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Westin Bonaventure Gets Green Seal, Eyes $1 Million in Savings

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LOS ANGELES—Last week, officials at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles announced that the property had received the city’s first Green Seal Silver Certification. In a press release announcing the honor, it was stated that the hotel expects to save approximately $225,000 a year because of its energy-saving and waste reduction initiatives. However, according to Steve Silva, chief engineer at the 1,354-room hotel, the Green Team has “just scratched the surface” of what can be saved and he expects the $225,000 number to eventually grow to $1 million a year. According to the online publication “blogdowntown,” the certification of the Westin Bonaventure is part of an effort by the City of Los Angeles and LA INC., the city’s convention and visitors bureau, and City Councilmember Richard Alarcon to launch an LA Green Lodging Program to encourage hotels to seek Green Seal certification.

The Green Seal Silver Certificate was awarded through Green Seal, an independent environmental nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. To receive the certification, the Westin Bonaventure had to pass a preliminary Green Seal inspection and continue to pass monthly inspections. As a part of the certification, the property now composts all leftover food from all food and beverage facilities inclusive of the restaurants and banquet events, reuses all wooden delivery pallets, participates in an extensive waste recycling program that is monitored monthly through a refuse account, adheres to an environmental purchasing policy and uses light sensors and energy efficient light bulbs. It also replaced all paper, plastic and Styrofoam dining products with reusable dishware and encourages guests to reuse towels and sheets.

According to chief engineer Steve Silva, lighting has been an area where the hotel has seen significant savings. In the hotel’s parking area, 100-watt metal halide bulbs have been replaced with 23-watt fluorescents.

“That will save us about $75 to $80 per year per fixture and we have about 80 fixtures,” Silva says, adding that new bulbs cost just $2,000.

Quick Payback on Lighting Retrofits

Throughout the hotel’s lobby and along its rooftops, 400-watt metal halide lamps were replaced with 100-watt fluorescents. Those new bulbs will pay for themselves through energy savings in just one year. In other areas of the hotel, LEDs have replaced less efficient bulbs.

By 2012, the hotel will have replaced all existing guestroom water fixtures with water conserving fixtures, including faucets, aerators, showers, toilets and waterless urinals, saving as much as 10 million gallons of water per year. Light sensors, currently operating in all 27 meeting rooms, also will be added to all hotel linen closets during the next five years.

According to Silva, the hotel is currently going through a renovation and is recycling its old furniture. Claudia Lambaren, senior operations coordinator at the Westin Bonaventure, says 21 tons of food waste was recycled from March through July of this year. It is recycled into fertilizer by an outside company that takes the waste.

“Our associates have really embraced our green initiative,” Lambaren says.

In the laundry, thanks to a water reclamation system, each washer saves 70 gallons each wash (9,000 gallons per day). The system was originally purchased in 2001 but was upgraded this year.

“We consider ‘greening’ the hotel to be our responsibility,” said Michael Czarcinski, managing director of the Westin Bonaventure. “By implementing these programs and monitoring them, we’re reinforcing that wasting resources is not an option. While some of these initiatives may seem simple, they’ve already made a noticeable difference in our energy use and waste output. The flick of a light switch is more significant than you think—particularly in a hotel of this size. This is not something that’s optional or just a trend. We’re in a position to make a great deal of difference by reducing our carbon footprint.”

Go to the Westin Bonaventure.

Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.

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