Ms. Stroebe

Eco-Friendly Practices

Going Green is Good for More than Just the Environment

By Daylene Stroebe, General Manager, Kalahari Resort - Wisconsin Dells

In the last twenty years, the color green has gone from being synonymous with money to representing the singular focus on the planet. However, the two are not entirely unrelated, and today one finds a direct correlation between doing good for the environment and your bottom line.

As you know, the hotel industry now is no different from the countless of other industries that are working to create a more environmentally sustainable business model. Regardless of the size of your business, integrating sustainability into daily operations is no longer a trend; rather it is crucial to maintaining and ensuring the future of the business.

But no matter a hotel’s available resources for green initiatives, there is added value on many levels in implementing eco-friendly practices. In the short ten years our hotel, Kalahari Resort and Convention Center, has been in operation, we’ve learned three key lessons when implementing sustainability initiatives: go beyond the obvious, tap into partnerships, and celebrate your efforts. These serve as guidelines and simple reminders that corporate responsibility is attainable and pays off.

Start with the Obvious and Then Go Beyond

The Kalahari Resorts and Convention Centers, located in Wisconsin and Ohio, are an “under-one-roof” getaway, home to two of the United States’ largest indoor waterparks. Our Wisconsin Dells resort offers more than one million gallons of water fun, 742 guestrooms and suites, a 15-screen cinema, and 100,000-square-foot convention center and award winning golf course. In Sandusky, Ohio, we are proud to offer America’s largest indoor waterpark at 173,000 square feet, along with a 77,000-square-foot outdoor waterpark, 884 guest rooms and suites and a 100,000 square-foot convention center, which is currently being expanded.

With more than one million square footage in total, we have a lot of ground to cover. That’s why when implementing eco-friendly initiatives, we started small by creating best practices that suited our business. For example, we purchase only Energy Star compliant appliances and install low flow shower heads in guest rooms, which reduce water consumption by 2.46 million gallons per year. We also utilize massive fans in the waterpark to push warm air, which has naturally risen to the ceiling, down to the floor, which significantly reduce our heating costs.

These changes may be basic, but they helped us realize substantial benefits, so we challenged our staff to go beyond the obvious. We wanted to do more than invite our guests to “reuse your towels to save water” and go a step further by finding innovative and creative ways to reduce our environmental effect and save money.

Laundry Duty Calls

As those of us in the industry know, hotel laundry accounts for a very large portion of our water and energy usage, and a significant portion of expenses. In fact, over a ten-year period at the Kalahari, our housekeeping staff made the 2,046 beds in the resort more than seven million times and in that same time period, we washed more than 100,000 loads of towels, sheets and other linens.

With these numbers in mind, we knew that making capital improvements would allow Kalahari to be more efficient, save money, and be greener in our operations. Therefore, in 2008, we installed an AquaRecycle system to our Dells resort, which allows us to recycle and reuse 70 percent of laundry water, a savings of 26 million gallons of water annually.

This technology treats the water with ultraviolet disinfectant and moves it through a series of soap and lint filters, while maintaining most of the heat from the original wash so does not require additional hot water. The AquaRecycle system reduces the time needed to wash and dry linens, saving on not only energy and water costs, but also chemical costs. In fact, an ozone analysis showed that Kalahari has saved almost half of the dollars originally spent on cleaning elements such as bleach, brightener and fabric softener. The equipment has also lengthened the lives of our linens, saving costs we would incur to purchase new ones.

A New Kind of Solar System

In 2007, aware of Kalahari’s increasing number of guests, we installed roof top solar panels to heat the hot water in guest rooms. More than 100 collectors totaling 4,160 square feet and spanning 455 feet across our roofline heat 3,500 gallon storage tanks of water, making the Kalahari Dells’s solar system one of the largest of its kind in the industry.

While the system required upfront human resources, today we are seeing major payoffs.

Tapping into Partnerships

Capital improvements are costly, and often the environmentally sustainable equipment is the more expensive option. But don’t let the price tag scare you away. There are thousands of resources accessible for green improvements, including energy efficiency and demand side management programs available across the country that allow businesses to tap into available incentives.

For example, Kalahari implemented numerous energy savings projects that were supported by Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy, a program funded by Wisconsin’s utility companies. Focus on Energy is dedicated to helping install cost effective, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for business and consumers that otherwise would not be completed, or to complete projects sooner than scheduled.

The program works with customers to identify their primary energy savings opportunities, promoting energy efficiency as the most effective first step. In addition to the incentives that are available through the program, there are also potential federal and state grants available along with tax credits that can buy down overall project costs.

Energy efficiency programs like Focus on Energy are available across the country and are a way for utility ratepayers to reduce their energy costs and save money while helping to ensure that natural resources will be available for years to come. The partnership has been invaluable to Kalahari and we will continue to collaborate on projects in the future.

Celebrating Green with your Guests

As we’ve established, implementing green practices can pay off in multiple ways, including attracting an ever-growing pool of environmentally conscientious consumers. With thousands of options for hotel and resort properties, any differentiating factor is helpful. In fact, according to a recent article, “87 percent of travelers would be more likely to stay at green properties and 40 percent say they would be willing to pay extra to do so(i).”

While some green initiatives built into your operations are “behind the scene,” others may be noticeable and worth promotion. For example, our solar panel roof is a frequent topic of conversation from our guests and we are exploring ways to alert guests to what’s going on up on the roof.

Simple Guidelines Lead to Action

Kalahari’s simple guidelines – going beyond the obvious, tapping into partnerships, and celebrating our green efforts – can easily be translated to your business. They’re a reminder that embedding environmental sustainability doesn’t have to be complicated or extravagant. Starting small and then challenging your business to find additional, unique ways to go green with monetary support from a partner can have a substantial ROI. Finally, sharing your success stories with your guests provides them an extra incentive to stay with you.

Green today is symbolic of environmental stewardship and the bottom line. The future of our business depends on it, and I’d be surprised if yours doesn’t as well.

References:
(i) “How to Get the Most Out of Your Hotel's Green Efforts” HotelIndustryOnline.com

Daylene Stroebe serves as the General Manager for Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in the Wisconsin Dells. Under her management, the Dells property and business has grown significantly. Today it combines the convenience of an “under-one-roof” vacation with Wisconsin’s largest indoor waterpark with the luxury of all the amenities travelers expect from an upscale resort. Ms. Stroebe joined the Kalahari team in 2001. In her current role, she has helped lead Kalahari’s environmental efforts in both the energy and water spaces. Notably, in 2006, Kalahari Dells won the Partners for Clean Air Recognition Award for their innovative environmental initiatives. Ms. Stroebe can be contacted at 608-254.5466 or dstroebe@kalahariresort.com Extended Bio...

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