EcoGreenHotel

One Easy Way to Get Started

If you stop to think about it, your hotel is sort of like a machine. It’s got a ton of moving parts – the building and all of its infrastructure, the staff and administrative personnel, the grounds – all of those components have to be in good working order or the whole operation will suffer.

But there’s another moving part to your machine that you might not have considered right off the bat, and that’s the energy that powers your entire hotel engine.  If your building, its infrastructure, your personnel and the grounds surrounding the building are not conserving energy like they could be, the machine that is your green hotel will eventually sputter and stop running.  It won’t be able to sustain itself, and it won’t be able to compete with all the other green hotel machines that are running at peak efficiency.

Even if you have implemented a green initiative or two at your property, there is still room for improvement, because green lodging is not a destination – it’s a journey.  And a journey of a thousand miles begins with… say it with me now… a single step!

Maybe your green team would like to improve your property’s energy efficiency but you’re confused about the next logical step.  Or perhaps your hotel has yet to launch a green initiative and you don’t even know where to begin.  One easy way to overcome either of those scenarios and kick start the process in a single step is to conduct an energy efficiency analysis.

An energy efficiency analysis is an in-depth study of your property’s energy usage.  It shows you – in black and white – how each of your hotel’s moving parts can become more efficient, and how you can save energy and money without disrupting the guest experience (and in many cases, how you can actually enhance the guest experience).

One of the most important things to come out of an energy efficiency analysis is benchmarking, which gives you a starting point from which to measure your green hotel’s progress toward greater efficiency and savings.  The most trusted benchmarking tool for hotels is the one developed by Energy Star, which is a joint program of the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Environmental Protection.

Almost 4,000 hotels have used the Energy Star benchmarking tool as part of their energy efficiency analysis.  To learn more, visit www.EcoGreenHotel.com and click on “Energy Star” under Our Services section.

Our GREEN TEAM series is coming to a close soon. We’ve covered numerous topics on how to engage your employees in sustainability, now we’ll take a look at how leading companies are engaging their customers through different mediums and a quick idea on how you can create a green tool kit

Engage Customers to be Part of the Solution

Without customers, you can’t run a business. What would happen if you work together to achieve a goal? eBay realized the most powerful thing they could do as a company would be to invite their consumers into the equation. Many of their customers have green values—when they opened the eBay Green Team (ebay.com/greenteam), 40,000 people signed up over night. The Green Team, along with their corporate commitment to sustainability, has strengthened relationships with their customers and helped them achieve an authentic green identity in the marketplace.

Whether it’s a top down or bottom up approach, at one point or another you can’t avoid your guest’s needs. Start taking action by creating a Green Team at your hotel and explore creative ways you can engage your guests during their stay and away. Create a space for them to express themselves about your initiatives and allow them to make recommendations or participate in one way or another. Who knows, they might have some good ideas too.

As part of Intuit’s sustainability strategy, which reaches millions of small businesses with its software programs, have made a commitment to helping their customers be more sustainable. They developed Green Snapshot, a new free tool to help small businesses quickly and easily estimate a company’s carbon footprint and identify recommended actions to shrink it, saving customers money in the process.

Simple idea from Yahoo!. They make green relevant to its consumers through Yahoo! for Good, a campaign that offers tips and resources for going green, and Yahoo! Green, one of the most popular environmental sites on the Web. I’ve seen many hotels take this idea and incorporate it into their own green hotel initiative.

Use Art to Raise Awareness

Here are a few examples of how Yahoo! and eBay raised company awareness.

At Yahoo!, “Chuck the Cup” Day was held at four of their campuses to raise awareness about the environmental impact of using paper cups and highlight the things employees can do to create a more sustainable workplace. The project is the brainchild of Kai Haley, a Yahoo! Green Team member and the “Andy Goldsworthy “ of trash. She calculated how many paper cups are consumed every 15 minutes on Yahoo!’s main campus and created hexagon globes out of thrown away cups.

Along with providing incentives to encourage employees to bring their own mug, Yahoo! put the attention‐getting sculptures that Kai created on their main lawn, each of them representing the number of coffee cups (over 100) used in 15 minutes at their headquarters.

