March 23, 2012

Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,

 

The minutes from the March 8 BGT meeting are below, with links to the presentations. See the other two sections, too.

Dan 

MEETING MINUTES

Boston Green Tourism Meeting

 

March 8, 2012

 

Location: The Lenox Hotel

Host: Tedd Saunders, Scot Hopps

 

Present: Tedd Saunders, Scot Hopps, Frank Healey, Dan Donahue, Meredith White, Lewis Ware, John Mitchell, Susan DaSilva, Marc Cohn, Kelly Smith, Bob Burke, Keith Alexander, Dan Buker, Fabienne Eliacin, Kevin Lubinger, Greg Senosk, Annmarie Svingen, John Hoey, Tom Ostberg, Olaf Zwickau, Tanya Pelletier, Conor Healey, Jess Riehl, Mary Franke, Gerri Weiner, Jerry Perkins, Mike Burke, Misha Glazomitsky, Dan Ruben. I missed a few people.

 

PRESENTATIONS

Strengthening Your Hotel's Sustainability Program: Tools for Success

Tedd Saunders, President, EcoLogical Solutions Inc. and Chief Sustainability Officer, The Saunders Hotel Group (SHG, and 

Scot Hopps, Environmental Program Manager, Saunders Hotel Group & EcoLogical Solutions, Inc.

 

The Saunders Hotel Group has been at the forefront of green hospitality for more than two decades. Their insights about how they maintain that distinction  are reflected in this presentation. The slides on how SHG integrates their sustainability program into hotel operations and planning, their "Eco Checks" program and their incentive program are particularly worth seeing.

 

Friendly, Sustainable Care, Repair, Installation, and Restoration of Natural Stone and Terrazzo in Resorts & Hotels

Mike Burke, Vice President and Owner of the New England Division of Boylan Marble & Terrazzo Restoration

 

Mr. Burke's presentation demonstrates how building owners improve indoor air quality, reduce electricity bills and save money through this process for maintaining and restoring stone and terrazzo floors.  

 

Warewashing and Energy Savings

Jerry Perkins, President, Hatch-Jennings, Inc.

 

This presentation shows us the latest in energy and water efficient kitchen equipment, with a focus on recent advances in dishwasher technology, starting on slide 15.  

 

NSTAR's Stairwell Lighting Promotion for 2012

Misha Glazomitsky, Training Coordinator, Munro Distributing    

 

NSTAR, Munro Distributing and several other companies are promoting a smart stairwell lighting solution that can reduce energy use by 80%. The ROI's will be 1 to 3 years, depending on circumstances. The program ends on June 30, so I encourage you to contact Mr. Glazomitsky for a fee audit.  

                         

The Mass Save Energy Efficiency Incentives  for 2012 are now available. There are changes from 2011, but the incentives are still rich. If you have questions, or are planning to take advantage of these incentives, contact your NSTAR or National Grid representatives.  

OPPORTUNITY
Become an Official Boston Bike-Friendly Organization: Boston and Cambridge have become much more bike-friendly in the past several years. They have added many miles of bike lanes, started the Hubway bike-sharing program and have taken additional steps to support bicycling. As a result, there has been a surge in bicycle transportation by employees and visitors.

In Boston, the improvement stems from a new Complete Streets philosophy, which "puts pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users on equal footing with motor-vehicle drivers."

If your hotel is in Boston, I encourage you consider having it become an official Bike-Friendly Business. Whether or not it applies, I suggest incorporating some of the City's checklist of bike-friendly practices. Your staff and guests might appreciate it. 
NEWS

City of Boston, Omni Parker House, InterContinental to Mark Earth Hour: Earth Hour  

Earth Hour is a symbolic event in which participants turn off non-essential lights for one hour to voice concern about climate change. It's in its sixth year, and is celebrated in 135 countries.   

 

This year Earth Hour will take place on Saturday, March 31 from 8:30-9:30pm. The City of Boston will mention Earth Hour participants on their website and in their newsletter. See the website's fabulous 2011 video from InterContinental Boston. If your hotel has plans, and you want to be mentioned, contact Hannah Clark (617-635-3425 [email protected]).      

 

The Omni Parker House will offer a special dinner menu with locally grown food; and they will turn off the marquee lights in front of their building.

InterContinental Boston will turn off some lights, turn down others, use votive candles in their restaurant, reduce their HVAC output, create a poster and making a new video. I'll share their video in an upcoming newsletter. 
   
2012 MEETINGS

April 26

June 7

August 2

September 20

November 1: Hostelling International Boston

December 6