Tag Archives: Green hotel consulting

Sustainable Eco-friendly Hotels with Simple Effective Ideas

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Hotels know they need to do more for guests than simply provide a good night’s rest. Some green hotels are leading the eco-way for old and new hotels of all sizes.Hotel initiatives might not be “groundbreaking,” but these innovative and simple ideas work. Here’s what a few sustainable hotels are implementing:

green hotel newsARIA Resort & Casino – Las Vegas, Nevada
At the heart of MGM Resort International’s seventy-six acre complex on the strip, the ARIA has earned six LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certifications due to their innovative green hotel initiatives. The building is made with over two hundred thousand tons of construction waste. The hotel limos are powered with clean-burning natural gas and turned slot machine bases into mini-air conditioners, cooling the casino area with every pull of a handle or push of a button.

Emirates’ Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa – Wolgan Valley, Australia
Build in 2009, this resort has quickly achieved its goal of being a carbon neutral hotel. The interior furniture is crafted from the trees that have fallen on its almost four thousand acres of property, and the lighting fixtures are made out of fence posts that date back to colonial days. Product and meal ingredients come from the hotel’s organic garden or from within a hundred miles of the property. Wolgan Valley received a Commitment to Excellenceand the Environmental Award at the 2010 Leading Hotels of the World Awards.

Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers – Copenhagen, Denmark
Named the World’s Greenest Hotel in October 2010, it’s a 279 feet tall building covered in solar-panel installations (the biggest such installation in northern Europe). The hotel uses groundwater as both a heating and cooling source. The TVs and lighting are both low-energy, and some bathroom amenities, such as shampoo bottles and shower caps, are completely biodegradable. Guests can help reduce the hotel’s environmental impact even more by hitting the gym—the exercise bikes supply the building with electricity.

Proximity Hotel – Greensboro, North Carolina
The first hotel property to obtain a LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Its 70-plus sustainable features include 100 rooftop solar panels and an elevator that generates electricity as it travels. The hotel uses 39 percent less energy and 34 percent less water than similar hotels. Even much of the hotel’s building materials and furniture came from local, salvaged walnut trees.

About EcoGreenHotel
EcoGreenHotel LLC (Robbinsville, NJ), is a privately held company dedicated to helping lodging facilities address a broad spectrum of sustainability issues. The company provides information, tools, checklists, current news and trends to the hospitality industry through its website, www.EcoGreenHotel.com. The company also runs an online marketplace for green products and services at www.EcoGreenHotelStore.com. In addition to the online offerings, EcoGreenHotel provides customized consulting services tailored to the needs of the hospitality industry in the areas of energy efficiency and certifications, including LEED, Green Seal and Energy Star. For those properties that have reached certified levels of sustainability, EcoGreenHotel assists with marketing services to position the properties within the growing “green” space and enhance revenue. For further information, email info@EcoGreenHotel.com or call 888-229-0213.

About Author
Susan Patel, VP of Technologies & Communications received her B.S. in Economics from Rutgers College at New Brunswick and has over six years of financial and investment analyst experience. Driven by her passion for sustainability and economic development since childhood and through philanthropic adventures internationally, Susan now leads business development and operations at EcoGreenHotel and is the Site Director and Managing Editor of EcoGreenHotel online publications.

Hilton Garden Inn Knoxville West Reduces Energy Use Through Green Technologies

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green hotel newsSmall changes into daily hotel operations can lead to extraordinary results. Beginning in early 2010, the 118-room Hilton Garden Inn – Knoxville West made the commitment to reduce its daily operation costs through energy efficiency and green technologies. A wide variety of energy conservation measures (ECM) were recommended by EcoGreenHotel and approved by M. Gibson Hotels Group. The project included innovative products such as US Energy Solution’s Energy Patrol and Boiler Management System, an ozone laundry upgrade, swimming pool saltwater conversion, and a liquid pool blanket.