One of eBay’s local Green Teams was determined to phase bottled water out of their office. Prior to installing filters and chillers and removing water bottles from break rooms, they invited employees’ children to participate in a poster contest with the theme “what does water mean to you?” Winning posters were displayed around the office, along with facts and statistics to educate employees on the environmental impact of bottled water production and consumption. The team credits the poster campaign with increasing awareness and support for the project and allowing for a successful transition.

Create a Toolkit to Support and Guide Green Teams

To make it easier for your Green Team (or all your employees), consider cmpling a “Greening Toolkit.” For example, Deloitte’s green program toolkit includes 37 suggested best practices and greening projects, focused on energy consumption, paper consumption, daily product consumption, waste reduction, recycling and travel.

The program is monitored through a “Greening the Dot” Web site, which charts the number of toolkit projects that have been completed, kicking up competition between office locations. In the first six months, over half of the workforce engaged in the implementation of over a thousand greening projects across nearly 100 offices, and reducing energy, water, paper use and travel and increasing recycling.

In the end, they saved resources, reduced waste and realized savings. Everyone won! Being sustainable justmakes economical sense.

Next months newsletter will close this series with: Alighn Green Teams with Corporate Sustainability Goals. Don’t miss it!

It’s been four months since the launch of the EPA’s National Building Competition and fourteen contestants have been in fierce battle to win! They’re at the midpoint of the first-ever national contest to reduce their energy use. Currently, there is only a one percent margin that separates the leader from the next contestant.

The fourteen contestants have together reduced their energy consumption by over 24 billion Btu and reduced their carbon dioxide emissions equal to the electricity use of 330 homes for a year – impressive would be an understatement! By shedding the energy waste, the incredible energy savings are also piling up.

The top 5 as of the mid-point are:

1. UNC’s Morrison Hall (Chapel Hill, NC)
2. Sears (Glen Burnie, MD)
3. 1525 Wilson Blvd (Arlington, VA)
4. JCPenney (Orange, CA)
5. VanHolten Primary School (Bridgewater, NJ)

The Courtyard Marriott San Diego Downtown is currently in 10th placereducing their energy usage by 3% while the Sheraton Austin Hotel is lagging behind in 13th place with a -.08% reduction. It isn’t the winner’s spot, but at the end of the day both hotels have won regardless of their ranking– a healthy environment for themselves and guests, guest satisfaction, environmental stewardship, better future for all, and energy savings to name a few. Just as San Diego’s team name, Money in the Bank, implies – triple bottom line savings!

But whether or not they’ve made it to the top, five of the contestants have increased their ENERGY STAR energy performance score by more than 10 points; three contestants are eligible for the ENERGY STAR label and several more are within striking distance. And they still have less than three more months of savings to go before the winner is announced!

The contestants have pursued a wide range of effective projects that focus on energy efficiency improvements in the areas of operations and maintenance, technology upgrades, and raising awareness. Each property started with the basics like changing out inefficient light bulbs with highly efficient CFL and LED lighting, but as the competition has gotten very close, they had to step it up a notch. Properties have implemented energy efficient strategies although they won’t disclose their secrets.

Wishing all the contestants best of luck (but of course, we’d like to see our hotel friends win!).

See the complete list of the midpoint ranks go to http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=buildingcontest.contestants

Hospitality Industry’s role in Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure

Electric vehicles are no longer a dream on the drawing board. The Volt and the Leaf will be in showrooms later this year from automakers GM and Nissan. Luxury EV manufacturer, Tesla Motors offered an IPO this June; which makes it the first American Automaker to go public since 1956. Toyota, Ford and Volkswagen all have EV models on the board. It looks as if the EV has captured the imagination of the people. Now comes the hard part….building the charging infrastructure.

