Hidden Valley Paluma Townsville Solar Energy

WELCOME

PRESENTED BY ROSS MCLENNAN

MEET THE FAMILY

LOCATION

HISTORY

1986 1987

Purchased

Hidden Valley Cabins

1988

swimming pool

Entertainment area,

installed 12 volt lighting

cabin 5 as a template for

others

5 more individual cabins

existing 4 rooms,

adjoining to toilet block

40 seat restaurant

Demolished

shop, bar and

dinning room

and rebuilt to

include

storeroom

including a

cold room.

1989

Built new

owners

residence

1992 1993 1997

Demolished existing residence

and started building BBQ area on

same site.

Finished

BBQ

area

Leased

Hidden

Valley

Cabins

Returned

to Hidden

Valley

Cabins

2005

Installed 600 watt

inverter and 6 x

2volt batteries to

power TV, VCR, TV salillite dish and

computer in owners

residence.

2000

Installed 1500 watt, 24

volt inverter with 2

battery banks of 600

amp/h x 24 volt. This

was to power

refrigerators when

generator wasn’t

running.

ROSS & CHELS HISTORY• Travelled around the world and lived in United Kingdom and

Canada

•Love for nature and environment

•Learnt a lot about carbon footprint and environmental issues

•Tourism was the right industry for us

•Chelsea – Marketing degree & Ross – business experience

POSITIVES & NEGATIVES OF

HIDDEN VALLEY CABINS

POSITIVES• Location & Remoteness: HVC is in an isolated setting, surrounded by a 90 square mile cattle station.

•The setting: Pristine bush setting and outback ambience.

•Proximity: Outstanding natural attractions

•The drive to HVC: Guests travel through a variety of eco-systems

•The weather: Mild weather, invariably fine for almost all the year

• The Historic and Natural Environment: The area has a fascinating history and our family has been a part of this history

POSITIVES•The Architecture: Unique hand-crafted furniture, architecture and landscaping, using local timber.

NEGATIVES• Location & Remoteness: HVC is in an isolated setting, surrounded by a 90 square mile cattle station.

•No council amenities: e.g. waste, power, water, sewage etc…

•No drive by trade: Like on a major highway

•Destination: Hidden Valley isn’t on the map, Townsville our major regional hub is getting there – domestic, not international

•Our road: 8.5km of gravel, which a council looks after and they just amalgamated

WE HAD TO TURN OUR

NEGATIVES INTO POSITIVES

IDEAS•Introduce tours: Both On-site and off-site tours, including viewing Platypus, nocturnal walk and Running River gorge safari.

RESEARCH

•Started researching: Through the various bodies

•Tourism Australia www.tra.australia.com

•Tourism Queensland www.tq.com.au

•Townsville Enterprise (RTO) www.townsvilleonline.com.au

STARTED TO LINE UP THE

POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES

BIGGEST PROBLEMS 1. Power

2. Carbon Footprint

“Living next to outstanding natural attractions such as the world’s oldest living rainforest and we have a 110 million year old egg

laying mammal swimming in our creek next door. It our responsibility to protect that!”

OPTIONS

1. Running Diesel Generators: Not environmentally friendly. Very loud. Very time consuming, very labor intensive and expensive

2. Solar power the entire resort: Ian’s experience with solar power over the past 15 years was critical

WHICH ONE WOULD YOU PREFER?

OK GREAT IDEA BUT HOW

DOES THIS RELATIVE TO THE BIG PICTURE?

WHATS NEXT?•Had a meeting with Townsville Enterprise – Loved it!

•Tourism Queensland – Loved it!

•Tourism Australia – www.tra.australia.com

•Common sense – linking your product with tourism bodies

SOLAR POWER

1. Knowing how much power you need – Energy Audit

2. Installed a meter

3. Recorded our daily usages for 4 months

4. Worked out how we can save energy

SAVING ENERGY• Every Watt is sacred

• Lighting

• Refrigeration

• Appliances – switching them off over night and sourcing energy efficient ones. Leaving a TV set on at the power point draws 20 watts per hour, 0.48 KWH per day, 1226.4 KWH per year, resulting in 1.2

tonnes of CO2 emissions.

• Changing menus

• After 7 months – WE’RE READY!

SOLAR POWER1. Knowing how much power you need – Energy Audit

2. Installed a meter

3. Recorded our daily usages for 4 months

4. Worked out how we save energy

5. Design and Purchase a Solar Power System

AUSTRALIA

SOLAR POWER

SYSTEM1. Got a quote

• 1st Quote $530 000

• 2nd Quote $187 000, difference $343 000, quote came from 1 Alternative way, Nimbin NSW

• Rainbow Power Company www.rpc.com.au

2. Installed Solar Power System 16th December 2007

• 18 months of research

• 10 days to build it

• Final cost $75 000

• In 1st year of operation, will save 26 000 litres of diesel and 78 tonnes of C02 emissions

SOLAR POWER

SYSTEM

SOLAR POWER

SYSTEM

SYSTEM PAYBACK

PERIOD

• Under two years in diesel alone

• $1.2 million saving over the next 20 years

• Approximately 1.5 hours of maintenance per month

CARBON NEUTRAL

• HVC commissioned Climate Friendly to complete in-house audits to reduce carbon emissions

• purchased carbon credits to make HVC the first resort (and tour business) in Australia to be carbon-neutral.

CARBON NEUTRAL

ECO-CERTIFIED

• Received accreditation on 4th April 2008

• Eco-Tourism Australia www.ecotourism.org.au

• Best submission they has received to date

MARKETING

• No advertising budget – have to be creative

• News & Magazines Articles

• Television

• Blogs & Forums

• Media Releases

• http://www.hiddenvalleycabins.com.au/MediaPage.htm

OTHER SUSTAINABLE

PRACTICES

ENVIRONMENT

Solar Power:

Australia’s

1st solar powered

resortWater Conservation

Waste Management

Recycling. All

aluminum cans are recycled

Native Plants

Buildings. Built to

blend with the natural environment

Power Conservation.Replacing light bulbs with

energy saving compact fluorescents.

Exotic Plant removal

Walking Tracks

Accreditations & Committees

Education

Carbon AuditNature

based activities

EDUCATION• Built an interpretive Centre

• Developed renewable energy workshops in conjunction with Tourism Queensland

• During check-in, guests are informed about power conservation and our renewable energy system.

• Guests presented with a “Certificate of Sustainability” during check-out

• Information in the compendiums about our sustainability initiatives

CHANGE

• Tourism as an industry has the chance to lead

SMALL ACTIONS

• Hidden Valley Cabins is just a small family run business. We do not have huge amounts of money

• THE HARDER I WORK THE LUCKIER I GET

THANK YOU

For more information, please visit

www.hiddenvalleycabins.com.au

www.tq.com.au/sustainability