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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

l 0

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.

.EIII:' \ !

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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