Mr. Kiesner

Eco-Friendly Practices

Taking the Energy Star Challenge

By Steve Kiesner, Director of National Accounts, Edison Electric Institute

You know that getting more value from your energy dollar is always important. The lodging industry spends over $5.5 billion per year on energy. That is a lot room for potential savings. And greater profitability. The need to improve your electric energy efficiency is especially important.

Electricity is an amazing energy source, and demand for it today is at record levels. Looking ahead 25 years, the nation's population is anticipated to grow by 23 percent. The country's GDP is projected to double in that time. And both events lead experts to predict that electricity use will grow 40 percent by 2030.

One way that hotels can improve their overall energy efficiency is by taking the ENERGY STAR Challenge (www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=challenge.bus_challenge ). The Challenge is a national call-to-action to improve the energy efficiency of America's commercial and industrial buildings by 10 percent or more. Buildings use $200 billion worth of electricity and natural gas each year.

The energy used by commercial and industrial buildings in the U.S. is responsible for nearly 50 percent of our national emissions of greenhouse gases. If the energy efficiency of U.S. Buildings improved by 10 percent, Americans would save about $20 billion and reduce greenhouse gases equal to the emissions from about 30 million vehicles.

ENERGY STAR connects you with a broad range of tools and resources to help you implement a successful energy management strategy. Including tools for Energy Management Guidance, Assess Building Energy Efficiency Improve Building Performance. As you may know, your electric utility is a good source for information and assistance to help you get started. Your account representative will likely have historical data about your energy use. The local electric can also help you with answers about electric utility incentive programs, discount electricity rates, energy-efficient equipment, or any other energy-related question.

When you take the Challenge, you are encouraged to:

There are also a number of quick and easy steps your company can take today to step up its control over energy use. These are probably already second nature to you, but here is a short refresher course:

For the longer term, it is a good idea to renew your commitment to energy management. If you have not done it already, start by building a team within the company or within each hotel. Generally, you will need representatives from management or administration. Top-level commitment is paramount. Pull the team together for a planning session and start laying the groundwork. The team will need to define success with goals that are realistic.

Is saying you want to save 20 percent over two years possible? What is the base you will measure against? How and when will you measure progress?

Before you begin making energy-saving improvements, understand which appliances are your big energy users. Water heating alone, for example, can account for almost 40 percent of a hotel's total energy cost-and up to two thirds of its natural gas use. Listed below are the areas and the appliances that will affect your energy bills this winter. A small improvement in these places will make a large impact on the bottom line.

Next, create an action plan for the top priority energy-saving measures. Assign tasks to do by when and within what budget. Assign plan components to those who are capable of accomplishing the task. Then celebrate your successes. Don't wait until the end of a two-year program to announce results. Create regular milestones and incentives to meet them. Make people feel a part of the program's success and it will take on a life of its own.

Once the team is together and you know what areas to concentrate on, the best way to determine exactly how to cut your energy costs is to conduct an audit of your hotel's energy use. There are two types of energy audits-a walk through audit and a computerized analysis audit.

There is one other important step to take: If you business has locations served by more than one electric utility, EEI's National Accounts network will help to arrange contact between each involved utility and your facilities at no charge. The National Energy Customer Assistance Network (NECAN) directory is available online at (www.eei.org/industry_issues/retail_services_and_delivery/National_Accounts/products_and_services/nonav_necan/index.htm ). It is a convenient guide to the power companies that serve each state and their National Accounts representatives. Again, this is all free.

The nation's electric power industry is committed to ensuring that electricity, one of our most versatile energy sources, remains affordable and reliable. We are investing in the nation's electricity system today. And we are advocating public policy positions to ensure that the supply of electricity can meet the country's ever-growing demand tomorrow.

These are necessary steps, but they involve long-term solutions. The good news is that you have many resources waiting to help your company now to get the most value from every dollar you spend on energy. The ENERGY STAR Challenge is a great example. I encourage you to find out more today.

Steve Kiesner is Director of the Edison Electric Institute’s National Accounts Program. Based in Washington, D.C., Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of United States shareholder-owned electric companies, international affiliates and industry associates worldwide. Our U.S. members serve approximately 90 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and nearly 70 percent of all electric utility ultimate customers in the nation. They generated almost 70 percent of the electricity generated by U.S. electric utilities. Mr. Kiesner can be contacted at 202-508-5000 or skiesner@eei.org Extended Bio...

HotelExecutive.com retains the copyright to the articles published in the Hotel Business Review. Articles cannot be republished without prior written consent by HotelExecutive.com.