Creating a robust regional or statewide EV infrastructure will take commitment and buy-in from numerous parties. In North Texas, government, non-profit, and Fortune 500 corporations are making that commitment together. This year’s Texas State Fair will feature an Electric Vehicle Showcase, sponsored by General Motors, US Green Building Council –North Texas, North Central Texas Council Of Governments and North Texas Clean Air Coalition, where attendees will get a chance to drive a Chevrolet Volt on the Road Test Track, and to see how electric vehicles, smart phones, smart charging, green buildings, the Smart Grid and renewable energy work together to become something greater than the sum of parts.

Furthermore the hospitality and travel industries will play a key role to make the electric vehicle an everyday reality. Years ago one could only dream of a day where business travelers would rent an EV at the airport and stay in a green hotel with an EV charging station. Beginning next year that dream will become a reality. Hertz will begin offering the all-electric Nissan leaf early 2011 and Starwood’s LEED Certified Element Hotels offer public charging stations in Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas and Boston.

Hotels that recognize the opportunity for increased bookings will be among the first businesses to offer public charging stations. What’s more, early adopters are likely to benefit from the buzz, press, heightened brand recognition and strengthened brand loyalty as people recognize the “cool factor” and the importance of the electric vehicle. Green Hotels could see outsized marketing returns for installed charging stations, especially since tax incentives halve the cost of charging infrastructure that’s installed this year.

Hotels have an opportunity to help our communities work on big challenges. There’s growing recognition that electric vehicles offer solutions to many of the challenges we face today: dependence on foreign oil, clean air, climate change, energy security, national prosperity, a missing collective sense of purpose. (To learn more, see the Electrification Coalition Roadmap). An important first step is to create a geographically diverse network of charging stations in a region. Hotels will play a vital part.Please contact us if you would like additional information.

Save Money while Maintaining a Beautiful and Healthy Landscape

ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. –

Green Hotels want to make sure their lawn and landscape stays healthy and beautiful for the enjoyment of guests and improved occupancy rates. They must also think about controlling utility rates and being environmentally friendly.

Overwatering of landscape is often the major water waste culprit for a hotel property. But now, you no longer have to “guess” how long each watering zone should be operating thanks to the SmartLine System offered by Weathermatic, a global manufacturer and service provider of water conservation solutions for the outdoors since 1945.

EcoGreenHotel recognizes Weathermatic’s weather based watering technology that has proven to be an economical choice for properties of any size.

George Kenney of Soundview Landscape has installed SmartLine for several properties in Hawaii. “SmartLine has changed the way we irrigate properties,” Kenney states. “[When] we converted the landscaping at a condominium to SmartLine, the water savings have been so dramatic that the resort has asked to convert additional sites. If the next six months are equal to the first six months, the property will realize a savings of six million gallons in the first year of system operation.”

How Does It Work
Simply stated, it is a thermostat for the landscape. The SmartLine System replaces existing sprinkler timers that operate like the old egg timer.

It uses weather readings from a small, on-property weather station to automatically calculate precise run times for the plants in each zone using a proven evapotranspiration formula. It also uses sprinkler precipitation rates, soil type, and slope to apply water in run and soak cycles at a rate the soil can accept to prevent polluted runoff. In addition,” Brodie Bruner, VP Marketing and Sales for Weathermatic, notes, “this technology eliminates the need to have lawn maintenance crews manually adjusting controllers to match ever-changing weather conditions.”

Real Dollar and Water Savings
“More than 200,000 properties in over 80 countries are now using SmartLine,” saidBruner, “with SmartLine water savings ranging from 20 to over 60%.“

“The comforting part about converting existing controllers to SmartLine,” Bruner explains, “is that a typical installation can be accomplished in a few hours without any disturbance to existing landscaping or interruption of property use for your guests. Most importantly, this high efficiency system results in a return on investment of typically 12 months or less.”

You Only Know What You Measure
Weathermatic can provide a SmartLine Water Management Service that includes access to monthly reports detailing site-specific water savings and performance compared to water usage goals considering the actual weather conditions. This service,” Bruner explains, “acts both as a monitoring device and provides analysis to verify the entire irrigation system is working properly.”

