Most of you have heard the phrase "chief cook and bottle washer" used to describe someone who does just about everything in a business. That is not a title, however, that one is likely to see on a business card. During my time as editor ("chief cook and bottle washer") of Green Lodging News, I have seen some pretty creative titles. For example, Pineapple Hospitality, an industry supplier that is connected to a number of different businesses, just named Dave Janicke as CBO of its FreshStay website. FreshStay is a portal leading to hotels that offer 100 percent nonsmoking environments. Can you guess what CBO stands for? Chief Breathing Officer. In addition to other tasks, it will be Dave's job to help develop Version 3.0 of the FreshStay website.
While CBO is certainly creative, two of the craziest titles I have seen are used at the Boulder Outlook Hotel & Suites in Boulder, Colo. There, owner Dan King is known as the Ambassador of Cool and environmental champion Diane Schevene carries the title of Green Goddess. The Boulder property is well known in green lodging circles for its zero waste program.
Creative, crazy titles certainly make "work" a heckuva lot more fun. What crazy titles have you seen in our industry? If you could change your boring title to a more exciting one, what would it be? I will look forward to hearing from you.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Xanterra Lands The Governator for Dedication
In a previous post and in a column on Green Lodging News I wrote about Xanterra Parks & Resorts' one-megawatt solar photovoltaic installation in Death Valley, California. The installation covers five acres in the 3.3 million-acre Death Valley National Park—the sunniest place in the country. I had an opportunity to visit the solar project recently. It meets more than one-third of the total annual electricity needs of Xanterra's Furnace Creek Inn, Furnace Creek Ranch, Furnace Creek Golf Course, employee offices and housing.
Since visiting the site, Xanterra has made two announcements regarding the official dedication of the installation scheduled for Tuesday, December 16. In the first announcement, officials revealed that celebrity and environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. would be on hand for the ceremony. In the second announcement, Xanterra revealed that another important guest had been added to the lineup for the opening—Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Xanterra's public relations team of Tom and Mona Mesereau have done a great job putting together this event.
Upon completion of an important green initiative at your property, what kind of dedication ceremony did you have? Or, maybe you did not have one at all? If so, why not? Even if an announcement just warrants local government officials, hotel company representatives and staff, it can be very worthwhile, especially if you invite the media and publicize properly with a well-written press release. If you do something worth crowing about, don't be afraid to tell the world. You are, in fact, in business to make a profit as well as help the environment.
Since visiting the site, Xanterra has made two announcements regarding the official dedication of the installation scheduled for Tuesday, December 16. In the first announcement, officials revealed that celebrity and environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. would be on hand for the ceremony. In the second announcement, Xanterra revealed that another important guest had been added to the lineup for the opening—Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Xanterra's public relations team of Tom and Mona Mesereau have done a great job putting together this event.
Upon completion of an important green initiative at your property, what kind of dedication ceremony did you have? Or, maybe you did not have one at all? If so, why not? Even if an announcement just warrants local government officials, hotel company representatives and staff, it can be very worthwhile, especially if you invite the media and publicize properly with a well-written press release. If you do something worth crowing about, don't be afraid to tell the world. You are, in fact, in business to make a profit as well as help the environment.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
DNC at Yellowstone Earns EcoStar Award
Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts at Yellowstone National Park recently received a 2008 EcoStar Award for its successful and efficient waste reduction efforts at the historic park. EcoStar Awards are given to companies and organizations leading the way in pollution prevention. Delaware North expects to recycle more than 175,000 pounds of cardboard and 2,000 pounds of paper at Yellowstone this year. The company will also recycle more than 28,000 pounds of glass and 17,000 pounds of plastic in 2008.
The award is an extension of the success of Delaware North’s GreenPath, the company’s award-winning and innovative resource-management system. Delaware North associates at Yellowstone and all company operations are trained in the values and practices of GreenPath. The program also keeps company associates constantly looking for ways to improve environmental initiatives. The EcoStar Awards were developed in 2000 and recognize the companies, organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions and commitments to the environment. This year, more than two dozen businesses and organizations focused on pollution prevention and championing the sustainability movement will be honored.
