western hotelier - going green - apr 2006
DESCRIPTION
Article about green strategies for hotels.TRANSCRIPT
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hensive initiative to minimize the impact
of hotel operations on the environment
addresses key issues including waste man-
agement, resource conservation, habitat
protection, employee and guest education
and community outreach.
According to Harding Fairmont's origi-
nal intent was to involve employees in the
environmental programs with top down
support from management."There is a Green Partnership guide for
each hotel. Properties establish a committee
to drive the program and each committee
then shares their experience with other prop-
erties who come on board the initiative."
As mentioned, savings have been sub-
stantial. Harding points to achievements in
waste and energy reduction as further
examples. For instance, by sorting out recy-
clables at the source (in-room) with blue
boxes and recycling food waste they have
achieved an 80 per cent weight reduction
with trashed foods composted for potting
soil and fertilizer. Further. at the Hotel
Vancouver a $3.5 million upgrade to thephysical plant resulted in efficiencies that
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brought energy use down fiom I I million
kWh to 8 million kWh. "This is compara-
ble to shutting the property down for three
months a year," he says.
Harding advises properties to first do
their homework. In some cases, especially
with large commercial energy consumers,
assistance is available from utilities such as
BC Hydro or Manitoba Hydro. "Next, do a
room mock-up. There is no sense doing all
the rooms at once. Get the bugs out and
then expand the program."
Harding also suggests gett ing people
involved at the grassroots level.
For example, when Fairmont
wanted to bring the environ-
mental message home to staff
in an effort to make their initia-
tives even more far reaching,
they sol ici ted employees for
ideas and then awarded them
with compact fluorescent lamps
for home use."Find someone on staff who
takes environmental concerns
to hear t and ask them to
spearhead the employee
group," he says, adding that it
Jack Harding, FairmontH otel's Regi on al Di rector
of Engineeing.
more energy-efficient lighting, controls,
and mechanical upgrades and the incentive
threshold for participation is only $ 1 00.Here he points to eramples such as the
installation of room sensors that turn offair conditioning when the room is unoc.-u-pied for lengthy periods. There is also
equipment that will lower the lighting lesels
on vending machines but allow the drinlsto stay cold. "Exit signs are another gd
place to look for savings by installing LEDExit signage. In rooms and hallways cor*'
pact fluorescents also create huge savings
while keeping lighting levels
consistent."
Tiuong comments that these
lighting options can result in
an 80 per cent saving in elec-
tr ical use. "LED and com-
pact fluorescent bulbs repre-
sent one of the fastest pay-
backs on investment and
greatly reduce maintenance
costs and activities," he says,
reporting that one Vancou-
ver hotel saved big money by
changing to energy-efficient
l igh t ing . Sav ings were
is also important to keep plans realistic and
within capabilities. "Don't try to re-invent
the wheel," he advises.
In B.C. the province's electrical utility
has programs and offers advice that can
make a lot of difference to energy bills.
Rick Truong, key account manager, BC
Hydro reports that they have two avenues
of programs. Simplest is the Power Smart
Product Incentive Program (PIP). Finan-
cial incentives are available to business cus-
tomers for replacing old technologies with
500,000 kWh, a figure that represents about
$25,000 at current rates.
Another avenue the utility takes is with its
Power Smart Partners. This program is for
larger energy consumers who purchase in
excess of $50,000 a year in electricity. With
this program, efforts are customized such as
those the utility undertook with Fairmont
Hotels and Resorts. B.C.
Supplier SolutionsDirect Energy Business Services, North
America's largest energy solutions provider,
with over five-million residential and com-
mercial customer relationships, is making
it easier for commercial and industrial cus-
tomers in Alberta and Ontario to Be Green
with its new renewable electricity plans.
Under the'Be Green' program, commer-
cial and industrial customers can elect to off-
set a percentage of their electricity load with
renewable energy from an EcologoM-certi-
fied generation facility - ensuring increased
amounts of environmentally-fiiendly green
power are moved onto the grid.
Direct Energy Marketing Limited's Presi-
dent of Canadian Operations Bob Huggard
believes renewable energy is becoming
increasingly important to Canadian com-
mercial operations looking to differentiate
themselves in the marketplace.
livestern llolelier ltla0uine
The Fairmont chain of hotels is a leader in environmental stewardship.
L"We're seeing a growing appetite among
Canadian businesses for renewable energy
options," says Huggard, whose Business Ser-
vices group marries supply- and demand-
side management strategies to help cus-
tomers better manage their energy costs. "A
number of market factors are also making
renewable energy more significant to busi-
nesses, including continued upward pressure
on non-renewable energy costs, a decrease in
renewable energy prices, and increasingly, a
focus on corporate social
responsibility and environ-
mental stewardship."
Be Green a l lows the
flexibility for Direct Ener-
gy Business Services cus-
tomers to offset 10, 15,
25,50,75, or 100 per cent
of their electr ici ty load
tha t i s supp l ied to the
Ontario or Alberta grid
with renewable energy.
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LED exit signs are up to 90per cent more efficient.
program. Here they will undertake a range
of activities from project management, to
audits to financing on everything from'low
flo'toilets to boilers and T8 lighting systems."Most properties do the work themselves
through internal staff or by hiring contrac-
tors. We just come in and tell them where
they can save money on energy."
