The Refinishing Touch Blog

It was great to read this week that the Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe Hotel & Ski Resort in California has made a huge reduction in spending on energy. They have managed to spend $25,000 less than expected and the director of engineering at the 400-suite property, David Hansen, said that this could come close to a total of $500,000 in energy savings by the end of 2009!

The company compared this year's figures to last year's, and found the considerable drop. Amongst its staggering results, the resort found that its electricity consumption had been reduced by 575,000 kilowatt hours ($98,902 in savings) while natural gas consumption had dropped by 9,314 dekatherms ($67,709 in savings). Additionally, the hotel has experienced increased efficiencies in waste management, saving 48 tons of waste from being sent to landfill, translating to $15,250 in savings in waste management alone.

The hotel began its energy saving efforts in January of this year after completing a property survey. The Lake Tahoe team then began rolling out a series of energy-saving improvements at the cost of an estimated $200,000. Hansen told investors that it was estimated to take two years for payback, but the systems have produced far greater results than predicted. Adjusted figures now show that property owners will recover their investment within 10 months.

The process began with the purchase of a web-based energy management system which allows the property to better manage heating and cooling in meeting rooms, ensuring that heating and cooling was not being used while the spaces were unoccupied. Motorized dampers were then installed on outside air returns, allowing the hotel to be cooled without air-conditioning during Lake Tahoe's short summers.

We've talked a great deal about energy spend reform on our blog. In this case, anyone can see that the efforts put forth have yielded truly significant results. The resort has implemented many more small changes in its continued efforts to save energy including a new laundry system, pumps which run at variable frequencies and fans being put on timers.

All in all, these small changes have resulted in huge savings in both energy and money and the hotel's efforts really should be celebrated! It just goes to show what can be achieved when energy efficiency is properly assessed.

Labels: Embassy Suites, Energy Efficiency, Hospitality