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Hotels Slowly Adding Energy-Saving Devices

Hotels Slowly Adding Energy-Saving Devices

BY CONNIE LEWIS

Staff Writer

Even though the so-called energy crisis is on hold, San Diego hoteliers are making conservation a matter of course, which for some includes the possibility of retrofitting to new and more efficient power systems.

“When (natural gas and electricity) rates went sky high (beginning in March 2000 following utility deregulation) we all did everything we could to conserve energy,” said Paul Corsinita, general manager of the San Diego Marriott La Jolla and president of the San Diego Hotel-Motel Association.

“Now some (hotels) are digging deeper and switching or adding new systems, but they are larger hotels and still, they are few and far between,” Corsinita said.

One of those considering retrofitting to more energy-efficient power systems is the Clarion Hotel-Bay View. Plans have yet to be finalized, and no work date, or dollar amount has been set. But equipment changes could include the 22-story hotel’s boilers and chillers, said director of operations Jeff Burg.

“We are reviewing our energy management systems,” Burg said.

The hotel has 318 guestrooms, a restaurant, bar and catering facilities.

Meanwhile, plans are being finalized for a new power system for the San Diego Marriott Mission Valley that could include a new energy-saving chiller and boilers, said Adly Kitmitto, the hotel’s general manager.

He couldn’t quote prices or predict how much money the 17-story hotel, which has 352 guestrooms, a restaurant and a catering operation, expects to save on energy bills with the plan in place. But the impetus is not so much to save on utility costs as to manage them, he said.

“Year to date energy costs are 4.2 percent of sales,” Kitmitto said. “If (utility) rates continue to go up and we can reduce costs just 1 percent, that’s quite an accomplishment.”

Additionally, last year’s installation of an ozone laundry system has reduced the hotel’s natural gas consumption by 4.6 percent, he said.

An ozone laundry system involves one or more devices that infuse ozone into cold water to boost the cleaning power of the water and soap chemicals used in standard washing machines.

Other Options

The Holiday Inn on the Bay is analyzing the possibility of installing a cogeneration system that would employ natural gas to produce electricity and create heat as a byproduct, said General Manager Tony Lovoy.

He was unsure how long it would take for the hotel, which has 600 guestrooms and a pool, to see a return on its investment. But on the plus side of the equation, the cost of installing such a system is less than in the past.

“Cogeneration has been around for a long time, but it’s more technologically advanced, more efficient and less costly to install than it was 20 years ago,” Lovoy said.

Although conserving energy became a matter of course for San Diego hotels in the wake of the so-called energy crisis, the Marriott in Mission Valley and the Holiday Inn on the Bay are among the few considering exchanges or additions to power systems to reduce utility costs, industry experts said.

“We have seldom seen a hotel customer replace major pieces of (energy) equipment solely based on energy efficiency savings,” said San Diego Gas & Electric Co. spokesman Ed Van Herik.

However, he said he has heard some hotel association members express interest in ozone laundry systems as a way to cut energy bills.

Yet Paul DePuyt, a local representative for Bestway Laundry Solutions of Corona, a distributor of ozone washing systems, said that while several hoteliers are interested, the interest has translated into only three sales in San Diego county this year.

Depending on the size of a hotel’s laundry operation, systems may range in price from $14,000 to about $40,000, DePuyt said.

“Post 9/11, hotels can’t predict their return on investment (for ozone laundry systems) because they can’t predict occupancy rates for rooms. They’re not telling me to go away and not come back. They’re saying, ‘Come back in February or March next year,'” he said.

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