Hotels put green into greening effort
The new compact fluorescent bulbs installed in the guest rooms, hallways, conference rooms and the lobby last 10 times longer and use far less energy than conventional light bulbs. Sackman said each new bulb will save about 450 pounds of power-plant emissions over its lifetime.
"It is the right thing to do from a standpoint of cost savings and being a more profitable organization," said Sackman, the regional director of sales and marketing at Tarrytown House. "But it also is about being a socially and environmentally responsible organization."
Tarrytown House joins growing numbers of hotels nationally in going green during an age of rising public concerns about the environment and global warming.
Seventy-three percent of guests indicate they will participate in green programs if they are aware that the hotel offers them, according to a recent survey by J.D. Power and Associates.
More than 300 hotels around the country are now certified as "green" by state lodging programs, according to Green Lodging News, an online news site.
"Offering green programs is a win-win situation for both hotel guests and hotel operators," said Linda Hirneise, executive director of the travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates in Westlake Village, Calif. "Guests are increasingly looking for these types of offerings, and hotels are finding that going green actually saves money."
Environmental initiatives are a growing priority at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the White Plains, N.Y.-based operator of more than 800 hotels worldwide.
Element Hotels, the company's new extended-stay brand, said that the hotels would be built from eco-friendly materials such as carpets with recycled fibers and walls partly made from recycled tires. Low-flow sink faucets and dual flush toilets will save an estimated 4,358.6 gallons of water per room each year, Starwood said.
The first Element hotel is expected to open next year in Lexington, Mass. Additional hotels are expected to debut around the country in 2008 and 2009.
"When you look at the demographics of who our products appeal to, including Generation X and Generation Y, they want products that carry a sense of social responsibility," said Nicholas Lakas, director of Element Hotels.
The focal points of the Tarrytown House Estate & Conference Center are two mansions that date to the 19th century. On a recent hot, humid morning, work crews were installing new air conditioners that use 30 percent less energy than older units in guest rooms dating to the 1970s.
Another recent project involved the installation of motion-sensitive thermostats in guest rooms, to prevent the air conditioning from cooling an empty room all day. Other initiatives have involved recycling wastepaper from meetings and installing water coolers outside meeting rooms for refills.
The hotel also tries to buy as much food as possible from local farmers and vendors. Executive chef Paul Sant even grows some herbs himself in a garden on the 26-acre site.
"From an environmental standpoint, it is much a smaller carbon footprint working with local purveyors than shipping things from all over the country or the world," Sackman said.
The hotel's environmental sensitivity was welcome news for Steve Johnson, an Australian manufacturing executive who attended a three-day business conference last week.
"I was aware that they were trying to use less water and detergents in washing linens and towels," Johnson said. "That is quite obvious when you are in the room. I think in large establishments like this, low-energy light bulbs, better control systems for air-conditioning units and other types of initiatives are important."
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