August 9, 2012

Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,

 

The minutes from the August 2 BGT meeting are below, with links to the presentations. See the other  sections, too.

Dan 

MEETING MINUTES

Boston Green Tourism Meeting

 

August 2, 2012

 

Location: Hotel Marlowe

Hosts: Michal Penek, James Lyons

 

Present: Michal Penek, James Lyons, Tedd Saunders, Megan Falkenberry, Scot Hopps, Al Vaughn, Glenn Ralfs, Erica Mattison, Peter Cooke, Adam Mitchell, Matt Messer, Kevin Lubinger, Jim McManus, Robert Guillemin, Thomas Flynn, John Walsh, Richard Lewis, Scott Parisi, Richard Garrison, Andrew Belden, Dan Ruben.

 

 

How Hotels Reduce Their Natural Gas Use                         

Credit hotelhappystar.com
Scott Parisi, EcoGreenHotel

 

This presentation includes some very attractive ideas for reducing natural gas bills: a recirculation loop management system that turns off hot water pumps when there is no demand for hot water, boiler computerized control systems, liquid pool covers, heat exchangers that allow hotels to capture and use the waste heat from refrigeration equipment, tank-less water heaters and more.  

 

Mr. Parisi provides hotel case studied that clearly show how these technologies reduce natural gas use and bills. He also presents the MA financial incentives for installing them.

 

Mattress Recycling

Richard Garrison, Richard Garrison, Nationwide Foam Recycling

 

Nationwide Mattress Recycling hauls away mattresses from hotels, colleges and other institutions and recycles them into new products. Their processing plant is in Framingham. There are several factors that determine whether hotels save money--volume, whether the landfills they use have a surcharge for mattresses, etc. I recommend that hotels contact NMR to see how mattress recycling would work for them.  

 

City of Boston's Green Ribbon Commission: Its Implications for Hotels

Andrew Belden, Meister Consultants Group

 

The Green Ribbon Commission supports Boston's climate action plans. They will advise the city on how to enact their energy disclosure policy--which will require building Energy Star scores to be posted for commercial properties, including hotels. I will soon invite Boston hoteliers to a Sept. 5 hotel focus group that will enable participants to provide input into this ordinance.

 

The GRC is also giving hotels a chance to comment on the MA 2013-2015 utility energy efficiency incentive plan. If you want to provide such input, please contact me. 

NEWS

Zagster and Hyatt Regency Cambridge Launch Bike Sharing Service for Guests, Press Release, August 1.

 

Startup Zagster Aims to be the Zipcar for Bikes, Barb Darrow, Gigaom, May 3.

 

Hyatt Regency Cambridge now offers a new kind of bike-sharing service. Guests pay $15/day for a bicycle. Zagster, which operates the service, says that their model is a complement to Hubway, which is intended for brief bicycle trips.

OPPORTUNITY

Webinar: Sustainable Energy Use in the Hotel Industry                        

On August 21, 1:00 - 2:00, the U.S. EPA's Green Power Partnership will host this webinar. It will feature success stories from Hilton Worldwide and Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa (New Hampshire) - how each company has incorporated renewable energy, their successes and their lessons learned. It will also describe the support available to hotels and include presentations from several organizations that serve the hotel industry.

 

You can register for the webinar here. 

Articles and Information

Grease is the Word, Jane Wells, CNBC video, July 31.             

The price of used cooking oil has surged. Are you getting a good price for it? Do you have a theft prevention strategy? See the attached video--and come to the September 20 BGT meeting, where Amenico's Sarandis Karathanasis will make a presentation on this subject.

 

 

 

LED Parking Lot Lighting Specification

New LED parking lot lights, combined with occupancy sensors and dimmers, can cut energy use by 40%, reduce the need for maintenance and improve lighting performance. The U.S. Dept. of Energy's Commercial Building Energy Alliances published performance specifications and other documents that help building owners upgrade their parking lot lighting.
2012 MEETINGS

September 20: Boston Marriott Copley Place  

November 1: Hostelling International Boston

December 6 

See you September 20 at Marriott Copley Place!