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Boston Green Tourism
...advancing the green hotel movement
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Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,
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credit_ cityscapes |
The presentations from the September 14 meeting at Cityscapes
are linked and
summarized below. See the other sections, too.
I postponed the October 12 meeting, because I couldn't find a hotel meeting room. As hoteliers know, Boston hotel meeting space is at a premium this month.
I hope to move that meeting to Nov. 2. If you could offer a meeting room, or if you have ideas about how to identify a meeting room, please contact me (dan_ruben@usa.net, 617-527-7950).
Dan
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Boston Green Tourism Meeting
September 12, 2017
Location
: Cityscapes
Hosts
: Janice Goodman
Present
: Janice Goodman, Robert Josie, Dan Cook, Tony Castro, Cameron Ritzenthaler, Donna Sheeran, Bert Terrinca, Bob Shatten, Shoshana Garber, Karen Weber, Amy Walker, Kelly Pike, Charles Walker, Ian Holmes, Mike Rivers, Michael Youngs, Tania Keeble, Dan Ruben.
PRESENTATIONS
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Mike Youngs, VP Sales & Business Development, Motili, a Daikin company
VRV (variable refrigerant volume, aka VRF--variable refrigerant flow) is a very energy efficient
HVAC
technology that's common in Japan and Europe, and becoming increasingly popular here. It uses
refrigerant
as the cooling and heating medium, rather than water. The refrigerant is circulated to building
fan-coil units
.
Some VRV virtues: low energy bills; excellent occupant comfort, because it minimizes temperature swings and controls humidity well; very quiet; easy to maintain; and it integrates well with existing energy management systems.
Its footprint is so much smaller than hotel chiller and boiler systems with cooling towers, that hotels use it to gain revenue-producing space.
VRV systems save energy by using variable speed inverter compressors, sophisticated zone controls, heat pumps, variable refrigerant temperature technology, heat recovery and ECM fan motors.
Hotel case studies can be found here and a video about two London hotel installations is here.
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The Economics of Biophilic Design: Why Designing with Nature in Mind Makes Economic Sense
Janice Goodman, President, Cityscapes, Inc.
Biophilia is human's innate attraction to nature. Incorporating nature into the built environment promotes relaxation, decreases stress, improves concentration, increases productivity and reduces absenteeism.
Some aspects of biophilia: plants, water, animals, portrayals of nature, daylight, fractal patterns and dynamic movement, like moving water.
Hotel studies show that guests spend more time in spaces that use biophilic design, and that biophilic design generates positive guest reviews.
This presentation is replete with beautiful examples of hotel biophilic design: indoor gardens, green walls, moss walls, living art and living streetscapes.
The Paint Exchange: How to Recycle Latex Paint and Purchase Recycled Paint
Tania Keeble, Co-Owner, The Paint Exchange
The Paint Exchange (TPE) collects leftover latex paint and recycles it.
It's much cheaper to recycle paint with TPE than to dispose it as hazardous waste. And, it's faster and neater than using the "kitty litter" method of drying out paint. It's much better for the environment to recycle paint than dispose it in incinerators or landfills.
Paint can be picked up at the hotel for a $50 fee, plus $1 to $2 per gallon of paint. You can drop off paint at TPE, too. See the presentation for details.
The recycled paint sells mostly at Habitat for Humanity ReStores, and is quite inexpensive.
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Electric Vehicle Sales Expected to Rise Rapidly
Thus far, electric vehicle (EV) sales have been slower than projected. Two million EV's were sold worldwide in 2016, comprising only 1.1% of vehicle sales.
However, EV sales are likely to rise quickly, because:
- EV costs continue to fall. A new report says that EV's will be cheaper than gasoline cars by the early to mid 2020's. Plus, they're several times cheaper to fuel and much less costly to maintain.
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Several EV's now have a range of 220 miles or more.
- Almost every automaker now makes EV's, and plans to expand their EV roster. GM will have 20 electric-only cars by 2023. Ford will introduce 13 new EV models by 2022. Volvo will only sell hybrids and fully battery-powered by 2019.
- China, India, Germany, U.K., France and the Netherlands have announced dates by which they will ban the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles. Norway set the earliest date. They'll ban gasoline and diesel vehicle sales by 2025.
What does this mean for hotels?
- More companies will offer electric hotel vans, the price of these vehicles will fall and their range will improve. To date, only a few companies like Zenith Motors and Via Motors sell plug-in hotel vans. The Zenith vans have a range of 80-135 miles. The Via Motors van goes 40 miles on electricity before converting to gasoline.
- More hotel guests will want to use on-site EV charging stations.
Here
is a National Geographic article on the predicted rise of EV's.
Six Recyclers Pick up Mattresses in Boston
Mattress recycling is getting more attention recently, because 600,000 mattresses are discarded in MA annually; they're costly to dispose; up to 80% of a mattress can be recycled; and they take up much space in the state's dwindling landfills.
Six recyclers pick up mattresses in Boston, according to the RecycleWorks Massachusetts website, and five more will accept them if dropped off at their location.
The mattress recycling process is described in this
infographic.
Here is a recent BGT presentation about mattress recycling.
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Tesla Still Offers Free EV Charging Stations to Hotels
Tesla continues to offer free charging stations to hotels. Qualified properties will receive free, level 2
Tesla Wall Connectors and financial support for installation costs.
The typical participating hotel will get three to four Tesla chargers and, if needed, a universal charging station that can serve non-Tesla EV's, too. Currently, Tesla has 45% of the U.S. plug-in market.
See the August 17 newsletter for more information.
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Allen Rathey, Green Lodging News, September 20
The author touts three strategies that save money, free up storage space, reduce waste, lessen chemical exposure and cut the energy needed to transport heavy cleaning supplies.
- Use controlled-dilution (mixing) stations to dispense concentrated cleaners and disinfectants.
- Use electrochemically activated (ECA) solutions systems (aka electrolyzed water) for cleaning and disinfecting. These products are produced on-site. See this presentation at a recent BGT meeting.
- Use dry steam vapor (DSV) systems for cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfection.
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The following meeting will be 2:30 to 4:00.
| November 2 |
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| December 7 |
Le Meridien |
| February 1 |
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March 8
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April 5
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| May 17 |
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| June 21 |
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September 13
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October 18
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| December 7 |
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