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8/19/2010
VINEYARD HAVEN, MASS.—Until this summer, the 16,000 gallons of groundwater that runs below the Mansion House Inn, Health Club & Spa was a nuisance. Because the inn’s subbasement sits in the middle of the groundwater, the water constantly had to be pumped away to protect the structure. Now, the water is an asset. How so? It stores energy not only from the sun above the inn but also energy pumped into it via a sophisticated geothermal heat pump system. For Sherman and Susan Goldstein, the inn’s owners, realizing the water’s potential was like striking gold.
8/5/2010
ALBUQUERQUE—In keeping with its commitment of being one of the most eco-conscious hotels in the country, the historic Hotel Andaluz—formerly La Posada de Albuquerque—used a mere 300,000 gallons of water for the entire month of May this year. That compares with 1.2 million gallons of water that the La Posada used in May 2004 and 730,000 gallons in May 2005—the last two years it was open. Since Hotel Andaluz opened in October 2009, the hotel is consuming an average of 770,000 gallons of water less per month than its predecessor, the La Posada.
7/26/2010
BETHESDA, MD.—The Courtyard Charleston/Summerville in South Carolina will be the first hotel built using Marriott International’s green hotel prototype, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This will dramatically accelerate the company’s goal to have 300 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotels by 2015. Marriott is the first in the hospitality industry to launch a green hotel prototype that has been pre-approved by USGBC as part of its LEED Volume program.
7/15/2010
DALLAS—Motel 6’s newest property in Northlake, Texas, is the first economy hotel in the nation to attain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the first hotel for parent company Accor to gain the distinction. “With the brand’s ‘Phoenix’ prototype, we are setting the pace for the future of Motel 6, which, in line with our values, must be as energy-efficient as possible,” said Olivier Poirot, CEO of Accor North America, Motel 6 and Studio 6.
7/8/2010
HEALDSBURG, CALIF.—The July 4 holiday weekend turned out to be a good time to open for the new water-themed h2hotel in California’s Northern Sonoma Wine Country. The four-story, 36-room hotel sold out—a good sign for the owners of the $19 million property. A collaboration among David Baker + Partners, the architect responsible for the AIA design award-winning Hotel Healdsburg, Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture, and Marie Fisher and Jen Gadiel Interior Design, h2hotel is primed to earn a LEED Gold certification.
7/2/2010
BOSTON—Spend some time chatting with Brian Gorski, director of engineering at the 498-room Hyatt Regency Boston and you will quickly understand how the all-electric hotel has been able to slice its annual power consumption by a whopping 42 percent—from 12.3 million kilowatt hours of usage per year to 7.1 million. The drop in energy consumption did not happen in just one year but over a time period of approximately 10 to 12 years when approximately $3 million was spent on improvements in infrastructure, equipment and other systems to improve energy efficiency.
6/21/2010
SAN FRANCISCO—In partnership with Marshall’s Farm, cxecutive chef jW Foster of The Fairmont San Francisco has installed honey beehives in the hotel’s new culinary garden in order to help support the bee population, which has decreased in number by 90 percent since the 1980s. Beekeepers established four nascent beehives, each containing approximately 20,000 bees, in the culinary garden that is located outdoors on the hotel’s lobby level. When the beehives mature in four to eight weeks, they will each house up to 50,000 bees.
6/14/2010
NORMAN, OKLA.—Oklahoma’s largest hotel and conference center has become the first property to earn the highest sustainable travel certification offered by ECO—Encouraging Conservation in Oklahoma—the state’s sustainable travel program. The National Center for Employee Development (NCED) earned the Platinum Travel Standard certification by implementing sustainability programs. Hardy Watkins, Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department executive director, said the NCED is a good sustainability practices model for conference centers. “Since NCED is the largest conference facility in the state, its environmental impact is significant,” Watkins said.
6/3/2010
WHITEFIELD, N.H.—Visitors to the Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa can’t miss the 121-foot wind turbine that stands like a tall white tree behind the 144-room hotel. The 100-kilowatt system has been up and running since late last September. According to Gene Ehlert, marketing manager for the resort and spa, it is too soon to know exactly what percentage of the property’s electricity needs it will eventually meet, but he said the $500,000 turbine has been meeting about 15 percent of the property’s electricity needs so far. From September 25, 2009, through April 26, 2010, thanks to the turbine, Mountain View Grand avoided producing an estimated 36,375 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.
5/25/2010
MARKHAM, ONT.—The Algonquin Eco-Lodge—located at the southern tip of Algonquin Provincial Park near Bancroft, Ontario—flipped the switch on a unique project that will use the natural power of water to provide electricity for the lodge. Nestled on the shore of picturesque Moffat Pond, the lodge boasts true tranquillity as guests hike in and regular vehicle traffic is nonexistent. However, this peacefulness comes at the cost of being off the power grid. With a desire to make the Algonquin Eco-Lodge more comfortable for guests, lodge owner Robin Banerjee embarked on a challenging mission to set up a simple yet effective means of harnessing energy.
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