“As an investment and management company, we are always looking for ways to reduce our operating costs throughout our portfolio of hotels to increase the ROI for our investors, “ said Michael Gibson, Founder and CEO of M.Gibson Hotels Group. “EcoGreenHotel’s E2A (Energy Efficiency Analysis) introduced us to several energy conservation measures and, with their vendor neutral approach, together we built a comprehensive energy strategy we felt comfortable investing precious capital towards. Since installation Scott and his team continue to measure results and provide us with detailed reporting that allow us to show our investors true savings and a return on their investment.”

EcoGreenHotel led the project implementation and scheduled the installation without upsetting the day-to-day operations of the hotel. “We evaluated, recommended and managed the installation of energy efficiency measures that are already delivering strong returns for the Hilton Garden Inn Knoxville West. EcoGreenHotel specializes in the select service market and have partnered with the best providers of technologies geared at this sector of hotels,“ notes Scott Parisi, President of EcoGreenHotel.

The difficult part of any energy conservation project is to balance the investment costs and potential cost savings with out exceeding a limited budget. EcoGreenHotel’s recommendations for this project all provided reasonable payback periods while delivering above average cost savings. Two of the most effective solutions implemented were the Guest Room Energy Management System and an Ozone Laundry system.

The Energy Patrol Energy Management system allows hotel management to gain precise control of the PTAC units in guest rooms through the use of motion sensors tied to the in-room thermostats. “More and more hoteliers are viewing sustainability projects as some of the most financially attractive investments that they can make. Our Energy Patrol System reduced HVAC waste by up to 45% per occupied room. Our system will have a great impact on the bottom line, while providing a return on investment of approximately two years,” said Kevin Hall, President US Energy Solutions.

The benefits of ozone as a powerful cleaning agent have been studied for over 100 years. Only recently have limited service hotels been able to take full advantage of its tremendous cleaning power in laundry operations. The Hilton Garden Inn Knoxville West installed a small-scale system to work with its two 75-lb washers. The results have been very positive allowing a reduction in the use of laundry chemicals and terrific energy savings. Ozone acts as a powerful oxidizer and increases the saponification effects of the wash chemicals that allow for lower washing temperatures between 95°F to 115°F instead of the traditional 140°F to 160°F, with no sacrifice in cleaning power.

Looking beyond the most common energy conservation measures, EcoGreenHotel recommended two innovative solutions for the indoor swimming pool:

The first is a liquid pool blanket. The Heatsavr system automatically applies a biodegradable liquid that floats on the surface of the water to greatly reduce heat loss by slowing the evaporation rate. The invisible liquid blanket is very effective in reducing the steam loss per hour. The Hilton Garden Inn’s pool is experiencing energy bill reductions between 15% and 30%. For every dollar spent on Heatsavr, hotel owners will see three dollars in savings.

Finally, EcoGreenHotel recommended a green technology solution that does not reduce energy use; however it did provide excellent cost savings. Converting the standard chlorine swimming pool to a saltwater pool was relatively inexpensive and took less than an hour for installation with a simple cut in to the pool equipment lines. The pay back was tremendous, allowing for pool chemical cost to be reduced from $150.00 a month for dry chlorine tablets and crystals to less than $10.00 a month for 25-lb bags of salt.

Overall the energy conservation measures have resulted in a 25% reduction in energy and natural gas usage as compared to last year. All of the energy conservation measures are projected to be paid for with the savings within 24 months. As energy prices rise over the next five years the Hilton Garden Inn Knoxville West will be well ahead of its competition.

About M. Gibson Hotels Group
M. Gibson Hotels Group is an investment, development and management company with over 36 years in the hotel and restaurant industry, building expertise through multi-unit management and conceptual development of hotels and freestanding theme restaurants. They are a franchisee with InterContinental Hotel Group, Hilton Hotels Corporation, and Marriott International Inc. and offer hotel construction, development, interior design, project management, accounting, sales and marketing services through a team of dedicated professionals

About EcoGreenHotel
EcoGreenHotel LLC (Robbinsville, NJ), is a privately held company dedicated to helping lodging facilities address a broad spectrum of sustainability issues. The company provides information, tools, checklists, current news and trends to the hospitality industry through its website, www.EcoGreenHotel.com. The company also runs an online marketplace for green products and services at www.EcoGreenHotelStore.com. In addition to the online offerings, EcoGreenHotel provides customized consulting services tailored to the needs of the hospitality industry in the areas of energy efficiency and certifications, including LEED, Green Seal and Energy Star. For those properties that have reached certified levels of sustainability, EcoGreenHotel assists with marketing services to position the properties within the growing “green” space and enhance revenue. For further information, email info@EcoGreenHotel.com or call 888-229-0213.

