CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Onity as a Green Product & Service Directory Partner. Onity is a leading provider of electronic locks, in-room safes and energy management systems to the hospitality, commercial, education, military and marine markets. Onity’s products are in more than 20,000 properties around the world. Onity/Senercomm offers a complete line of energy saving products. Its products merge digital temperature control with setback strategies that adjust the temperature to energy efficient levels when a room is unoccupied. Onity/Senercomm products work with all types of HVAC configurations and light control. For more information,...

LONG BEACH, CALIF.—MovinCool announced that it has upgraded all models in its Office Pro and Classic Plus lines of portable spot air conditioners, as well as its latest ceiling-mounted CM12 model, to use the environmentally-friendly refrigerant R-410A. Unlike hydrochlorofluorcarbon-based refrigerants such as R22 (Freon), R-410A does not contain greenhouse gases, which contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. “As a company, we are committed to offering environmentally friendly products, and are proud to be continuing to lead our industry sector in this direction,” said John Doran, senior manager, Commercial and Industrial Systems. “We are certain that our customers will...

LAS VEGAS—INNCOM International Inc. and Enseo Inc. unveiled a new technology at the HD 2009 Expo & Conference that expands the reach of a luxury lodging experience from a select few guestrooms to all guestrooms while keeping things affordable for a hotel property. The joint solution taps both companies’ technological ability to provide in-room control to guests via the guestroom TV remote device. Through the TV, guests can makes changes to in-room temperatures, change light settings, signal “do not disturb” or “make up room” at their doorway, and other popular service requests. Enseo, a privately held company in Richardson, Texas,...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Evolve Guest Controls as a Founding Sponsor. Evolve is a wireless room control system designed to save 30 percent or more on a property’s utility costs as well as offering a return on investment in less than two years. Upon entering the guestroom, the guest initiates control of the lighting, heating/cooling, television and draperies by simply inserting the keycard into the wall-mounted Evolve card reader. When guests leave and remove the card, all devices are turned off and the thermostat is adjusted to a “savings” temperature, thereby eliminating...

NIANTIC, CONN.—The luxurious Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz., has made the INNCOM Energy Management System (EMS) a key component of an extensive renovation project—a component which, thanks to a local energy rebate program, is even further ahead of schedule in paying for itself. Niantic-based INNCOM is a global leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing advanced guestroom control systems for the international hospitality industry. The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa, which among many other features includes 492 spacious guestrooms, 70,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting space and 27 holes of championship golf, is...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes PTAC MAGIC as a Green Product & Service Directory Partner. The company specializes in installing, cleaning and recycling Packaged Terminal Air-Conditioning units. The steam cleaning of PTACs improves air quality, cuts electric bills significantly, increases profits, kills mold and viruses, reduces repair costs, lowers replacement costs, and increases guest satisfaction. Steam cleaning is a chemical-free process. For more information, call (888) 401-7822, e-mail david@ptacmagic.com, or go to www.ptacmagic.com.

NATIONAL REPORT—Believe it or not, guestroom energy management systems have been around for almost 30 years now. According to Lodging Technology, it originated infrared occupancy sensor-based hotel energy conservation in 1980. It is only in the past few years, however, that wireless versions of the many hard-wired systems on the market have become available. Some vendors are just rolling out their wireless offerings. No two wireless systems are exactly the same but they all rely on thermostats, motion and/or passive infrared (PIR) occupancy sensors, along with door switches and transceivers/controllers to power down heating and cooling when guests have...

With all the “green” talk going around about reducing electrical consumption, one major energy user is rarely discussed—hotel PTAC/VTAC units. A dirty PTAC must often work twice as hard and consume twice the electricity to reach the desired room temperatures of demanding guests. Simply cleaning the filter on a regular basis is not enough. PTACs should be removed and thoroughly cleaned a minimum of once per year. Removing the dirt will increase efficiency significantly, and improve air quality immediately. Hoteliers that put an HVAC deep-cleaning plan into action for the first time can realize huge savings on their electric...

BOSTON—EnOcean announced a fundamental commitment to protect the environment by becoming an Energy Star partner. EnOcean, through its voluntary partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Program, is helping to sustain green initiatives by fitting energy-inefficient buildings with self-powered wireless controls. EnOcean’s energy harvesting and wireless technologies simplify the installation of the energy-stingy wireless controls (sensors, switches, gateways and actuators) by replacing wires and batteries with self-powered wireless links. “The Energy Star partnership clearly communicates to architects, contractors and building owners that EnOcean is committed to protecting the environment and strengthening the economy,” said Jim O’Callaghan, president of...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Green Lodging News has added a Heat Transfer Products case study to its Vendor Case Studies section. The case study focuses on the Riviera Beach Resort on Cape Cod in Bass River, Mass. It explains how the resort replaced two old boilers with a highly efficient Phoenix Gas Fired Water Heater with 119 gallons of built-in storage, and a separate 119-gallon storage tank. The sealed combustion, direct-vent Phoenix delivers domestic hot water—and even space heating when connected to an air handler—at a combustion efficiency of 96 percent. Overnight, the resort went from two boilers and a million BTUs, to...