Another company working to help with
rising energy costs is Avoca-Tec, a Thorn-
hi l l , Ontario-based energy management
firm that offers a unique
technological solution for
bo i le rs and heat ing sys-
tems that use natural gas.
Avoca-Tec offers The Mag-
netic Energizer, a technol-
ogy tha t was or ig ina l l y
developed by NASA to
make i ts spacecraft more
efficient users of energy.
According to distributor
Shai Spetgang, The Mag-
improves the quality of the power supply
by eliminating harmaronics, phase imbal-
ances, and other power qualitv issues.'We begin with a detailed diagnostic to
determine the building's electrical load andcan often achieve savingp of sir pter cent to18 per cent on electrical usage,- sars Leon
Wasser, vice-president, business develop-ment with PowerCon.
Select Hospitality Systems has bem has-ing success in the market with its Eacrg)'Eye control systems. The company rdigF
that the equipment is capable of detectifirr
whether or not a guest room is occupied
through an interface with infrared detec-
tors and micro door sensors and the Ener-
gy Eye Brain unit."When a guestroom is occupied, the
Energy Eye allows the guest to have full
control over temperature settings. If the
Energy Eye detects that the room is unoc-
cupied, HVAC operation becomes regulat-
ed by the Energy Eye Brain to maximize
savings," says Select Hospitality Systems
President Larry Cechet, who adds that
unoccupied guestroo'm temperatures are
predetermined by hotel management to
insure a balance between waste electricity
elimination and guest comfort.
Peer ApprovalOnce properties are moving in the right
direction, they may apply for designation
under the Green Key Eco Rating program.
The initiative is a graduated rating system
designed by hoteliers for hoteliers to recog-
nize propert ies that are committed to
improving their environmental performance.
Building on the success of HAC's well-
established Green Key Eco-Rating program,
the industry is targeting a l0 per cent
reduction in energy use across the hotel
industry. More, the HAC has gone one step
further and taken the costs out of delivering
the Green Key program and as a result, they
In Alberta, EPCOR is working with the
Alberta Hotel and Lodging Associat ion(AHLA) to help lower energy costs and
offer solutions for conservation. According
to Dave Hunka, EnVest program manager,
EPCOR, they work with the AHLA in a
program where all the association's mem-
bers are included in a lump aggregate
power buy. "This enables hotels to pur-
chase power based on rates that are calcu-
lated on large volume use. Big savings
result," says Hunka.
He reports further that EPCOR also offers
advice through energy audits and its Envest
t2
netic Energizer fits around the natural gas
pipe just before it enters the boiler. The
idea is that methane is less efficient at pipe
temperature. The Magnetic Energizer cre-
ates a magnetic field through which the gas
t rave ls and becomes more op t ima l ly
aligned in the process. The better align-
ment means more oxygen atoms can attach
themselves to the gas molecules with the
result being a five per cent to 15 per cent
greater efficiency.
At PowerCon Optimized Power Solu-
tions they offer PowerKure, a system that
reduces electrical energy consumption and
Days lnn rsTust one of many hotels involved in the Green Key Prognm.
$lestern llotelhr ilagarine
are passing the savings on to hoteliers with
a new price structure: $350/property per
year; or $300/property per year for organi-
zations of 10 or more properties.
In addit ion to numerous independent
properties involved in the Green Key Pro-
gram, major chain supporters include:
Atl i f ic Hotels & Resorts; Best Western
Internatioiral; CHIP Hospital i ty; Choice
Hotels Canada; Days Inns - Canada; East-
on's Group of Hotels; Fairmont Hotels &
Resorts; InnVest REIT; InterContinental
Hotels Group; Marriott Hotels of Canada;
Royal Host; Travelodge Canada and West-
mont HosPitality Group.
Following last year's Energy and Envi-
ronment Award at the annual HAC get-
together, President Tony Pollard remarked
that CHIP was the first hotel management
company in Canada to cert i fy al l of i ts
properties under the HAC Green Key eco-
rat ing program. To this CHIP CEO Ed
The Energy EyerM Sysfem is capable ofdetecting whether or not a guestroom isoccupied through information transmitted tothe HVAC Control Module by our Passivelnfrared Detector and Micro Door Sensor
Pitoniak remarked, "Investment analysts
specifically cite our energy management as
a key driver of our overall cost discipline."
Indeed, like Fairmont and others, CHIP
has been able to mine savings from energy
and env i ronmenta l excesses . In fac t ,
be tween 1999 and 2004 the company
whacked l0 per cent o f f i t s use and
reclaimed $l million in savings.
Speaking at the 2004 HAC event, Pieter
Vannierop, CHIP Hospital i ty, director,
engineering and construction, praised the
efforts of their more than 6000 staff that,
like their colleagues at Fairmont and other
chains, know that there is more to energy
conserva t ion then jus t tu rn ing o f f the
lights and turning down the heat."Conservation is about managing the
energy , manag ing the waste , manag ing
chemica ls and manag ing a l l the o ther
things to make the world a better place for
our children and grandchildren." O
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