The award is an extension of the success of Delaware North’s GreenPath, the company’s award-winning and innovative resource-management system. Delaware North associates at Yellowstone and all company operations are trained in the values and practices of GreenPath. The program also keeps company associates constantly looking for ways to improve environmental initiatives. The EcoStar Awards were developed in 2000 and recognize the companies, organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions and commitments to the environment. This year, more than two dozen businesses and organizations focused on pollution prevention and championing the sustainability movement will be honored.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Hotel Developer Pursuing LEED Platinum
California's Napa Valley, already home to the LEED Gold-certified Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa in American Canyon, will welcome another green gem in early February. The Bardessono, a 62-room luxury hotel with a 92-seat restaurant, is being developed by Phil Sherburne and is located in Yountville. Sherburne previously developed the Willow Lodge in Woodinville, Wash., and joined with two partners to develop the Inn of the Spanish Garden in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Much of the wood used in the construction of the Bardessono was sourced within 100 miles of the site. Each building's flat roof is fitted with a carefully concealed photovoltaic solar collector and reflective material. A 200-kilowatt solar energy system will provide a significant portion of the Bardessono's electrical energy requirement. Eighty-two 300-foot geothermal wells were drilled to work with a specially developed ground source heat pump system to heat and cool rooms and heat domestic water. Guestrooms are constructed to minimize solar heat gain with wide overhangs and motor-controlled venetian exterior blinds. Motion sensors will determine room occupancy and turn off lights and electrical devices. Guestrooms will feature organic cotton bed linens, towels and robes, and kitchen waste will be composted in an "Earth Tub."
With a goal of achieving Platinum LEED certification, the developer has invested at least 10 percent more than conventional construction would have required. Be sure to look for more details on the the Bardessono soon at Green Lodging News.
Much of the wood used in the construction of the Bardessono was sourced within 100 miles of the site. Each building's flat roof is fitted with a carefully concealed photovoltaic solar collector and reflective material. A 200-kilowatt solar energy system will provide a significant portion of the Bardessono's electrical energy requirement. Eighty-two 300-foot geothermal wells were drilled to work with a specially developed ground source heat pump system to heat and cool rooms and heat domestic water. Guestrooms are constructed to minimize solar heat gain with wide overhangs and motor-controlled venetian exterior blinds. Motion sensors will determine room occupancy and turn off lights and electrical devices. Guestrooms will feature organic cotton bed linens, towels and robes, and kitchen waste will be composted in an "Earth Tub."
With a goal of achieving Platinum LEED certification, the developer has invested at least 10 percent more than conventional construction would have required. Be sure to look for more details on the the Bardessono soon at Green Lodging News.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
'Green' Premier Inn Tamworth Set to Open
Premier Inn, the United Kingdom's largest and fastest-growing hotel operator, will open its new Tamworth hotel in Staffordshire on Monday, December 8. The flagship green hotel brings together the very best environmental initiatives from Premier Inn's parent company Whitbread, whose approach to the environment is focused on reducing waste and increasing efficiency.
The flagship site will reduce energy consumption by up to 80 percent and is a test-bed for Premier Inn to trial the best green technologies currently available, to see which are viable for their hotels in the future. With Premier Inn's target of 55,000 guestrooms within five years, the Tamworth project has the potential to transform how Premier Inn procures property and construction services. The combination of building materials and low carbon technologies being used at Tamworth is not matched anywhere else in Britain.
Ground-source heat pumps use the earth's natural energy to cool and heat rooms and provide hot water throughout the hotel. Grey water recycling meets 100 percent of the hotel's toilet water needs, saving 20 percent of the hotel's entire water use. The hotel includes high efficiency thermal and acoustic insulation and low energy motion sensor LED lighting. Solar panels will provide enough hot water for 1,000 baths a year.
Premier Inn's commitment to the environment has been welcomed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Carbon Trust in the expectation that others in the sector will follow Premier Inn's positive lead. Says Alan Parker, CEO of Whitbread, "This hotel is truly groundbreaking in that this combination of technologies has never been used before in the U.K. They were chosen from a range of initiatives that we believe deliver the most positive social and environmental impact on future hotel builds."
The flagship site will reduce energy consumption by up to 80 percent and is a test-bed for Premier Inn to trial the best green technologies currently available, to see which are viable for their hotels in the future. With Premier Inn's target of 55,000 guestrooms within five years, the Tamworth project has the potential to transform how Premier Inn procures property and construction services. The combination of building materials and low carbon technologies being used at Tamworth is not matched anywhere else in Britain.
Ground-source heat pumps use the earth's natural energy to cool and heat rooms and provide hot water throughout the hotel. Grey water recycling meets 100 percent of the hotel's toilet water needs, saving 20 percent of the hotel's entire water use. The hotel includes high efficiency thermal and acoustic insulation and low energy motion sensor LED lighting. Solar panels will provide enough hot water for 1,000 baths a year.