Green Hotels and Reclaimed Materials

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green hotel newsTime and time again we hear hotel project managers and developers embarking on “greening” projects comment, “If only I thought of reclaimed materials before…” Although the project might have already been completed, it might not be too late to help you save time, money and help with your sustainable hotel initiatives. Who knows, you might still have some old furniture, carpeting, or other materials sitting in your storeroom from your recent renovation that you still need to discard.

Waste is piling up everywhere, billions of tons annually. What is worse, global waste production is expected to double by 2013. Much of that ends up in landfills with 40% coming from construction and renovation projects.

This year, PlanetReuse, like many other similar organizations, has taken a more active approach when it comes to reducing waste by focusing on reclaimed materials. Not only do they maintain a database of reclaimed and request listings, they also find the best way to make the connection whether you want materials for your green hotel project or have reclaimed materials to share.

Organizations like PlanetReuse take all the hard work out of incorporating reclaimed building material into green hotel projects around the globe. Each organization works differently, whether it be at a local or global level and has it’s own process. However, they work efficiently on your schedule, saving your green hotel both time and money, and – the planet by reducing landfill waste.

Click here to view Planet Reuse’s reclaimed materials listing page.

Next time you’re working on a construction or renovation project, don’t forget to discuss your reclaimed material options. You can also contact local municipalities or state for references.

Green Lodging, Get Certified Before Your Competition

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The 411 on Top Green Hotel Certifications

The race continues as hotels strive to one-up their competition. In January we had published an investigative article on green hotel certifications exploring various anglesof “why certify” and details of major certification programs. As the number of green certification programs continues to grow, we want to revisit some of the prominent certifications that continue to lead the hospitality lodging industry on the green trend.

Compared to the beginning of the year, hoteliers have more options than ever when it comes to selecting which green lodging certification program to participate and obtain. From established worldwide green certification programs to the recent state versions, analyzing the options could be overwhelming. The key factor in selecting the appropriate program is to ensure it provides absolute value through quantifiable results (ie. energy usage, cost reduction, guest satisfaction, etc). We recommend our clients to start with a hotel energy benchmarking and tracking system.

Are you in? Standing on the sidelines can cost you money in the long run. While obtaining a green certification is not mandatory, it could mean you are missing out on some great benefits, which include:

green hotel news

  • Reduced operating costs
  • Improve the bottom line
  • Demonstrate leadership in sustainability
  • Enhanced reputation, brand and market value
  • Federal and state tax benefits
  • Reduction of green house emissions
  • Attract eco-conscious travelers
  • Healthier environment for employees and guests
  • Attraction and retraction of talent

There are a variety of green certifications that can denote that a hotel is implementing specific green practices, however each program has a different focus, different priorities and different standards — no two are alike. In a recent article published by Hotel & Leisure Advisors, four aspects have been identified to distinguish the focus of green certification programs: “These broad categories consist of certifications for overall building structures, the building fixtures themselves, building operations, and overall management practices.”

Keeping these categories in mind, the following are top green lodging certification programs (in alphabetical order):

  • Audubon Green Leaf™ Eco-Rating Program: (www.greenleaf.auduboninternational.org) This program works with hotels to ensure that they are using green practices in their upkeep and everyday running of the establishment.A tiered certification program where environmental measures are evaluated according to: water quality, water conservation, waste minimization, resource conservation, and energy efficiency.

    • Rating: One to Five ‘Green Leafs’

    Recognized/Chosen by: The State of New York as statewide hospitality ‘greening’ goal.

  • EcoRooms® & EcoSuites™: (www.ecorooms.com) Certified properties must meet eight strict eco-criteria for membership and certification. The criteria includes: use of Green Seal certified cleaning and paper products, towel and linen reuse program, recyclable waste program, energy efficient lighting, high efficiency plumbing, and 100% smoke-free properties.

