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Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,
The presentations from the September 18 meeting are linked below. See the other sections, too.
Please note that our next meeting will be October 23 at Sheraton Boston. I will announce the speakers soon.
Dan
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Boston Green Tourism Meeting
 September 18, 2014 Location: Cityscapes Host: Janice Goodman Present: Janice Goodman, Amy Walker, Ed Dustin, Scot Hopps, Marcella MacKenzie, Rachel Hamaker, Brendan Barber, Cameron Ritzenthaler, Kevin Lubinger, Pamela St. Aimee, Robert Guillemin, Geri Weiner, Catrina Damrell, Guillaume LeCroix, Richard Turgeon, Peter Cooke, Anamarija Frankic, Dan Ruben. |
How Biophilic Design Enhances the Hotel Atmosphere
Janice Goodman, President, Cityscapes, Inc.
This presentation shows how hotels deploy plants to improve their aesthetic, boost the mood of staff and guests, improve indoor air quality and stimulate productivity. It features plantings at eight Boston lodging properties.
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The presenter shows hotels how to reduce their liability, improve their indoor air quality and score points with guests and staff by reducing their use of toxic chemicals. He listed chemicals to avoid, along with healthier substitutes.
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Save Energy with a Dishwasher Heat Exchanger
Richard Turgeon, Global Sales Director, Novothermic Technologies Inc.
Guillaume Lacroix, President, Novothermic Technologies Inc.
The speakers discussed this new technology, which captures and reuses the heat from dishwasher water before it goes down the drain. The product won the National Restaurant Association's Kitchen Innovation Awards 2014, which recognizes cutting-edge advancements in kitchen equipment. The ROI for installing it is attractive.
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Restoring Boston Harbor's Oyster Beds: How Hotels Can Participate and Benefit
The Green Harbors Project and the MA Oyster Project are restoring oyster beds in the state, providing a myriad of benefits. Hotels can help by recycling their oyster shells, thereby supplying homes for young oysters.
Save That Stuff provides hotels with 5-gallon buckets and picks up the shells for a modest fee. Renaissance Boston Waterfront, Langham Boston, Hotel Marlowe and several freestanding restaurants already participate in this program--and eliminate oyster shells from their waste stream.
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| NEWS | |
Boston Green Tourism Has a New Website 
The new website, www.bostongreentourism.org, has a wealth of information to help hoteliers green their properties:
- Presentations given at BGT meetings during the last three years.
- BGT newsletter articles from that period.
- Presentations from the 2014 Green Hotel Webinar Series and the 2012 Boston Energy Efficient Hotels Conference.
- A Green Hotel Resource Guide, and
- Links to many green product and service vendors.
I encourage you to visit the website, bookmark it and use it as a resource!
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| IDEAS | |
The Bright Future of Electric Vehicles and EV Charging Stations
 | | credit: legacy.pitchengine.com |
I attended the unveiling of Hampton Inn Norwood's electric car charging stations. After talking to electric vehicle and EV charging station professionals, I was convinced that electric cars, vans and motorcycles have a bright future.
Electric vehicles are now the most economical choice for a growing number of niches, because prices have come down, electricity is much cheaper than gas, purchasing incentives are strong and it costs less to maintain EV's than gasoline-powered vehicles.
For example, a colleague recently purchased a Chevy Volt for $32,500. After U.S. and MA incentives, his total bill was only $22,500. He can travel 46 miles on electricity alone before the car starts using gasoline. Most of his trips are shorter than that. So, my friend's Volt runs almost entirely on electricity--reducing his cost of fuel by 2/3. Over the car's 150,000 mile lifetime, he will save about $12,000 versus a 30 MPG vehicle that runs on gasoline, and his maintenance costs will shrink.
That cost equation will continue to improve, because the price of EV's and their batteries are declining, their range is improving and battery charging times are going down.
At the Hampton Inn event, I also learned that hotels with charging stations are attracting customers that they would not otherwise get.
I think it's sensible for hoteliers to follow electric vehicles' progress. They should determine whether and when it makes sense to install (more) charging stations and purchase an EV of their own.
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ARTICLES AND RESOURCES
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This website page provides case studies of hotels and other buildings that slashed their water bills.
Scot Case, TriplePundit, July 24.
This article provides a wealth of information and links that make it easier to purchase greener products.
Hyatt News Release
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The following meetings will be 2:30 to 4:00.
October 23: Sheraton Boston
December 4: Langham Boston
See you at Sheraton Boston on October 23!
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