Alen Hinckley, Yorkshire West Realty Advisors, saw the payback in less than three months and saved almost 4 million gallons of water after a year. With an effective annual 70% reduction, their group is rolling out SmartLine on all their properties. “It’s a no brainer,” said Alen.

SmartLine controllers are available in sizes for any property with configurations for wall mounting or pedestal installation. They can be wired or wireless for flexibility in mounting locations on any property. Several remote control options are available to insure easy irrigation field maintenance for landscape crews.

(and One Convenient Place to Find Them All)

Today’s environmentally-conscious, well-informed travelers expect green hotels to do more than just provide a comfortable place to stay.  They want to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the green hotel they’ve chosen for their business or leisure accommodations practices energy efficiency, and that it’s resourceful and earth-friendly in every conceivable way.

As a green hotel professional, it’s your job to fulfill your guests’ expectations and even exceed them whenever you can. To help you get the job done, we’ve put together a list of products that will not only make your guest’s smile, but they’ll also be good to your green hotel’s bottom line.

• Organic Personal Care Products in Biodegradable Packaging: The Save Your World line of hotel amenities offers all natural organic products packaged in an earth-friendly way. Your guests will love the fresh tropical scents and luscious feel of these superior green hotel amenities.
• 100% Bamboo Bed Linens: Your green hotel guests will have no problem sleeping at night knowing they’re snuggled into luxurious sheets made from rapidly renewable, pesticide-free and ultra-soft bamboo.
• Eco-Friendly Cleaners: Super concentrated, hydrogen peroxide-based cleaners like Proxi are not only safe and highly effective, they can also save your green hotel a ton of money. It takes just one ounce of Proxi to make a full quart of some of the best hard surface cleaner you’ll ever use in your green hotel – and it’s earned the Green Seal certification to prove it!
• Safe Pesticides: Fighting and preventing bed bugs with toxic chemicals just isn’t on the agenda of any eco hotel. Instead, green hotels everywhere trust all natural, pesticide-free Rest Easy Bed Bug Spray to safely rid their rooms of these nasty biting parasites, once and for all.
• Recycled Key Cards: When your hotel front desk staff hands over one of these Green Earth renew Key Cards at check in, your guests will know without a doubt that eco-consciousness is not just a slogan at your green hotel. Made from 100% recycled PVC and printed with soy-based ink, these customizable, reusable cards will last and last.

Sourcing affordable, high-quality products like these for your green hotel can sometimes seem like a wild goose chase.  But the EcoGreenHotel Store makes it easy to find, order and re-order your favorite green hotel products and services – everything from the five products listed above to bath hardware and accessories, lighting, furnishings, pool care, food service and recycling supplies, and much, much more – all in one friendly and convenient online store.

So get out your shopping list and stop by at EcoGreenHotelStore.com today.  The doors are always open, the shelves are always full of great products, and the eco-deals are always hot!

Robinsville, NJ – June 3, 2010 – EcoGreenHotel LLC is pleased to announce that Mark R. Hahn has been appointed Vice President of Energy Solutions. Mr. Hahn will be responsible for providing comprehensive energy efficiency solutions to the hospitality industry, expanding EcoGreenHotel’s growing portfolio of clients who have reduced their energy use and operating costs.

Scott Parisi, President of EcoGreenHotel LLC stated, “the Green Hotel movement continues to gain momentum as a growing list of corporate and public entities encourage their employees to conduct business with certified ‘green’ properties. As the established online booking engines, such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz announce their Green Hotel criteria, there is no doubt that hotels and resorts that embrace sustainable practices will gain market share. Forward thinking management companies and hotel owners have found our energy solutions to be very valuable, cost effective and profitable. With a growing pipeline of new business, we are building our team to support this growth.”

Mr. Parisi continued, “The addition of Mr. Hahn to our team enhances the direction of the Energy Solutions Division and positions the organization to be fully versatile in assisting hotels in all services related to Green Hospitality. The Energy Solutions Division conducts Energy Star Benchmarking, Energy Efficiency Analysis and Energy Performance Project Management. EcoGreenHotel is proficient in identifying federal, state and local utility rebates, incentives, grants and loans. By leveraging available programs, we are able to assist properties to inject capital towards energy conservation measures that create positive cash flow. With new technologies rapidly being introduced into the market and new programs for funding and subsidizing projects, it was time to add an individual with Mark’s experience to our team.”