Premier Inn's commitment to the environment has been welcomed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Carbon Trust in the expectation that others in the sector will follow Premier Inn's positive lead. Says Alan Parker, CEO of Whitbread, "This hotel is truly groundbreaking in that this combination of technologies has never been used before in the U.K. They were chosen from a range of initiatives that we believe deliver the most positive social and environmental impact on future hotel builds."
Friday, December 5, 2008
New Building Requirements in San Francisco
Hotel developers planning to build new properties in San Francisco will have to pay close attention to a new GreenPoints rating system run by Build It Green (BIG), a Bay area nonprofit dedicated to “healthy, energy and resource-efficient buildings in California.” Effective beginning in 2009, all new buildings and renovation projects in San Francisco will be held to environmental regulation under the GreedPoints system.
Paralleling LEED Certification, the GreenPoints system will increase restrictions each successive year until 2012, when all projects must have 75 GreenPoints, equivalent to a LEED Silver certification. In four years, the code is expected to eliminate 60,000 tons of CO2, save 220,000 megawatt hours of power, conserve 100 million gallons of drinking water, reduce waste and storm water by 90 million gallons, trim construction and demolition waste by 700 million pounds, increase recycled materials’ value by $200 million, curb auto miles by 540,000, and generate 37,000 megawatt hours with green power.
This July, the California Building Standards Commission adopted minimal green building standards but charged “local government [to] retain their discretion to exceed the standards established by this code.” According to BIG, more than 100 local governments have expanded on the statewide standards, and 30 of those have mandatory environmental requirements. Click here to read more.
Paralleling LEED Certification, the GreenPoints system will increase restrictions each successive year until 2012, when all projects must have 75 GreenPoints, equivalent to a LEED Silver certification. In four years, the code is expected to eliminate 60,000 tons of CO2, save 220,000 megawatt hours of power, conserve 100 million gallons of drinking water, reduce waste and storm water by 90 million gallons, trim construction and demolition waste by 700 million pounds, increase recycled materials’ value by $200 million, curb auto miles by 540,000, and generate 37,000 megawatt hours with green power.
This July, the California Building Standards Commission adopted minimal green building standards but charged “local government [to] retain their discretion to exceed the standards established by this code.” According to BIG, more than 100 local governments have expanded on the statewide standards, and 30 of those have mandatory environmental requirements. Click here to read more.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Our Industry's Largest Solar Installation
This past June, Xanterra Parks & Resorts completed one of the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems in the United States. Covering five acres of Southern California’s Death Valley National Park—a 3.3 million-acre park that is the sunniest place in the country—the one megawatt (MW) system will generate more than one-third of the total annual electricity needs of Xanterra’s operations in Death Valley, including the historic Furnace Creek Inn, Furnace Creek Ranch, Furnace Creek Golf Course, employee offices and housing. Xanterra’s facility is one of the largest privately owned PV energy systems in the country and easily the largest in the U.S. tourism industry. Xanterra fully owns the system and the energy it produces.
I will be visiting Death Valley National Park this weekend and will have a chance to see the solar installation up close. Be sure to visit Green Lodging News for coverage. Large solar installations, because of their cost, are still quite rare, but increasing numbers of lodging projects are including PV energy systems to meet a portion of the property's power needs. Depending on the state or province where one is located, the payback on an installation can be relatively short because of rebates and tax incentives. Andrew N. Todd, president and CEO of Denver-based Xanterra, says with the savings on energy costs, his company expects to break even on the project in just a few years.
Over the next 30 years, Xanterra's massive system—larger than five football fields—will eliminate the emission of more than 29,000 tons of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide—primary contributors to global warming, acid rain and smog. This reduction of pollution is equal to removing more than 5,100 cars from California’s highways.
I will be visiting Death Valley National Park this weekend and will have a chance to see the solar installation up close. Be sure to visit Green Lodging News for coverage. Large solar installations, because of their cost, are still quite rare, but increasing numbers of lodging projects are including PV energy systems to meet a portion of the property's power needs. Depending on the state or province where one is located, the payback on an installation can be relatively short because of rebates and tax incentives. Andrew N. Todd, president and CEO of Denver-based Xanterra, says with the savings on energy costs, his company expects to break even on the project in just a few years.
Over the next 30 years, Xanterra's massive system—larger than five football fields—will eliminate the emission of more than 29,000 tons of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide—primary contributors to global warming, acid rain and smog. This reduction of pollution is equal to removing more than 5,100 cars from California’s highways.
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