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ENERGY STAR Success Story:

HEI Hotels & Resorts HEI Hotels & Resorts is a growing hospitality company with 30 hotel properties in 13 states. Since launching its partnership with ENERGY STAR in 2006, HEI has expanded its corporate commitment to become an industry leader in sustainability initiatives, demonstrating that environmentally sound projects can be financially sound projects as well. HEI has earned the ENERGY STAR for two hotel properties, and has been recognized by the Association of Energy Engineers with the 2009 International Corporate Energy Management Award.

Energy Management with ENERGY STAR

HEI has integrated the ENERGY STAR strategic approach to energy management in all facets of its business – from procurement of ENERGY STAR qualified lighting, heating, ventilating & air conditioning (HVAC), computer, and commercial food service equipment, to integrating the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool into its internal energy tracking program. In May 2009, HEI launched an energy dashboard to track energy performance of all its hotels based on daily meter readings and other factors, enabling immediate adjustments to optimize performance. The energy dashboard also allows each hotel to see their daily Portfolio Manager 1-100 energy performance rating as well as how much improvement is required to attain the ENERGY STAR.

From 2005 to 2008, HEI energy efficiency projects yielded savings of more than 23,750,000 kWh and over 23,500 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions across the portfolio. This is enough electricity saved to power 2,366 homes for one year. Projects contributing to these energy efficiency gains include both low-cost measures and larger capital investments:

Energy Efficiency Projects at HEI Hotels
Upgrade	Cost	Return on Investment (ROI)
Retrofitted over 100,000 fixtures with T-8s tube lights and compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs)	$2,700,000	2 - 2.5 years
Installed guest room HVAC energy management control systems	$2,300,000	1.5 - 2 years
Upgraded water heating controls and plumbing fixtures	$190,000	1.5 - 2 years
Installed solar films on windows	$350,000	4 - 5 years
Continuous upgrades of Electronic Micro System (EMS) and Building Automation Systems

 

These programs realized significant cost savings in a relatively short period of time. Investments, on average, produced an estimated 2.79-year return on investment (ROI), with corporate management strongly considering any energy efficiency measure that can provide a 3-year ROI. Throughout its hotels, HEI continues to demonstrate how strategic energy management can help organizations to achieve significant financial savings and contribute to environmental stewardship.

Feature Property: Crowne Plaza Riverwalk

One property, the Crowne Plaza Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas, highlights the significant financial and environmental benefits that can be achieved through strategic changes. With 21 floors, 410 guest rooms, and extensive meeting space, this AAA 4-diamond full-service hotel began strategically addressing low- hanging fruit opportunities in 2006 – cleaning HVAC coils, performing energy efficiency lighting upgrades, installing programmable thermostats in guest rooms, and using variable frequency drives on large motors.

All of these projects significantly enhanced the hotel’s energy performance, all while yielding a 3-year or less ROI. Additionally, the Crown Plaza Riverwalk installed reflective window films. Typically requiring a longer payback period, this measure was found to be cost-effective due to state energy efficiency rebate programs. Organization-wide, HEI has worked with vendors, utilities, and government to receive over $500,000 in rebates for energy efficiency upgrades for lighting and window films.

Through dedication to energy efficiency, the Crowne Plaza Riverwalk successfully reduced its electricity consumption by 26% within a two-year period, and reduced natural gas consumption by 13 % within 4 years. This translates into over 2.5 million kWh and 36,000 therms saved, leading to less energy costs, a smaller environmental footprint, and a 12-point improvement on the 1-100 energy performance rating scale in Portfolio Manager.