Mr. Hahn brings a deep commitment to the energy business to his role at EcoGreenHotel, along with extensive experience in financial management. Mr. Hahn studied renewable energy, with an emphasis on solar and thermal efficiency, earning degrees in environmental science and business. He designed and built one of the first solar heated structures in New Jersey. Prior to joining EcoGreenHotel, Mr. Hahn was Executive Vice President with at an energy performance company in New York State where he led a team bringing comprehensive energy solutions to the public sector.

Mr. Hahn commented on his new role; “Through a collaborative process with facility managers, engineers, technology specialists, financial experts and legal counsel, EcoGreenHotel will assist facility owners and property management to conduct energy analysis, develop project scope, arrange financing and incentives, and improve their properties. Our mission is to develop and implement actionable plans that save energy, lessenimpact on the environment and improve cash flow for our clients in the hospitality industry.”

By Jeff Kiec, Director of Sustainability – EcoGreenHotel

In today’s strenuous economic conditions, hotels are looking for every advantage to increase occupancy and lower operating expenses. Fortunately, there is a program that can help do both. The U.S. EPA’s EnergyStar Labeling program for hospitality buildings offers solutions to property owners to find hidden operational cost savings and unlock energy efficiency throughout the property. In addition, since EnergyStar is the most recognized eco-label by environmentally conscious consumers, it provides positive connection to the traveling public.

Energy Efficiency = Cost $avings

• U.S. hotels spend close to $4 billion on energy every year.
  • A 10 % reduction in energy costs is equivalent to increasing ADR by $0.83 for limited service hotels and by $2.45 for full-service hotels.
  • Hotels and motels spend an average of $2,196 per available room each year on energy, an amount that represents about 6 percent of all hotel operating costs

Hotels can dramatically improve energy performance and thus operating costs with simple steps that will leave additional capital to invest in further property improvements. In addition to delivering financial savings, cost reductions through energy efficiency translate into greater profitability for hotel owners.

Increased Recognition = Additional Revenue

• Leading online travel companies, Travelocity (Green Directory) and Orbitz (Eco-Toursim Travel Guide), enhanced their online hotel listing to allow travelers to easily identify properties that have earned the EnergyStar Label.

Leading hotel corporations are taking advantage of the cost savings found within the program. Hilton Hotels earned the EPA’s EnergyStar Award for Excellence in Energy Management and ties their hotel general managers’ annual bonuses to energy performance. By meeting Hilton’s goal of reducing energy consumption by 5% for every owned hotel, a manager’s annual bonus was increased. This resulted in almost every property meeting the goal.  Marriott has over 275 hotels with its EnergyStar label, more than any other hotel company. The US EPA also presented Marriott with its EnergyStar Sustained Excellence Award and has named the company “Partner of the Year” since 2004.

Currently there are 415 labeled green hotels: which represents 4% of the total labeled buildings in the US. (see figure 1).

Less than 1% of all of the 47,000 US hotels are Energy Star Labeled, which means yours can stand-alone in its local market.  EcoGreenHotel can assist your property achieve the EnergyStar Label through its onsite Energy Efficiency Analysis and EnergyStar benchmarking and labeling services. http://www.ecogreenhotel.com/energystarbenchmarking.php

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sponsored the first national energy efficiency contest – a “Biggest Loser” competition to see which commercial building can shed the most energy waste and be declared the most efficient in the country.

The EPA is keeping tabs on 14 final contestants until August 31st, among which are two hotels. They include the Courtyard Marriott San Diego Downtown and the Sheraton Austin Hotel. The 14 buildings also include schools, college dorms, hotels, department stores, a mall, a healthcare center and office buildings. They were selected as finalists from a pool of 200 participants.

