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Boston Green Tourism
...advancing the green hotel movement
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Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,
The presentations from the December 1 meeting at the Seaport Hotel are linked and summarized below. See the other sections, too.
The tentative 2017 meeting schedule is at the bottom of the page. If you think I should change any of the dates, please contact me. Dan
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Boston Green Tourism Meeting
December 1, 2016
Location: Seaport Hotel
Hosts: James Carmody, Tom Taylor and Robert Nichols
Present: James Carmody, Tom Taylor, Robert Nichols, Fred Mahoney, Joe Riordan, Tedd Saunders, Samantha Sorrin, Fabienne Eliacin, Alex Alexandrovich, Kevin Lubinger, Rachael Moreland, David Clark, Andrew Coffin, Nicholas Bartucca, Bob Shatten, Dan Cook, Cameron Ritzenthaler, Grey Lee, Karen Weber, Roger Fritz, Paul Wessel, Dan Ruben.
PRESENTATIONS
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Seaport Hotel: Green Achievements, Green Resume
J ames Carmody, VP & General Manager at Seaport Hotel & Seaport World Trade Center
Tom Taylor, Chief Engineer, Seaport Companies
Bob Nichols, Director of Parking and Transportation, Seaport Companies
The speakers discussed the Seaport's recent green achievements:
- New elevators: they save energy and they're quiet. They're so fast that three elevators can do the work of four--which will enable the hotel to more often shut down an elevator to save energy.
- Green resume helps the Sales team answer questions posed by potential customers.
- New recycling signs have improved the Seaport's recycling rate.
- Motion detectors control LED lights in stairwells.
- Window film for fitness center.
- New Hobart dishwasher saves energy and water.
- New Sloan waterless urinals save water and require little maintenance.
- Persuaded suppliers to reduce packaging.
- Wall dispensers provide shampoo and conditioners.
- Food waste goes to anaerobic digestion facility, which converts it into natural gas and a soil amendment.
- Roof garden supplies vegetables and herbs to staff cafeteria.
The June 28 BGT newsletter describes the Seaport's green transportation and parking garage initiatives.
Seaport managers are considering an intelligent parking guidance system for their garage.
Modern variable speed drives (VSD's) optimize the speed and torque of AC fan and pump motors, thereby reducing energy use, extending equipment life and reducing repair costs.
Hotels can profit by assuring that all motors that can benefit from VSD's have them. Mass Save incentives from Eversource and National Grid are available for motors as small as 1 HP.
In most cases, ICS accepts the Mass Save incentive as payment-in-full for the VSD's, the preliminary motor survey and for coordinating the incentive application process. Hotels might incur costs for other aspects of VSD installations.
Parksmart: Sustainable Practices in Parking Structure Management, Programming, Design and Technology
Paul Wessel, Market Development Director, Parksmart, U.S. Green Building Council
Mr. Wessel said that the old thinking about parking structures is that they're like landline phones--they have only one function. In the new paradigm, parking structures have multiple functions--like smartphones do.
"Smart" parking structures help get your guests and staff to and from your property in many ways. They cut energy use, travel costs, parking space requirements and congestion. They improve customer choice and satisfaction.
Specifically, smart parking structures facilitate: the identification of open parking spots, efficient traffic flow within the structure, mass transit, electric vehicle use, car-sharing, ride-sharing, fuel-efficient vehicle use and bicycling (bike parking, sharing and rentals). Just like any green structure, they are energy and water efficient, they manage waste well and they have good air quality. Also, they make a great first impression on your patrons.
Parksmart is a rating system that recognizes sustainable practices in parking structures. The Parksmart scorecard is a valuable checklist. It's on slide 23 of the presentation.
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Climate Ready Boston Report Released
Mayor Walsh and the City of Boston released the latest Climate Ready Boston report. It includes updated climate change projections, a vulnerability assessment and recommended solutions. The report will guide Boston's adaptation efforts.
The report shows that the neighborhoods at greatest risk are South Boston, Downtown, East Boston and Charlestown.
The report is too big to summarize here, so I encourage you to read it--particularly the sections about your property's neighborhood.