    • Rating: Must meet all eight program requirements

    Recognized/Chosen by: American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) and the American Automobile Association (AAA).

  • EPA’s Energy Star label: (www.energystar.gov) The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program enables buildings to qualify through meeting strict energy performance standards. Energy Star labeled properties use less energy, have reduced operating expenses, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. To be certified, the property mustattain a minimum score of 75, the top 25%, based on EPA’s National Energy Performance Rating System. As of November 2010, there are 426Energy Star labeled U.S. hotels.

    • Rating: Must obtain a score of 75 or higher

  • Green Globe Certification: (www.greenglobecertification.com) This is a certification label for sustainability in both management and operations. Certification criteria cover several areas, including sustainable management and social economic, cultural heritage, and environmental aspects of sustainability.The program’s criteria are also updated annually to ensure international compliance.

    • Rating: Must achieve threshold of at least 35% of the total 1,000 points

  • Green Key®: (www.green-key.org) The is an international eco-label for leisure organizations including hotels, conference centers, youth hostels, and campsites. As a graduated rating system, hotels are given guidance on how to “unlock” opportunities to the next level. The program assesses the five main operational areas of a property and covers nine sustainable practices.

    • Rating: One to Five Green Keys

    Recognized/Chosen by: Carlson Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Motel 6, and Accor North America. The state of Indiana as statewide green initiatives program.

  • Green Seal certification: (www.greenseal.org) This tiered certification is presented to those lodging properties that achieve various levels of compliance with GS-33, Green Seal Environmental Leadership Standard for Lodging Properties. Properties must demonstrate science-based evaluation of sustainable practices in following areas: waste minimization, energy efficiency, conservation and management, management of fresh water resources, wastewater management, hazardous substances, and environmentally conscious purchasing.

    • Rating: Bronze, Silver or Gold Levels

    Recognized/Chosen by: The city of Los Angeles through its Green Business Initiative, as well as Chicago through its Green Hotels Initiative.

  • USGBC LEED® certification: (www.usbgc.org/leed) The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. Promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

    • Rating: Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum Levels

About Author
Susan Patel, VP of Technologies & Communications. Leads business development and operations and is the Site Director and Managing Editor of EcoGreenHotel online publications.

The Drive for Energy Efficiency

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A Road Map for Your Green Hotel

ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. –According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American hotels spend an average of almost $2,200 per available room on energy each year, representing about six percent of all operating costs.

A reduction in energy consumption of just ten percent is the same as raising the average daily room rate at your green hotelby $.062 to $1.35. That savings can really add up – look at what it did for Marriott International.  Just by changing lighting and laundry systems at its green hotels, the company was able to save almost $6 million in 2006 alone, not to mention reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 70,000 tons!

What’s that you say?  Your green hotel is nothing like Marriott International so this information doesn’t apply to you?  Okay…maybe the Willard Intercontinental in Washington, D.C. is more your type. Just by changing to CFL lighting in guest rooms and commons areas, the Willard saved a whopping $100,000 in one year!  The upgrade paid for itself in just six months, and guest complaints about lighting quality actually decreased after the property made the switch.  Who said that guest satisfaction goes down when hotels go green?

There’s never been a better time to increase energy efficiency at your green hotel. The savings are real, the benefits are quantifiable, and the expert help is right here.  EcoGreenHotel has guided green hotels from coast to coast through the process of benchmarking, certification, upgrading, and funding. They’re pros at helping properties just like yours locate and obtain the federal, state and local tax incentives, rebates, grants and loans to get the job done, quickly and cost-effectively.

We’ve got the roadmap to energy efficiency and major cost savings for your green hotel, and we’re ready to roll!

Five Tips Before Your Green Hotel Selects a LED Lighting System

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The advancement in lighting technologies now means that there are a spectrum of energy-efficient light bulbs including LED bulbs available to purchase. LED retrofits can offer your green hotel two key benefits: (1) some fixtures can deliver up to 85 percent energy savings and (2) the life span of LEDs average about 50,000 to 100,000 hours, reports Retrofit Magazine. Before making a decision on a retrofit however, green hotels first have to evaluate their current lighting layout and future requirements.

