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energy

Live Green to Wake Up to A Better Tomorrow

May 30, 2013

go green hotel energy efficiency

We have already written about steps that the hospitality industry is taking to provide greener facilities: Green Lighting for the Hospitality Industry and more recently, Green at Heart: One Brand’s Commitment to the Environment. In this post, we will get more into the details and find out why this is such an appealing, important, and critical move to make.

Before embarking on a quest to renovate your hospitality facility into an environmentally responsible one, or develop an environmental management system, it is necessary to understand some of the motivators in embracing the environment.

Providing a green hospitality facility not only saves you money, it helps preserve the environment and attract more visitors. Additionally, the EPA lists the following benefits of going green: hospitality facilities can reduce costs, achieve environmental results, gain recognition, win new business, and be more attractive to employees.

Although the majority of hotels built today take advantage of conventional design and operation methods common to North America, many of those hospitality facilities are beginning to take advantage of environmental trends in the industry as well.

Unfortunately, many environmental endeavors often do not extend beyond this gesture and only a small number of hospitality facilities have been specifically designed to be environmentally efficient.

Currently, any visit to most hotel rooms will turn up a notice asking the guest to reduce laundry pollutants by identifying the towels used each day, or reduce overall use of certain products that do not necessarily need to be changed daily (if you need these helpful items, just visit our site). But for many hotels, this is usually the extent of their efforts.

It should be acknowledged that hotel guests are usually happy to assist hotels in their green efforts. In fact, guests find this to be incredibly appealing in influencing where they choose to stay. This recent study cites three categories that matter most to consumers: water, energy, and waste reduction.

By taking measures to cut down on all three, you’re not only saving money and helping the environment, you’re attracting more customers. What steps can you take? Consider the following ideas:

  • Use Energy Star appliances
  • Use filtered water
  • Provide recycling bins for employees and guests
  • Provide toilets that are dual-flush
  • Consider showers that are low-flow
  • Provide shampoo and conditioner in bulk dispensers
  • Clean your pool with saline salt solution instead of eye-burning chlorine
  • Install green lighting throughout the facility
  • Encourage guests to turn out the lights when they leave their room
  • Turn off air conditioning units when not in use, and be sure to turn them on so the room is comfortable before guests arrive
  • Encourage guests to reuse towels

You don’t have to go all in when just starting out, but small steps will have a big impact. What are you doing to go green?

American Hotel Register and You – Working Together to Go Green!

April 10, 2012

At American Hotel Register Company, we recognize the importance of instituting environmentally friendly practices into all aspects of our business. Our Living Green program is designed to support the environmental responsibility of the hospitality industry by developing and sourcing environmentally preferred products and packaging, by educating customers about environmental issues, and by making our corporate headquarters and regional distribution centers as environmentally efficient as possible.

Going green conserves the environment and saves money! Today there are hundreds of products available to support your sustainability program and a variety of tips that can be implemented to increase your hotel’s environmental awareness while saving money.

Here are just a few:

  • When thinking about saving electricity with lighting, not only should you convert to more sustainable lightbulbs in lamps, but convert overhead commercial lighting as well. Compact fluorescent bulbs last 10 times as long as incandescent bulbs and use 75 percent less energy— meaning that one bulb can save you $25 over the lifetime of the bulb.
  • Use refillable soap and shampoo dispensers. Eliminate those little plastic bottles and wasted product!  Please consider donating opened toiletries to organizations in need rather than discarding.
  • Provide 100% RainforestAllianceCertified Coffee for your in-room coffee program. Guests will love the superior flavor – and each cup brewed ensures local coffee farmers fair wages and working conditions.
  • Why not offer beverage glasses in guest rooms rather than disposable plastic cups? Not only will you reduce your carbon footprint, you’ll save money on supplying hundreds of new cups every day.
  • Purchase pre-laundered towels and sheets and eliminate initial laundering expenses. You’ll enjoy reduced energy, water and labor costs, too!

We invite you to take a look at more of our great Living Green tips on our website. By implementing a few easy changes, together we can make a difference in conserving natural resources.

ENERGY STAR estimates for your hotel

March 21, 2012

ENERGY STAR estimates that the 47,000 hotels and motels in the United States spend an average of $2,196 per available room each year on energy, an amount that represents about 6 percent of all hotel operational costs.

Since hotels and motels operate 24 hours a day, and numerous electronic devices operate around the clock, there are ample opportunities for hotels to significantly cut energy spending.

Let’s use commercial dishwashers as an example. Dishwashers that have earned an ENERGY STAR rating are 25 percent more energy efficient and water efficient on average than standard models. An ENERGY STAR commercial dishwasher can save businesses an estimated $850 annually on energy bills and $200 annually on water bills – and that’s just for one!

This ENERGY STAR dishwasher from American Hotel Register is not only competitively priced, but offers a fast 160-second wash cycle time and the excellent Jet Tech reputation.

Although commercial dishwashers and many other large appliances have a fairly long life expectancy (ranging from 10-20 years depending on the appliance and quality), upgrading your equipment to an ENERGY STAR appliance could pay for itself in nearly two years! Using environmentally preferred products is another way your hotel supports the environmental responsibility of the hospitality industry.

Check out what other items are featured on the American Hotel Register Living Green product page – we’d love to help you increase sustainability in any way possible!