RENO, NEV.—The capital costs and the environmental impact of operating a large resort hotel almost always coincide. Heating, laundry, lighting, landscaping—they all have an impact on both a resort’s bottom line and the natural environment.
Hotels have the opportunity to save money and save the environment at the same time, but launching conservation projects that significantly reduce a hotel’s environmental footprint and operating budget takes strategy, some innovative thinking and a commitment to capitalize conservation efforts.
Here are five ways The Peppermill Resort, Spa, Casino saves millions of dollars each year while conserving water and energy and reducing the resort’s overall environmental footprint.
Geothermal Heating
The Peppermill made a huge bet on geothermal energy in 2011, sinking almost $10 million into a project that would heat the entire 2-million-square-foot resort hotel property, including The Peppermill’s swimming pools and hot tubs.
Today, that bet is paying off big time. The resort’s annual $2.2 million natural gas bills are gone, and the hotel’s boilers sit idle. All the heat is now piped in from a reservoir of 174-degree water more than 4,000 feet beneath The Peppermill’s parking lot.
Not all resort properties are located on top of productive geothermal reservoirs, but many hotels have sustainable heating or energy options available to them. Solar, wind, and hydroelectric power are all worth exploring, especially as heating and energy prices rise.
Astroturf
The Peppermill recently removed over 30,000 square feet of lawn and replaced it with AstroTurf, conserving over 5.1 million gallons of water each year, and decreasing fertilizer and pesticide use. The Peppermill, like many resort hotels in the West, is located in a dry and hot summer climate where maintaining landscaping requires large amounts of water and consistent care. The AstroTurf brings some green to the resort’s common areas, without using large amounts of water. Many guests never know that the immaculate lawn they are looking at is actually not alive at all.
Laundry Water Recycling
One of The Peppermill’s wisest conservation investments was the purchase of a $180,000 laundry water recycling system that allows 83 percent of the water used in the resort’s seven-stage washing machine to be reclaimed and reused. The system paid for itself in seven months, and continues to save the resort an average of $220,000 per year in reduced water bills.
LED Lighting
The Peppermill recently pulled out 406 1,000-watt halide parking lot lights and replaced them with new, energy-efficient LED lighting that uses as much as 90 percent less energy than the old lights. The project was a substantial investment, totaling approximately $315,000. But the energy savings is equally impressive. The Peppermill expects to pay back that capital investment with lower electricity bills in less than two years, after which the resort will continue to reap energy savings for years to come. The LED lighting conversion was financed in part by NV Energy’s Sure Bet Incentive program, which contributed a $92,000 rebate toward the project.
Paperless HR
The Peppermill went virtually paperless in its human resources and administration departments, converting all documents to digital processes. The conversion required an investment in new software systems, but is paying off in a large reduction in paper use and savings in printer paper and office supplies.
Going green is an investment, but hotels can benefit in many ways. Conservation programs save money, conserve resources, and often encourage hotel and lodging executives to look at their business in more analytical ways. Paperless systems might be put in place to increase conservation, but they also encourage efficiency. Energy saving programs reduce electricity bills, but also give ownership and management an opportunity to evaluate and analyze business practices.
The Peppermill continues to evaluate all of its operations, seeking new ways to reduce the hotel’s environmental impact and operating costs as new technologies and new opportunities continue to arise.
Dean Parker is the Executive Director of The Peppermill Resort, Spa, Casino in Reno, Nev. The resort is a Gold level member of TripAdvisor’s GreenLeaders program.