With seven percent of all energy consumed in the U.S. being for lighting (stated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)), even the Obama Administration has been setting energy conservation standards for certain types of fluorescent lamps and incadescent reflector lamps, and is investing $346 million in energy-efficient building technologies.

LED, lighting emitting diode, lights are the most efficient type of lighting and can last up to 100,000 hours. LED bulbs are new and more expensive technology that is not as commonly used as either incadescent or CFL bulbs, but they are steadily decreasing in price. Due to the initial cost, hotels first need to consider several factors including the condition and voltage of the hotel’s existing wiring and circuitry before making the investment. Certain LED fixtures may not be compatible with the voltage rating and control preferences such as for dimming and/or motion control.Therefore, having a professional energy auditor can save you time and money from potential expensive mistakes.

Other aspects include downtime for the installation, how much energy savings the hotel expects from the retrofit, manufacturers’ warranties, who will install the new lighting systems and whether it’s necessary to take before and after light-level and energy readings.

Operators implementing hotel energy-efficiency measuresshould also call local utilitiy companies to check on rebates for energy-efficient lighting and/or tax deductions or credits. This can significantly save on the initial investment cost.

The followiing are five tips for selecting LED systems suggested by Retrofit Magazine:

  1. Understand the fixture manufacturer’s claims including the performance of the products, up-front equipment costs, ongoing energy and maintenance costs and after-sale support
  2. Evaluate the quality of the LEDs by comparing the light output and efficiency to the green hotel’s benchmarking tests [Benchmarking is critical to evaluating any energy conservation measure]
  3. Evaluate the performance of the LED lighting fixture with your Energy Star benchmarking data and the manufacturer’s metric reports
  4. Verify the claims by the manufacturer for light and energy performance
  5. Review the installation requirements for LED lighting fixtures and ensure that your new fixtures are compliant to the National Electric Code requirements for installation of light fixtures

Daylighting: Energy Saving and Productivity Boosting Benefits

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Daylighting is defined as the practice of placing windows or other openings and reflective surfaces so that during the day natural light provides energy efficient lighting inside. So why would a hotel owner want to take on the challenge of using daylight to light their hotel?

The short answer: to create beautiful spaces, save energy and operating costs and reduce our impact on our planet In one word: money

Good daylighting design could save from 15 to 75 percent of the energy used forelectric lighting in a hotel building. Of course, energy savings depend on various factors such as occupancy patterns, control strategy, design, energy usage, and the amount of daylight.

It’s natural. Using natural light from the sun costs nothing to the environment and pays big dividends to hotel guests and employees. As a great energy efficient lighting solution for hotels, daylighting consumes less energy and thereby reduces fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming and climate change.

It works. Research has discovered that people thrive in naturally lit environments. Studies have shown that daylighting has a direct impact on well-being, productivity and overall sense of satisfaction – shoppers linger longer and buy more; students do better on tests; workers are more productive and absent less often.

It’s smart.Aside from making a green hotel statement about the owners, operators and staff (socially and sustainably responsible) daylighting can also:

  • Reduce lighting and operating costs
  • Reduce cooling costs (in almost all climates all year round)
  • Be accomplished without significantincrease in construction costs in new construction

Because seeing is believing,project centers known as “living labs” have been created to examine the actual effectiveness of daylighting. These include the State of Wisconsin Administration Building in Milwaukee and the Hoffman Corp headquarters in Appleton, Wisconsin. “We use the term ‘cool-daylighting’ to emphasize that daylighting isn’t just big windows,” says Abby Vogen, project director at Energy Center of Wisconsin. “It is the orientation of the building, glazing, energy-efficient light fixtures, mechanical systems, and how all these components are impacted by natural lighting.”

Results of the experiment conducted by the Energy Center of Wisconsin at the Energy Resource Station in Iowa to see if cooling energy could be saved using daylighting design were considerable. Comparison of two rooms (one standard and the other high-performance) yielded 32 percent savings on annual lighting costs and total overall annual energy savings of 22 percent.

