With POE, the Sinclair will power more than 2,000 lights and amenities via an IP address on a computer network, which will not only reduce the building’s energy consumption by 30 to 40 percent but will allow the property to forgo the need to hire electricians, saving thousands in labor costs. If a light or other POE device goes out anywhere between the hotel's basement restaurant and the rooftop bar, the Sinclair will be alerted through an immediate notification. The property is better and more sustainably prepared than most hotels when a power outage occurs. Its backup system runs on the world’s first UL 924 lithium ion battery, a system Sinclair Holdings discovered in a LG office in Korea. Comparable to diesel generators, which are more often used by buildings, the lithium ion battery takes up less space, is environmentally-friendly, and can power the building for nearly three hours during a power outage.

As with the backup lithium ion battery, Sinclair Holdings asked vendors to create products that would run on POE to accommodate the systems already at work in the hotel. In the end, it was able to put the motors for window shades, minibars, and smart mirrors on POE, and is currently working with LG to make POE air-conditioning units and TVs, and an exercise-equipment company to create machines that would allow guests to power the hotel through 20 minutes or more of cardio workouts.

An aerial view of the ZigZag facade. Photo by Kathy Tran. Image courtesy of the Sinclair.

Hannah Walker, in-house designer at Sinclair Holdings, explained that companies like LG have incentive to make POE products. "POE is the only universal power," she says. "The business model is great for these companies. They can make one product and send it around the world." Ultimately, the Sinclair’s POE system could affect the direction of how we design electrical systems in buildings worldwide. Several government agencies are partnering with the hotel to supervise the building’s power consumption, which could improve how we use and save energy, and perhaps even make POE more common. While the Sinclair's sustainable design is phenomenal, Walker says, “It was never our [original] end goal to be sustainable. We just wanted everything we were doing to be way more efficient.” But it quickly became clear that sustainability was indeed the more efficient path, and the company is now making green technology an integral part of their mission. The Sinclair hasn't even opened yet, and it’s already changing the fabric of design.