Carbon emission characteristics and influencing factors of guest rooms in economy hotels: a bottom-up analysis of cases from Jiangxi, China

Economy hotels are a widespread and important accommodation type, and their guest room department is the primary functional component and a major source of hotel carbon emissions. This study quantified the carbon emission characteristics and influencing factors of hotel guest rooms through on-site monitoring. Typical guest rooms in two economy hotels in Shangrao City, China, were selected, and cross-seasonal data on electricity, water, and item consumption were monitored. The average carbon emission was 8.94 kgCO2e/room/night, with the highest emissions in winter (13.02 kgCO2e/room/night) and the lowest in the transition seasons (4.88 kgCO2e/room/night). Electricity consumption was the dominant emission source, with air conditioning accounting for >90%, followed by item consumption and water-related emissions. The main influencing factors were stay duration and the indoor–outdoor temperature difference, whereas room type, occupant number, and guest gender also affected item consumption and hot water-related emissions. This study provides a research workflow and accounting paradigm to investigate carbon emissions from economy hotel guest rooms. Using a bottom-up approach, this study preliminarily explored the carbon emission characteristics of basic guest room units in economy hotels in Shangrao, offering evidence for low-carbon hotel operations and valuable insights into the low-carbon transition of tourism and hospitality industries.