ROANOKE, VA.—The Hampton Inn-Old Town/King Street in Alexandria, Va., has installed Lodging Technology’s GEM System Energy Management and Guest-In-Room Detector in all 80 guestrooms, including five one-bedroom suites. GEM System, an infrared sensor-based guestroom energy management system, reduces room energy costs 35 percent to 45 percent by maintaining “management-preferred” temperatures in rooms while guests are out. GEM System works with any HVAC system, of any voltage, with any type of thermostat or control. Guest-In-Room Detector, a feature of GEM System, allows authorized staff members to determine physically occupied rooms from the hallway without knocking and disturbing guests. GEM System is...

NATIONAL REPORT—Historically, owners of lodging establishments throughout the United States and Canada have ignored the sun as a source of potential energy to heat water. Whether because of concerns about cost or misperceptions about how solar thermal technology works, solar hot water heating systems are rare. That is all beginning to change, however, thanks to improving technologies, tax incentives and rebates, creative financing, better education about solar thermal heating, an increase in the number of developers interested in building to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, and an increase in the number of qualified vendors that sell...

BERKELEY, CA—Research conducted at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that operating buildings more energy efficiently could have benefits for the health of occupants and, surprisingly, also for their comfort. The researchers, Mark Mendell and Anna Mirer of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, analyzed data collected from 95 air-conditioned office buildings across the United States. The data had been gathered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a study called BASE (Building Assessment Survey and Evaluation). The study produced data about indoor environmental conditions and the health of occupants in a representative set of U.S....

GERMANTOWN, MD.—Telkonet, Inc., a clean technology company that develops and manufactures proprietary energy management and SmartGrid networking technology, announced a major hospitality contract win for its advanced Networked Telkonet SmartEnergy (NTSE) solution, equipping more than 3,500 guestrooms with networked, occupancy-based energy management. The contract forms a central part of Chartres Lodging Group’s program to remodel and upgrade energy technologies in the recently acquired high-end convention center complexes, the Sheraton Dallas and the Sheraton Denver (formerly the Adam’s Mark Dallas and Adam’s Mark Denver). NTSE was selected after a review of three competitive systems, winning for its comprehensive central control capabilities,...

ATLANTA—Onity announces the launch of Wireless innPULSE, an innovative new radio-frequency (RF) network that wirelessly connects SensorStat guestroom thermostats to Onity’s innPULSE energy management software. This enables hotel properties to network Onity’s proprietary in-room SensorStat products together to form a comprehensive energy management system (EMS) without the need for hardwiring from each guestroom thermostat. Since their introduction in 2003, Onity’s Wireless SensorStat EMS products have been successfully installed in thousands of guestrooms at properties around the world. Onity, one of the world’s leading providers of electronic locking solutions, is part of UTC Fire & Security, a unit of United...

ORMOND BEACH, FLA.—Built in 1956, The Maverick Resort is demonstrating its ongoing commitment to developing a high-performance sustainable building with the installation of a commercial hot water solar system on its roof. The system is currently under construction by Zon Solar Inc. “It’s becoming a trend to do green buildings,” said Keith Rasnake, general manager of The Maverick Resort. “We’re finally realizing that these structures have an enormous impact on our environment.” The green ethic—energy-efficient, water-sparing buildings full of features that stress the natural over the chemical, the recycled over the new and the renewable over the finite—is quickly becoming mainstream....

MINNEAPOLIS—Honeywell announced it has received an award from Flex Your Power, California’s statewide energy-efficiency campaign. The award is for the company’s Cool Control Plus program, which has reduced electricity consumption for hundreds of small hotels and motels throughout the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) service area in northern and central California. To date, the program has cut energy use by more than 25 million kilowatt-hours (kWh)—enough energy to light the Golden Gate Bridge for more than 50 years. Over the lifecycle of the measures installed, Honeywell expects to achieve energy savings of more than 375 million kWh. Launched in 2006 and...

ATLANTA—ASHRAE proposed a building energy labeling program and high-performance building standard at its 2009 Winter Conference. More than 2,800 people attended the conference, held in late January in Chicago. Also taking place in conjunction with the meeting was the Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition, which attracted 54,000 registered visitors and exhibitor personnel. The show ranks as the second largest AHR Expo, just behind the 2006 Show in Chicago, in terms of number of exhibiting companies (1,911). Centered on the theme “Sustainable Urban Design: Engineering Tomorrow…Today,” the ASHRAE conference offered a technical program with more than 100 sessions, 15 educational courses and...

PEACHTREE CITY, GA.—Rinnai Corp., the world’s largest gas appliance manufacturer and leading tankless water heater manufacturer, announced that six models from its line of tankless water heaters have earned the U.S. Department of Energy’s and Environmental Protection Agency’s exclusive Energy Star rating for energy efficiency, including its flagship models, the R94LS and R75LS. Rinnai’s Energy Star qualified products highlight the company’s ongoing commitment to the development and adoption of new energy-efficient technologies, which provide its customers with choices that are both economically and environmentally responsible. “Water heating presently accounts for 15.5 percent of national residential energy consumption, making it the...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Green Lodging News has added a new case study to its Vendor Case Studies section. The case study focuses on the Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C., and how Sonitec’s Vortisand filter was able to solve its cooling tower sludge problem. Massive amounts of the nasty stuff were detected in the chiller tubes, and the 12-inch system feeder pipe as well. The filtering apparatus on line proved ineffective at combating the problem, prompting management to seek out expert consultation. Patrick Payne of Boland Trane teamed up with Denny Alexander of Armstrong Filtration (provider of cost-effective filtration solutions based in Winchester, Va.)...