Energy Star takes guesswork out of energy planning

Hotel & Motel Management, Feb 7, 2005 by Stacey Mieyal Higgins

For hoteliers serious about cutting down on energy usage, Energy Star planning tools and products cut out some of the legwork, according to industry executives.

Energy Star products meet efficiency criteria set by the Environmental Protection Agency or the U.S. Department of Energy.

Rising energy costs have made efficiency an important aspect of business operations, said Tedd Saunders, co-owner and executive v.p. of The Saunders Hotel Group and president of EcoLogical Solutions in Boston.

The Saunders Hotel Group owns and operates three hotels in the Boston area. The 212-room Lenox Hotel and the 208-room Comfort Inn & Suites Boston /Airport earned Energy Star labels for energy efficiency.

Saunders recommended Energy Star's online benchmarking program to measure energy usage at a hotel.

"This tool helps you really understand if you are doing a good job on efficiency or can implement improvement--which directly benefit your energy costs and bottom line," he said. "In terms of building performance, it's the best tool out there that is available to everybody and can give you valuable insights."

Energy management is a priority at Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which manages 33 national and state park lodging facilities.

The company uses its proprietary metrics system, ecologix, to track energy performance. Xanterra has a goal to reduce its gross energy consumption from 1985 levels by 30 percent by 2005 and 35 percent by 2010.

At the Furnace Creek Ranch Resort at Death Valley National Park, Calif., switching to Energy Star packaged terminal air conditioning units helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions as part of the hotel's environmental management plan.

"At Death Valley, we would be fools to not use the most efficient rated PTAC units," said Chris Lane, senior director of environmental affairs for Xanterra. "All of our air conditioning units that Energy Star rates--it's a certification that says the product passed a quality standard. We don't have time to be researching every product."

Installing 60 high-efficiency, Energy Star window units, retrofitting lights with cool-temperature compact fluorescent bulbs and shutting down areas during low-visitation periods contributed to the decrease in carbon dioxide emissions at the property.

Measuring up

Hilton Hotels Corp. measures energy usage at its owned and managed properties to track energy savings and to submit information for Energy Star programs and awards.

The Energy Star Partner of the Year award, which recognizes successful strategic energy management plans and demonstrated environmental leadership, re-quires that companies provide detailed energy performance and planning information.

Hilton, which was an Energy Star Partner of the Year in 2001, uses the Ei3 energy-management system.

"This system allows us at the property level to track energy consumption either automatically or manually and then submit this information to Energy Star directly to score each property," said Andrew Popp, manager of engineering and housekeeping systems.

Saunders agreed that looking at energy performance can lead to improvements.

"When you focus on any part of the operation it improves, the very act of paying more attention to something all but ensures you find ways to fine tune it or create entirely new solutions," he said.

Conserving energy and improving energy efficiency internally and at the property level are initiatives in the company's S.H.I.N.E. (Saunders Hotel Initiatives to Nurture the Environment) program.

Take control

Shutting things off is a powerful energy saver, according to Lane.

"Use the technology--dimmers, setbacks, shutdowns, timers, occupancy sensors and Energy Misers on vending machines at remote locations," he said.

The biggest push at Hilton is guestroom thermostat controls, Popp said.

"A lot of people didn't realize they needed to control that," he said. "Each year, properties are asked to reduce energy costs and consumption by 5 percent. They need to find out how."

The Hilton property operations manual will include recommendations to install Energy Star thermostat products, Popp said.

Saunders agreed that thermostat controls and lighting controls and sensors are important.

"If lights are being left on despite training to tell the staff to turn off a light when you leave, then motion sensors make sense," he said.

Every room attendants' closet in the Copley Square Hotel and the Comfort Inn Boston/Airport has a motion sensor.

All three Saunders properties have thermostat controls. The Lenox has digital thermostats with motion sensors in public spaces. The other two properties have thermostats with infrared motion sensors.

At the South Rim of the Grand Canyon operation, which is an Energy Star Partner, Xanterra installed 247 occupancy sensing, digital thermostats and reported a 10 percent to 20 percent energy savings.

The consensus among the industry executives was that Energy Star products and tools ultimately help to save time and reduce energy costs.

"One of the things that struck me in going through the process, whether dealing with new or historic hotels, is that the Energy Star products and tools can work for any property," Saunders said.