Tesla has built a huge following because of its sleek electric vehicles (EVs) but the company offers much more than EVs. It has also developed its own unique solar panels, solar tiles made from tempered glass, Powerwalls for home energy storage, and Powerpacks for larger-scale energy storage for buildings such as hotels.
I bring up Tesla because a California company, S2A Modular, is combining its modular building techniques with Tesla energy storage technology to make net zero hotels not only possible but affordable as well. What S2A Modular is doing has the potential to dramatically change our industry.
I spoke with John Rowland, Co-founder and President of S2A Modular, this past week and he told me his company is less than one year old but already has an 80-room hotel under development in northern California. It will require zero power from the grid and in fact could end up supplying electricity back to the grid—all thanks to Tesla technology and a modular structure engineered to be highly efficient.
Net Zero Hotels Can Be Built Throughout United States
Although their company is less than one year old, Rowland and his team bring years of modular building and Tesla technology experience to the table. They are currently building a factory in California where the modules for homes and commercial buildings will be assembled. Rowland told me his company can build a hotel anywhere in the United States. “We can facilitate orders with other factories we work with,” he says. “They will build to our specifications.”
The hotel in northern California will use a Tesla Powerpack to store energy for nighttime hours. Storage units are scaled up to meet the size of the hotel and its energy demands. Rowland says hotels his company will build will incorporate smart technology to help minimize energy consumption.
Cost is always a factor when building hotels, but Rowland says developers can cut 8 percent to 10 percent over traditional construction by using the methods engineered by S2A Modular. “A lot of that comes from the time savings,” he says.
S2A Modular is proving that modular construction and solar technology are great matches for one another—a great way to reduce the carbon impact of a hotel and easily the story of the year so far.
Green Lodging News Adds Quipworks Video to Vendor Videos Section
Green Lodging News has added a Quipworks Inc. video to the Vendor Videos section of its website. The video explains the many benefits of the GLSand—a compact glass bottle crusher that reduces bottles in volume by 10:1 to a safe to handle sand like product. The machine is designed for waste reduction, cost reduction and sustainability. The GLSand will provide a positive impact on a property’s waste reduction goals, and create a usable commodity for landscaping, pavement patching, pool filtration and other uses. The GLSand is quiet and easy to operate. It offers a crushing time of three to five seconds per bottle. A total of 160 small beer bottles or 60 wine or spirit bottles will fill a 5-gallon bucket. An optional lift is available for bulk transport of the sand like product. Dimensions: 23″ wide x 19″ deep x 53″ tall. Contact Fred Phillips at (888) 575-7847 or by e-mail at fred@quipworks.com.
How to Search on Our Website
Like other search engines you find online, a search using one word will produce articles with that word included. If you would like to search for something that is more than one word long—ozone laundry, for example—you will need to put quotation marks around the words or phrase. Ozone laundry would then be “ozone laundry” in the search.
Who is Your Sustainability Champion?
Green Lodging News is always looking to profile sustainability champions in our Personnel Profile section. If you would like to nominate someone for this section of Green Lodging News, contact me at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
Looking for Guest Columnists
Every two weeks Green Lodging News posts a new guest column on its website. (Click here for examples.) The guest column also appears in the weekly e-newsletter. Green Lodging News is currently in need of industry experts to contribute occasional guest columns. Experts may include consultants, architects, designers, suppliers and those who own or operate green lodging establishments. Columns may be articles that take a stance on a particular subject or be strictly educational in nature. Columnists benefit by having their photo included along with a one paragraph description of their company. Interested in writing a column? Contact Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
Planning Advertising for 2018/2019?
Green Lodging News is accepting reservations for advertising spots for the remainder of 2018 and into 2019. Many excellent spots are available on our new website and in the weekly e-mail newsletter. Many Green Supplier Spotlight dates are also available. Interested in receiving a 2018 or 2019 media kit? Be sure to contact me as soon as possible at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com. Media kits can also be accessed by clicking here. Thank you to all those companies that consistently support Green Lodging News.
Newsletter & Green Supplier Spotlight Circulation
The circulation of our weekly e-newsletter and Green Supplier Spotlight currently stands at 14,241. Thank you to our new subscribers for signing up. Be sure to encourage your colleagues to do the same. There are “subscribe” links on the Green Lodging News home page. You may also e-mail editor@greenlodgingnews.com to be added to our list.
Green Lodging News & Social Media
Green Lodging News now has 1,789 Twitter followers. Thank you to all of those who follow our tweets. In addition to following us on Twitter, be sure to bookmark the Green Lodging News Blog in your browser. More importantly, participate with your comments. Green Lodging News is also on Facebook. Be sure to “Like” us there. Green Lodging News now has 915 Facebook likes.
As always, I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