EPA’s National Building Competition’s 14 finalists will be judged on their energy performance from September 1, 2009 to August 31, 2010. The energy use of each building is being monitored with EPA’s Energy Star online energy measurement and tracking tool, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Television personality Bob Harper will provide energy fitness tips for the contestants through a series of videos that will be available on the contest website. The winner will be declared at EPA’s final weigh-in on October 26, 2010.

The Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Downtown is managed by Denver-based Sage Hospitality Resources. Located in the Gaslamp Quarter, the Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Downtown is housed in one of the city’s most prominent landmark buildings, the historic San Diego Trust & Savings Bank. The hotel, which currently has an Energy Star rating of 63, plans to win the competition by making key operational changes, including the installation of water restricting devices, motion sensing lighting controls in stairwells and the replacement of all incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs.

Energy Star Challenge

“We are thrilled and honored to be a part of the EPA National Building Competition,” said Jody Blackinton, general manager of the hotel. “There are definitely unique challenges to improving the energy efficiency of a historic property like this and we look forward to seeing how we measure up against other buildings across the nation.”

“Sustainability is good business, plain and simple,” said Chris Alto, the Sheraton’s general manager. “Not only does it help global efforts to make the planet a cleaner place to live, but it also creates meaningful cost reductions for our bottom line. HEI Hotels & Resorts has been a leading proponent of ‘green initiatives’ for some time now, as evidenced by being named a 2010 Energy Star Partner of the Year. Our goal is to continue this mission.”

“Buildings of all shapes and sizes are saving money and energy with help from EPA and Energy Star,” said Jean Lupinacci, director of EPA’s Energy Star Commercial Buildings Program. “We applaud the contestants of EPA’s National Building Competition for taking action to protect the environment and fight climate change.”

In addition to showcasing contestants’ efforts toward energy efficiency, the competition is intended to put the Energy Star program in the spotlight. More than 17,000 companies, schools, colleges, hospitals, municipalities, utilities and other organizations participate in the program.

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, buildings in the United States account for 72 percent of electricity consumption, 39 percent of energy use and 38 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Commercial buildings are responsible for 17 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year, says the EPA, which estimates that on average 30 percent of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted.

“It’s time for buildings to tighten their belts and we’re happy to help them go on an energy diet,” said Gina McCarthy, the EPA’s assistant administrator for air and radiation.

We, at EcoGreenHotel, know the challenges involved to become both an energy efficient and green hotel. Therefore, we’re rooting for both the Courtyard Marriott San Diego Downtown and the Sheraton Austin Hotel and wish them good luck!

It seems sustainability options have finally come to the mainstream for trade shows and conventions. In recent years green practices have been adopted by convention centers, event planners, vendors and contractors to dramatically reduce costs and their environmental impact.

As the 2010 Waste Expo kicks off this week in Atlanta, EcoGreenHotel takes a look at the solid waste and environmental impacts of Trade Shows. WasteExpo is North America’s largest solid waste and recycling tradeshow serving both the private and public sectors. The show boasts “green” initiatives such as: extensive use of electronic media to eliminate paper, energy saving lighting, green cleaners, carpet made from recycled materials, and of course robust recycling programs.

It is held at the Georgia World Congress Center Authority in Atlanta which has recently adopted sustainability practices for its 3.9million square feet of space. Beyond the standard green building practices, the center works closely with a local Food Bank to ensure left over food and supplies from events do not go to waste. Plastic water bottles have been replaced with spring water coolers and food wastes are composted onsite.

But are these initiatives enough to create a sustainable trade show?

The most sustainable trade show is the recent advent of the virtual trade show. As the name implies, a virtual trade show is conducted online for all of the attendees and exhibitors in a virtual convention center. The nearly zero carbon footprint shows offer live speakers, interactive vendor booths, networking events, and opportunities to sample products and services. In today’s economy the time and cost savings alone make this option immensely more attractive than traditional shows. EcoGreenHotel likes the idea of the virtual trade show so much it has committed to attend the Spa Hospitality Expo on May 26 and 27. Please join us in our booth for your first virtual tradeshow experience. You can register for the free show at http://tiny.cc/dq4sh