WASHINGTON, D.C.—Renaissance Hotels & Resorts is making it easier for travelers to be “green” and save some green, by offering complimentary parking to all guests who drive hybrid cars. Current hybrid cars can get up to 60 miles to the gallon and generate lower greenhouse gas emissions than vehicles with standard gas-powered engines. Effective now through December 31, 2006, guests staying, attending a meeting or dining in a restaurant at a participating Renaissance can park their hybrid for free. “We think this is a fun and constructive offer to our guests who are helping the environment by driving...

NATIONAL REPORT—To maintain the energy efficiency of PTACs and to extend their life, it is important to implement a preventive maintenance program. “The internal filter should be cleaned once a month and once a year the entire unit should be removed from the wall so that the coils can be cleaned,” says Mel Harris, PTAC business development manager for LG Electronics Inc., Englewood, N.J. “The compressor will have to work harder if the PTAC is dirty. A dirty unit will also use more energy.” Be sure to purchase a PTAC that can be easily cleaned. The filter should be easily...

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...

BROOKSVILLE, FLA.—A total of 219 hotels are saving hundreds of millions gallons of water a year thanks to the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (SWFWMD) Water Conservation Hotel and Motel Program (CHAMP). Water CHAMP is a linens and towels reuse program that encourages hotel and motel guests to agree to use their linens and towels for an additional day or two of their stay. “The program has been very successful,” says Dorian Morgan, senior communications coordinator for Brooksville, Fla.-based SWFWMD. “Participating hotels quickly see the financial benefits.” SWFWMD purchases program materials from Project Planet Corp., Dawsonville, Ga., and provides them free...

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...

SAN FRANCISCO—Turning food waste…into wine? In a roundabout way, that is what is happening to the composted food scraps and other items generated at the 1,498-room San Francisco Marriott hotel. Once hauled away by Golden Gate Recycling, the waste is taken to an organic composting facility where it is ground up, heated and converted to nutrient-rich mulch. Many vineyards in Napa Valley then use that mulch to help grow grapes. The real story here is not the wine but the effort Randy Nelson and the other associates at the San Francisco Marriott have made to divert as much...

DAWSONVILLE, GA.—The easiest way to conserve water is to not use it in the first place. That is the message Project Planet Corp. has been pushing for more than 10 years now through its linen and towel re-use program. With approximately 6,000 hotels around the world participating, the venture has been a tremendous success. Project Planet was launched in 1995 by John Stanley, president and owner. The three-employee, Dawsonville, Ga.-based company sells door hangers, table brochures, pillow cards, posters, stickers, training videos and guest response cards. Hotels that participate in the program change bed linens every third...

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...

SHARON, MASS.—The Green Restaurant Assn.(GRA), a national nonprofit organization now 250 restaurants strong, is helping restaurant operators around the United States take a big bite out of energy and other costs through its Certified Green Restaurant program. The Sharon, Mass.-based nonprofit provides consulting services to restaurateurs interested in helping the environment while cutting costs at the same time. GRA was first established in 1990. In addition to consulting services, it provides education and public relations support. The core of its operations is its Certified Green Restaurant program. To become certified, participants join GRA and then undergo an assessment to determine...