WASHINGTON, D.C.—Each year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy honor organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency. Award winners will be recognized at the Energy Star Awards Ceremony on March 21, 2007 in Washington, D.C. All organizations participating in Energy Star are encouraged to apply for a 2007 Energy Star Award. To be considered, an organization must meet the specific eligibility requirements in the award application and submit a complete application package by December 15, 2006. Categories include: Efficient Products, Partner of the Year, Product...

NATIONAL REPORT—Looking to trim energy consumption and costs in the kitchen? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star “ Commercial Food Service” Web site is not a bad place to start. The site offers guidance on finding appropriate product sizes and models and features information on the four categories of products for which EPA has established energy efficiency specifications: hot food holding cabinets; steam cookers; fryers; and solid door reach-in refrigerators, freezers and refrigerator/freezers. Energy Star-qualified equipment is designed to use less energy and water, while continuing to provide high performance, reliability, efficiency and life-cycle cost benefits. “In general, Energy...

NATIONAL REPORT—When looking to slash energy costs, chances are a hotel operator will not think of signage first. However, with advances in light emitting diode (LED) technology, signage is not a bad place to start. LEDs offer an 80 to 90 percent energy efficiency gain, last much longer than neon and fluorescent lighting, and require much less maintenance. Valley View, Ohio-based GELcore LLC, a joint venture of GE Lighting and Emcore Corp., is one vendor that offers LED systems for a variety of hospitality applications. Areas where their products can be used include outdoor and indoor channel letter...

MALVERN, PA.—Bob McGarrah, senior energy management advisor to USA Technologies, spoke in front of a public forum sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy last week. He suggested that simple changes to improving vending machine efficiency, with VendingMiser technology, would have a cumulative impact on the nation’s economy. USA Technologies is also taking their message to the U.S. Senate Energy Committee. In a letter to Senators, McGarrah suggested that lawmakers provide incentives to encourage owners to upgrade their existing machines with energy-saving technology that can reduce energy consumption by up to 50 percent. “Owners rebuild and refurbish...

NATIONAL REPORT—From an environmental benefit standpoint, there are few slam dunks like hand dryers. Used primarily in common areas like restrooms, hand dryers—when offered as the only hand drying option and not alongside paper towels—save trees, energy and money. Not all hand dryers are the same; some are more efficient than others. The bottom line, however, is that they eliminate the need to cut down trees to make paper*, the cost of buying the paper, the labor and disposal costs related to waste disposal, and promote a more hygienic environment. “Hand dryers have always been knows as...

NATIONAL REPORT—Humidity refers to the amount of water vapor (moisture) suspended in air. It is measured as Percent Relative Humidity (%RH) or the percentage of water vapor that can possibly be contained in air, at its present temperature. Air at 0%RH is completely dry and free of moisture; air at 100%RH contains all the moisture it can possibly hold at its present temperature and will be exhibited as condensation, fog or rain. The amount or volume of water vapor that can be contained in air varies with air temperature. Air at 50°F and 60%RH contains less moisture in suspension than...

NATIONAL REPORT—With water heating accounting for approximately 40 percent of a hotel’s energy consumption, it is no wonder that an increasing number of hotels are implementing ozone laundry systems. Provided by about a dozen vendors around the United States, these systems can save about 80 percent in hot water consumption and up to 30 percent in overall water usage. The trend toward ozone system implementation comes at a time when an increasing number of hotels are bringing their laundry operations in-house. Jack Reiff, president of Worcester, Mass.-based Wet-Tech, says hotel operators who switch to ozone systems benefit from much...

TORONTO—Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced that it has partnered with the widely recognized U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Program. This latest partnership with Energy Star, which will focus on the company’s 15 U.S.-based properties, is part of Fairmont’s ongoing strategy to streamline its energy performance and reduce both utilities consumption and greenhouse gas emissions throughout its operations. A voluntary program, Energy Star provides businesses with guidelines and resources necessary to achieve and maintain energy efficiency. The program involves ongoing measurement, tracking and benchmarking of a hotel’s energy performance. An innovative energy performance rating system determines each building’s eligibility for...

RED DEER, ALBERTA—The 88-room Comfort Inn & Suites Red Deer in Alberta, Canada, would have a pretty hefty heating bill given its northern location. “Would” is the key word here. It does not have high energy costs thanks to a roof-based solar heating system. The system employs equipment normally used as a ground-source heat pump, designed to exploit the stable ambient temperature of the earth to provide seasonal heating and cooling. The Comfort Inn design, however, does not have an underground loop of liquid-filled tubing for geothermal exchange; the heat pump is connected to 60 roof-based solar collectors and a...

NATIONAL REPORT—The United States has developed an extremely dynamic population made up of many different nationalities. The Spanish population has become the second largest group in America. Statistics also show that Spanish is the second most common language spoken in America. We have all noticed that Spanish-speaking adults now make up a substantial portion of our workforce. The hotel industry employs a significant number of Spanish-speaking workers in all of the departments throughout the hotel. This is common in almost all size cities today. Spanish-speaking employees pose a unique problem in the hotel business because most of the...