Here are a few highlights: - "Boston can thrive in the coming decades if it takes action...starting now. This work will be difficult, contentious, and complex...If done well, it will...create a resilient, climate-ready Boston [and] dramatically improve the city and quality of life.
- The rate of increase in average temperatures is accelerating...By 2050 Boston's summers may be as hot as Washington, D.C. summers.
- The pace of relative sea level rise is accelerating. Over the entire twentieth century, sea levels rose about nine inches...Another eight inches of relative sea level rise may happen by 2030.
- In the Northeast, there has already been a very large increase in the intensity of extreme rain and snow.
- In the near term (2030s-2050s), rising sea levels and increasing extreme precipitation will exacerbate stormwater flooding, unless the drainage system is upgraded...[By] the 2050s, 7% of the total land area in the city could be exposed to frequent stormwater flooding.
- Transportation infrastructure will be impacted by frequent stormwater flooding...ranging from sidewalks to local streets to major thoroughfares like highways and MBTA lines.
- In the near term [2030's-2050's], coastal and riverine flood exposure will be concentrated in South Boston, East Boston, Charlestown, and Downtown and represents a significant threat to these neighborhoods...Across the city, a severe flood with a 1% annual chance of occurring would inundate 2,100 buildings, representing $20 billion in real estate value.
- In the near term, a significant portion of the South Boston Waterfront is exposed to high probability coastal storms (10% annual chance events), particularly near Fort Point Channel and to the north along Boston Harbor...Perceived or actual flood risk can affect the value of existing assets as well as insurance and operating costs.
- The Charles River Neighborhoods (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway/Kenmore, and Allston/Brighton) have less risk. In the near-term and through the middle of the century, [its] buildings and infrastructure have limited exposure to coastal flooding."
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Greenbuild Coming to Boston; 
Steers Guests to TripAdvisor GreenLeader Hotels
The annual Greenbuild conference is coming to Boston November 8 - 10, 2017. It's the "world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building." The GBCVB projects 18,900 room nights associated with the conference.
The Greenbuild website recommends TripAdvisor GreenLeader hotels to its attendees:
"Our Eco-Friendly Hotels
The following Greenbuild hotels are part of TripAdvisor's GreenLeaders Program and are committed to green practices such as recycling, local and organic food sourcing, and providing electric car charging stations:
- Hyatt Regency Boston - TripAdvisor Gold
- Seaport Boston Hotel - Trip Advisor Gold
- Aloft Boston Seaport - Trip Advisor Silver
- Element Boston Seaport - Trip Advisor Silver
- Boston Marriott Copley Place - TripAdvisor Silver
- Boston Marriott Long Wharf - TripAdvisor Silver
- Sheraton Boston Hotel - TripAdvisor Silver
- Renaissance Boston Waterfront - TripAdvisor Silver
- Boston Park Plaza - TripAdvisor Bronze
- Omni Parker House - TripAdvisor Bronze
- Westin Boston Waterfront - TripAdvisor Bronze
- Westin Copley Place - TripAdvisor Bronze
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston - Downtown - TripAdvisor GreenPartner"
If you want my help (free for BGT members) raising your property to the next GreenLeaders level, please contact me.
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CRteam@ihg.com
InterContinental Hotels Group (InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, etc.) has committed to sourcing:
- 100% cage-free eggs in the U.S., Canada and Europe by 2022 and worldwide by 2025.
- Sustainably seafood for 90% of their top ten seafood products, "in the Americas, Europe and Greater China by 2020, unless otherwise impracticable."
Spencer Buell, Boston Daily, November 8
Massachusetts ballot question 3 passed easily. Beginning in 2022, it will be illegal to sell eggs,
pigs and veal raised in confinements deemed to be too small.
The ballot question's full text and summary can be found here.
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Here are the tentative meeting dates for 2017:
- Feb. 5
- Mar. 9
- Apr. 27
- May 25
- July 6
- Sept. 14
- October 12
- Dec. 7
If you think that I should change any of these dates, because they wouldn't work well for hoteliers, please contact me.
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