LUDLOW, VT.—Tim and Diane Mueller, owners of Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont, Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire, and Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado, have entered into an agreement with Gunnison County Electric Assn. to purchase 27 million kilowatt hours of Renewable Energy Certificates from Sterling Planet, one of the United States’ leading retail renewable energy providers. Gunnison County Electric Assn. is a member owned, nonprofit cooperative located in Colorado. The amount of kilowatt hours represents enough renewable power to fully offset the annual use of electricity by the Mueller’s three resorts. “Protection of the environment...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program has come a long way since it was first introduced in 1992. Then, it was a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, Energy Star is far more and hoteliers can benefit directly in many different ways. Here are some of those ways: • By purchasing products with the Energy Star label, hotel operators can save thousands of dollars in energy costs each year. The Energy Star label is currently on products in more than 40 product categories. Some of these categories include...

SPRINGFIELD, MO.—Less than two years after opening as the first all nonsmoking hotel in Missouri’s third-largest city, Springfield’s Krystal Aire Inn & Suites recently introduced yet another amenity designed to provide guests with even greater comfort during their stays—specially designed light bulbs that eliminate airborne odors. The Fresh Bulb light bulbs, developed by Aurora, Ohio-based Technical Consumer Products and introduced to the hospitality industry earlier this year by St. Charles, Mo.-based Pineapple Hospitality Inc., are titanium dioxide-coated fluorescent light bulbs that consume one-fourth the wattage of a regular light bulb—cutting lighting costs by as much as 77 percent....

DENVER—Vail Resorts announced that the company will offset 100 percent of its energy use by purchasing nearly 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy for its five mountain resorts, its lodging properties including RockResorts and Grand Teton Lodge Company, all of its 125 retail locations (operated through Specialty Sports Venture) and its new corporate headquarters in Broomfield, Colo. By purchasing renewable energy credits equal to the company’s entire electricity use, Vail Resorts becomes the second largest purchaser of wind power of all corporations in the United States. Vail Resorts announced this initiative as part of its ongoing environmental efforts. Vail...

HOUSTON—Goodman Company, L.P., a subsidiary of Goodman Global, Inc. (NYSE: GGL), maker of Amana brand heating and air conditioning products and packaged terminal air conditioners (PTACs), announced the introduction of its new wirelessly networked DigiSmart Control System, an operations management tool designed to be used with the company’s Amana brand PTACs. The company says it is the first wireless PTAC management product of its kind. “Our new DigiSmart Control System will allow our customers to not only control the environmental conditions in individual rooms—it will also help them to manage their energy costs,” says Dave Craven, Goodman’s director...

NATIONAL REPORT—Walk the hallway of any hotel and you are likely to find at least one or two cold drink vending machines and possibly a snack machine on each floor. Measure the amount of time a guest is actually standing in front of one of these machines and it probably is less than an hour a day—possibly more in a high-traffic location. Even in employee cafeteria or lunchroom areas, machines can go hours without being used. If food and beverage vending machines need not be powered up around the clock, why are they? Some hoteliers have tried using...

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.—Henrietta’s Table, the award-winning restaurant at the Charles Hotel here, has staked its claim as one of the most environmentally friendly restaurants in America—and for good reason. Executive chef Peter Davis strongly advocates the purchase of local, organically grown vegetables, meat produced by farmers who practice humane animal husbandry, and seafood produced by well-managed fisheries. In 2005, Henrietta’s Table purchased close to $100,000 in food products directly from local farmers. As a member of the Boston-based Chefs Collaborative, a national nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable cuisine, chef Davis supports local farmers by buying as much organic produce as he...

NATIONAL REPORT—Everyone is familiar with Motel 6’s “We’ll leave the light on for you” campaign. It was definitely a hit. What is not such a good idea is when your guests leave the light on for you. Research conducted several years ago through the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research Program confirmed what most hotel operators already know: Many guests leave the lights on when they leave the room and use the bathroom lights as a night-light. You can’t blame your guests, especially seniors, for wanting the extra light but when the lights are on when nobody is there, or...

MALVERN, PA.—USA Technologies announced it had begun shipping its EnergyMiser product line to Australia, Denmark and Spain. At the same time, the company reported it had stepped up sales of EnergyMisers to Canada, and this month had shipped an additional 300 units valued at $30,000 to Optimum Energy Products Ltd., a distributor in Calgary, Alberta. USA Technologies develops energy management products and cashless payment technology for vending machines. “As in the U.S., international energy services companies are seeking the latest leading-edge energy conservation technology that gives customers relief from rising energy costs,” says Wendy Jenkins, vice president of...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—More environmentally friendly computer equipment will soon be available to large volume purchasers thanks to manufacturers like Dell, HP, and others that now have products that meet the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) standard. EPEAT-registered computer products have reduced levels of cadmium, lead, and mercury to better protect human health, and are easier to upgrade and recycle, in addition to meeting the government’s Energy Star guidelines for energy efficiency. “These new environmental standards can guide the manufacturing of green computers, laptops, and monitors,” says James Gulliford, assistant administrator for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic...