Home Energy Management Xanterra Receives National Park Award for Environmental Achievement

Xanterra Receives National Park Award for Environmental Achievement

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DENVER— National park and resort concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts has received the 2008 National Park Service Environmental Achievement Award for the company’s operations in Death Valley National Park. The award was given for exceptional achievement in sustainable energy practices.

More specifically, the award recognizes Xanterra’s completion of one of the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems in the United States—a five-acre one-megawatt (MW) system that will generate more than one-third of the total annual electricity needs of the company’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.

Positive Environmental Impact

Over the next 30 years, the 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. Xanterra has been steadily working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions for several years, and with the addition of the Death Valley system, the company expects total company-wide reductions to be more than 20 percent since 2000.

In 2007 Xanterra received National Park Service Environmental Achievement Awards for its environmental accomplishments in Crater Lake National Park, Petrified Forest National Park and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Department of Interior (DOI) awards were presented for operations in Yellowstone National Park and Zion National Park in 2006.

“Our company’s environmental mission is to find every way we can to reduce waste and conserve energy, while at the same time balancing economic viability with ecological responsibility,” said Andrew N. Todd, president and CEO of Denver-based Xanterra. “We consider it an honor when our client—the National Park Service—agrees that we are doing an award-winning job.”

Furnace Creek Receives Audubon Approval

Xanterra has implemented numerous programs to promote sustainable operations in Death Valley, one of the driest and hottest places on Earth. For example, the Furnace Creek Golf Course was certified by the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System (ACSS) as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary last year. Restaurants promote and serve sustainable cuisine, and its operations have received ISO 14001 International Environmental Management System Standard Certification.

Xanterra has become recognized as an environmental leader in the hospitality industry through its initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, construct buildings earning the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification, documenting its goals and accomplishment through third-party certified sustainability reports, implementing its own Guidelines for Environmentally Sustainable Design and Construction of buildings in national parks and receiving the prestigious ISO 14001 International Environmental Management System Standard Certification at its national park operations.

Xanterra is the first U.S. hospitality company to be granted the “Chain of Custody” certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to ensure sales of sustainably harvested wild Alaska salmon and has banned certain types of fish species deemed harmful to the environment because of harvesting practices or low species populations.

The company uses renewable wind energy to power a portion of electricity demands at seven national park locations, and it tracks and reports all of its natural resource usage and waste generation at all locations through a computerized tracking system.

Go to Xanterra.

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