Even retail stores like Wal-mart are beginning to see the environmental and monetary benefits of daylighting for both employees and consumers. In an experiment, stores that included skylights over certain departments found that overall sales per square foot were higher in those departments lit by natural (energy-efficient) light.

For existing green hotels, a high-performance daylighting system may initially require a significant investment. However, if the project team uses an integrated, strategic design approach, the greenhotels overall long-term savings will make up for any initial dollars spent on daylighting.

Rising energy costs, environmental impact, and green design has compelled green hotels across the country to find economical alternatives and adapt new ideas, or in this case, reconsider old ideas made new again.

GREEN TEAMS Final Part 6: Align Green Teams with Corporate Sustainability Goals

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Integrating sustainability through employee and guest involvement is essential for the success of your hotel’s ongoing green operations and programs. We have covered numerous topics in this GREEN TEAM series including focusing on internal operations, engaging employees to capture ideas, best practices to engaging employees to be part of the solution, using art to raise awareness and creating a toolkit to support and guide green teams. Our final focus ties everything back to corporate sustainability goals to take your green teams to the next level.

Align Green Teams with Corporate Sustainability Goals

To take your green team to the next level your hotel should link them to the corporate sustainability goals. One way to incorporate this is to have a staff person from the corporate sustainability program lead the green team, which will provide synergies between the corporate objectives and the green team programs.

Other strategies to help link green teams to corporate sustainability goals include:

  • Create a paid in-house position to oversee the green team or hire a consultant to help
  • Integrate sustainability metrics into employee’s performance goals
  • Link bonuses/compensation to sustainability goals
  • Create a senior-level, cross-functional team that brings department heads from key departments together to link sustainability intitiatives to green team initiatives
  • Train employees to understand which sustainability issues are important to the business by setting the context and help employees understand that their small actions can make a difference

Intel is a good example of company-wide support for environmental performance. They have tied a component of every employee’s bonus to the company’s environmental performance. One year, a portion of the bonus, was tied to reducing their carbon footprint.

Intel found that their green teams were active enough that it made sense to have a corporate convening structure to help align their activities with corporate initiatives. “We aren’t trying to dictate everything that they do, because so much of what is important to them is what is important at their locale,”  explains Carrie Freeman, Corporate Sustainability Strategist at Intel.

“We didn’t want to hamper the green team efforts, but we also wanted some alignment with our corporate initiatives,” continues Freeman.

The hotel industry should refer to the pioneers of “greening” even if the companies are not in the hospitality industry.They have spend countless hours and funds into research and development of sustainability programs and structures. It is a good place to start and play ideas off of.

The green teams at Intel still have the latitude to focus issues of interest, such as planting on-site organic gardens or reduce shopping bag use, but for 2009 they were also asked to help incorporate awareness, communication and education on reducing office energy use, providing some alignment with their carbon reduction goal.

Sustainable hotel business expert Scott Parisi stresses that getting your employees to green your hotel operations is where the greatest value lies. Along with Andrew Winston author of Green Recovery, Scott also challenges hoteliers to, “Ask your employees to focus team efforts on innovating to reduce energy use or to design new products that satisfy green-minded customers. Green teams, if used right, can morph from mainly engagement tools to something even more fundamentally valuable to the business.”

Green teams can be a great ally and resource for creating excitement around new green ways of doing business.

Conclusion

Engaging employees is not an easy territory with a simple formula for success, but rather an art than science. Harnessing the power of green teams and aligning their efforts with corporate goals is a learning edge for most hotels.

While the best practices outlined through the series provides ideas to get started, challenges do exist. Some key challenges a hotel might face as they dive into green teams include:

  • Metrics: It is critical as a business to track what success looks like. However, it is not always easy to gather data on progress. Software tools are becoming available to help green teams track results.
  • Engaging business units/departments: This is a key challenge especially when they are not interested in sustainability issues. It is important to articulate the business case in terms that are meaningful to them.
  • Strategic versus grassroots: Corporate needs to decide if it makes sense to link employee activities to the corporate strategy or give them the flexibility to address issue at individual hotel locations.
  • Volunteer or paid time: Do employees implement ideas on their own time or is it part of the job? In these strained economic times, what is the best way to reassure employees that they will not be penalized for participating in a green team?
  • Corporate structure without losing the grassroots passion: Another challenge is how to manage the tensions between providing enough structure to link green team activities to a corporate strategy, without losing their grassroots energy, creativity and passion.

