WAITSFIELD, VT.—In a gala gathering at Burlington, Vermont’s ECHO Center on April 14, Freeaire Refrigeration was awarded the Green Mountain Environmental Leadership Award in the “What a Great Idea!” category. This inaugural award celebrates environmental stewards and initiatives that have encouraged long-term conservation of Vermont’s rich and diverse natural environment, and is sponsored by Free Press Media and ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. Freeaire Refrigeration is an emerging leader in energy-efficiency solutions for commercial refrigeration and has innovatively realized technology that allows cold outside air to be used for cooling. Freeaire systems greatly increase the efficiency of commercial refrigeration systems...

WAKEFIELD, QUEBEC—Less than three months remain before the July 1 opening of the new 10,000-square-foot addition to the Wakefield Inn Mill & Spa. The 13-room addition, named the Eco River Lodge, is being built to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. “It is conceivable we might make Silver,” says innkeeper Robert Milling, adding that his goal is the first tier of certification. What will help the inn qualify for LEED is its passive solar design, use of local materials, and highly efficient geothermal heating and cooling system. Set within Gatineau Park, within a 25-minute drive of...

MEMPHIS, TENN.—Memphis-based Cooper Hotels, the largest multi-unit operator of hotels in Tennessee, announced the completion of the installation of a solar thermal system at the company’s Hilton Knoxville Airport hotel. The emissions-free, completely silent system provides energy to heat almost 2,000 gallons of water per day for the five-story, 238-room hotel. In addition to being pollution-free and helping to reduce global warming, the new system also helps to preserve natural gas resources. “Cooper Hotels is committed to creating more sustainable lodging in Tennessee,” said Pace Cooper, Cooper Hotels’ president and CEO. “In addition to the Hilton Knoxville Airport solar project,...

NIANTIC, CONN.—When the Bardessono Hotel in Yountville, Calif., deployed the Room Expeditor (REX) tool from MTech in March 2009, it became the first property in the world to equip its room attendants with an iPod Touch to instruct them on which is the next most important “vacant” room to clean, based on a collection of variables. Today, the 62-room luxury property, managed by MTM Luxury Lodging, is first once again to benefit from streamlined technology integration between MTech’s REX and INNCOM’s Integrated Room Automaton System (IRAS) that now alerts staff when stay-over rooms also are ready to be refreshed. “Being...

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.—If you run an inn, or a hotel for that matter, and are considering greening your operations, you may want to chat with Rachael Solem, owner and general manager of the 44-room Irving House in Cambridge, Mass. Since purchasing the large house in 1990, she has taken almost every step imaginable to reduce the property’s environmental impact. She knows what works, what does not work, and she will level with you about it. Take amenity dispensers, for example, which she still uses. “I have not found a dispenser that is attractive, easy for the guests to use, and...

NEW HYDE, N.Y.—Evolve Guest Controls announced that it has designed, developed, and implemented the single largest successful Z-Wave deployment of wireless lighting and energy management devices to date. This deployment of Evolve’s LCD Director Series Energy Management System is located at The Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The installation includes more than 65,000 devices residing in more than 2,700 rooms and suites. Using Evolve’s LCD Director Series, each guest has the ability to wirelessly control each room’s motorized draperies/sheers, communicate privacy please/service room to housekeeping, activate various lighting scenes, adjust the temperature, and put the room into energy...

ASHEVILLE, N.C.—The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa and FLS Energy of Asheville, N.C., have completed a project to add solar panels to the resort’s modern Sports Complex. The 12-panel solar thermal system at the Sports Complex will provide about 600 gallons of hot water a day for use in the locker rooms. The project was designed using a solar Power Purchase Agreement, in which FLS Energy built and installed the system on the roof of the complex with no up-front cost to The Grove Park Inn. Grove Park Inn will in turn purchase the thermal energy to heat the...

CHESAPEAKE, VA.—Solar Panels Plus (SPP) announces that the SplitCool DC-18 solar air conditioner has passed its TUV product safety testing and now carries the CE mark. Electrical, fire and mechanical safety issues have been properly addressed and the SplitCool unit now fully complies with global product safety standards. The SplitCool system design allows for operation between 5,000 BTU and 18,000 BTU, meaning that capacity, refrigerant flow and compressor speed are variable and are dynamically adjusted in real time to match the current conditions and heat load. The system is designed to use the lowest possible amount of electric power so...

DALLAS—Lennox has developed a commercial HVAC unit that integrates directly with a solar-energy system. The patent-pending SunSource Commercial Energy System collects energy from the sun, feeds it directly into a solar-ready Energence rooftop unit, and supplies any excess electricity to the rest of the building or to the power grid. Designed to reduce business energy spending and emissions, the SunSource system can effectively double the Energence rooftop unit’s efficiency rating—from 17.0 SEER to an effective efficiency level of 34 SEER and beyond. In certain regions adding additional solar modules can help the rooftop unit achieve net-zero energy status, as the...

BOSTON—CAN2GO, a leading provider of wired and wireless controllers for building automation, is enabling companies to cut up to 40 percent off their building wireless automation installation labor costs with the help of ZigBee networking technology from Ember. CAN2GO controllers, which offer a variety of wired and wireless networking and control options, provide the missing link in building automation, allowing facility managers, contractors and OEM manufacturers to deploy integrated solutions for HVAC, lighting and other applications. Important labor savings are attained when the controllers are networked via self-forming and self-healing wireless mesh networking systems from Ember. A recent project in a...