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Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,
The presentations from the July 26 meeting are linked below. See the other sections, too.
Our next meeting will be Thursday September 17 at Hyatt Regency Boston.
Dan
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Boston Green Tourism Meeting
July 16, 2015
Location: Mandarin Oriental, Boston
Hosts: Alain Negueloua and Ed Dustin
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Present: Ed Dustin, Todd Ledin, Mary Klics, Tedd Saunders, Samantha Sorrin, Alex Alexandrovich, Dmitriy Solovyov, Pamela St. Aimee, Beverly Spence, Bob Shatten, Chris Mulvey, Mark Croke, Robert Guillemin, Laurie Conner, Jeannie Morris, Shaun Selha, Dick Fay, Tony Parente, Chad Laurent, Mike Malone, Dan Ruben.
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Shaun Selha, Director of Energy Systems, SourceOne
Dick Fay, Business Development Manager, SourceOne
The speakers described a systematic process for developing an energy efficiency strategy. It helps hotels identify and prioritize opportunities, reduce energy bills and improve comfort.
They also described the importance of commissioning for getting the most from building automation systems and variable speed drives.
Continuous commissioning is even more valuable, because it identifies problems and solutions quickly by using internal meters.
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Tony Parente, Business Development Manager, Horizon Energy Services
a. Boiler controls use sensors and timers to assure that hot water and steam boilers don't run longer and hotter than necessary. Many new boilers have them. In Horizon's experience, it's advantageous to install them on older boilers. Counting Mass Save incentives, the ROI is under two years and the average annual savings is 8000 therms.
b. Emergency generators' coolant must be maintained at 100 to 120 degrees, so the units can start-up instantaneously. Most heaters used to achieve these temperatures are inefficient. Heat pumps are the more efficient alternative. Horizon finds that the ROI for installing heat pump replacements is under three years, and the savings average 40,000 kWh's per year.
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Chad Laurent, Senior Consultant and General Counsel, Meister Consultants Group
Many businesses are now investing in solar and wind energy, because the price has fallen sharply, standard electricity prices are high and volatile, and tax incentives are favorable. It may be advantageous to sign contracts soon, while federal and state incentives are rich.
There are several ways to buy renewable energy, each with slightly different implications.
Hotels that are interested in renewable energy should determine what they are trying to achieve and then find the internal or external expertise to guide them through the process.
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Mike Malone, VP Sales, Clean Energy Collective
Community solar is one way to buy renewable energy in MA. It enables businesses and residents to buy solar energy at favorable, local, off-site locations. Clean Energy Collective (CEC) is the largest community solar provider in the U.S. and one of several in MA. They offer customers constant 15% savings on their electricity bills over the 20-year contract life. Customers pay zero dollars down.
The contract is easily transferable to other sites or new owners. CEC's projects are built or under construction, and are maintained by the company.
Locally-produced solar power, has great customer appeal.
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| IDEAS | |
Video Shows that Constant Airflow Regulators Work Well
Hotels can save money by assuring that they don't over-ventilate. Over-ventilation wastes energy by needlessly increasing the amount of air that must be heated or cooled, and by over-using fans.
The video linked above shows that constant airflow regulator (CAR's) maintain an optimal ventilation rate under different conditions.
Several Boston hotels have installed them and others are considering them. A BGT presentation about how to regulate ventilation is in this newsletter.
Mass Save incentives for CAR's are determined on a case-by-case basis, because there are several variables that determine the amount of money each hotel will save.
44 MA Hotels Recycle Their Soap with Clean the World 
Forty-four MA hotel recycle their soap with Clean the World, including
17 in Boston and 5 in Cambridge.
Clean the World accepts discarded soap and other bottled amenities from hotels in the U.S. and Canada. They process them into new products and distribute them to impoverished people in 99 countries, thereby reducing hygiene-related illnesses.
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| OPPORTUNITIES |
Mass Save has partnered with electrical distributors to offer attractive incentives on LED lamps, down lights, linear replacement lamps and reduced wattage T5 and T8 linear fluorescent lamps.
This program also covers LED stairwell fixtures with occupancy sensors.
If the presentations regarding renewable energy procurement (above) have whetted your appetite, and you want want more detailed information, consider this workshop.
Customer First Renewables will host a free, one-day, hands on workshop at Boston University on August 10 to help institutions understand and explore their renewable power options. This workshop is commissioned by the Boston Green Ribbon Commission.
To get the most out of it, interested businesses should bring a cross-functional team, including a representative from Finance. Here is a full workshop description and agenda. Registration is here.
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ARTICLES
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Rodrick Johnson, Green Lodging News, July 7
The writer discusses three tenets for reducing water use and fertilizer: use native plants, because don't need extra water or fertilizer; install smart irrigation systems that water only when necessary; and capture rainwater for use on your plants.
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The following meetings will be 2:30 to 4:00.
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September 17:
| Hyatt Regency Boston
| October 22:
| Taj Boston
| December 10:
| Le Méridien Cambridge-MIT
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See you September 17 at Hyatt Regency Boston!
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