Green Teams

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A hybrid structure is evolving where a “corporate green team” is created to bring staff from all departments together to help implement and support strategic sustainability initiatives. They also act as a cross-functional umbrella group to screen ideas, identify resources, provide support and help link green team activities with corporate sustainability objectives.

Click here to access a basic outline of getting started and effective ideas:
Best Green Practices & Green Teams

Green Team Series

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Making the Business Case

Part 3: Getting Started, Emerging Trends and Best Practices

Part 4: Get Senior Management Involved and Engage Employees

Part 5: Engage Customers to be Part of the Solution

Part 6: Align Green Teams with Corporate Sustainability Goals

Taking the Next Step in Creating Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

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Last month EcoGreenHotel highlighted the hospitality industry’s role in helping to build the infrastructure to make electric vehicles a common site on streets and highways throughout the country. This month we are going to explore the concept at greater length and offer a vision for the very near future.

If you have read the headlines over the last three months, it is clear that momentum is building for 2011 to be the year for full-scale launch of electric vehicles in the US. Here are just a few highlights:

  • Enterprise Rent-A-Car will offer 500 Leaf all-electric cars to customers in Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Phoenix, Knoxville/Nashville, and Seattle beginning January 2011.
  • President Obama pledges to bring 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to U.S. Highways by 2015.
  • CNN reports Coulomb Technologies said it will build 4,600 electric vehicle-charging stations in nine regions of the U.S., funded by $37 million in grants.
  • Chicago gets geared up for electric vehicles.
  • Texas State Fair will feature an Electric Vehicle Showcase, sponsored by General Motors, US Green Building Council, North Central Texas Council Of Governments and North Texas Clean Air Coalition.

How can the hospitality industry participate and capitalize on the momentum? It’s easier than you think. Charging stations take up very little space in the parking lot with the typical two parking space arrangement. More importantly in these tough economic times, they are eligible to receive Federal Tax Credits for up to 50% of the installation cost until the end of 2010. In addition there are numerous state and local rebates and incentives to reduce the initial costs.  www.pluginamerica.org/incentives.shtm

Hotels make for ideal charging spots in a regional charging infrastructure since typical ‘fill-ups’ can take up to 8 hours using 220-volt and 20 hours using 110-volt. Let’s be honest, travelers aren’t going to spend 4 to 5 hours at a gas station even with the worst case of “range anxiety”.  Hotel lobbies, restaurants and pools provide a welcome retreat for long distance travelers and local EV owners looking for a place to recharge their batteries.

As an example of forward thinking in North Texas, the Sheraton in downtown Dallas converted three garage parking spaces into electric vehicle plug-in charging stations using standard electric conduit at the beginning of this summer. “We’ve had 15-20 guests use the charging station for their electric vehicles since we’ve installed them. It’s more than we initially expected.  Plus, when guests are not using the stations, we lease the spaces to a local mobile advertising company to charge their EV mobile billboards overnight. The small investment has already paid for itself” Steve White, Sheraton Dallas Hotel Manager.

Looking further into the future, electric vehicle manufacturers are rolling out larger vehicles that can be used as shuttle vans. Electric Mobile Cars’ 7-Passenger mini-van has a maximum 220-mile range at 75mph. It’s ‘Fill-up’ is 75% less expensive than its combustion engine cousins. With inexpensive fuel costs and large space, it is an ideal no-emissions green airport shuttle for a hotel to reduce operational costs.  www.emc4u.com

Heading into the next decade of the new millennium, pioneering green hotels will be at the forefront to provide a source of power to create a more sustainable future than their competitors. If you have any questions on charging stations, electric vehicles or green hotels, please contact info@ecogreenhotel.com