Integrating Energy and Water Efficiency in Hotel Buildings: A Nexus-Based Assessment from Ghana

Achieving sustainability in hotel buildings in developing economies requires moving beyond fragmented interventions towards integrated systems thinking. The energy-water nexus has emerged as a critical response for understanding resource interdependencies within the built environment, particularly in resource-intensive sectors such as hospitality. However, sustainability interventions are implemented in isolation, overlooking systemic interactions amid resource efficiency. This study presents a nexus-based assessment of interdependencies between energy and water efficiency in Ghana’s hotel sector on stakeholder perception. A cross-sectional survey was used, administering a structured questionnaire to 247 stakeholders (152 built environment professionals, 48 regulators, 47 hoteliers) across three regions of Ghana. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, relative importance index and one-way ANOVA (p < 0.05) in SPSS v23 and digital and AI tools were analysed thematically. Findings show latent but real demands for Gen-AI-assisted tools, with 72% of respondents valuing digital tools broadly and 23% explicitly citing AI, particularly for structuring fragmented paper records and generating a simulated base assessment of energy –water trades rather than design guidelines specifically. The findings reveal strong stakeholder consensus that energy and water systems are interdependent yet strategies remain limited. Key constraints include a fragmented regulatory framework, insufficient stakeholder coordination and cost perceptions. Thematic analysis of stakeholder demand for digital tools found that 72% of respondents valued digital support broadly and 23% explicitly cited AI, particularly for structuring fragmented paper records and simulating energy-water trade-offs. The data underscore the demand for assessment tools and policies that address the integration of generative AI tools into hotel development in Ghana. The paper concludes that policy and industry must leverage stakeholder consensus to a nexus-informed performance by offering empirical evidence from a developing country to the global discourse on the energy-water nexus. Integrating Geospatial Analytic