025 and 2026. Suppliers that wait for a public tender on critical HVAC components risk missing a project's actual ordering window entirely.
Source: servicetitan.com
Property Improvement Plans with HVAC, electrical or lighting scope recur roughly every 7 to 12 years and must be completed within 12 to 24 months of being issued, often phased so electrical and fire protection work precedes HVAC replacement. That cadence gives suppliers a repeatable signal for renovation-driven MEP demand, distinct from the new-build pipeline.
Source: hotel-online.com
Electronic locks & access1,050 specifying now
Elevators730 specifying now
Switches & room controls940 specifying now
IT, TV & AV1,050 specifying nowEvery Monday: new signals, a city and a trade in numbers. Free, one click to leave.
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As of November 2026. Figures are estimates, rounded, and recalculated with every update of the radar.