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ENERGY STAR Partners Shine in AH&LA Panel Discussion!

"Energy Management: Cost or Competitive Advantage?"

Randy Gaines of White Lodging, Brian Burke of Hyatt, and Steve Lawrence of MeriStar discuss successes and challenges with energy management.

Randy Gaines of White Lodging, Brian Burke of Hyatt, and Steve Lawrence of MeriStar discuss successes and challenges with energy management.

Thursday, April 5, 2001, ENERGY STAR hospitality partners formed a panel at the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s annual conference to discuss the economic benefits of improved energy performance.

Download a copy of the presentations:

Edwin Figueroa, Director of Engineering, Hilton Hotels Corporation provided an overview of Hilton Hotels’ corporate commitment to energy management focusing on awareness, action and accountability. (PowerPoint — 68 KB)

Brian Burke, Energy Manager, Hyatt Corporation discussed the value of energy accounting, Hyatt’s related challenges and successes, and the benefits of a new Utility Monitoring System (UMS). (PowerPoint — 126 KB)

Steve Lawrence, Vice President, Finance, MeriStar demonstrated that the financial impact of energy costs on a company’s income statement is significant. (PowerPoint — 61 KB)

Randy Gaines, Vice President — Engineering & Housekeeping Operations, White Lodging discussed White Lodging’s three-step corporate energy management plan: asset optimization, commodity purchasing, and utility data management. (PowerPoint — 5.95 MB)

Panel Summary

During the AH & LA conference in Chicago, Illinois, a panel comprised of ENERGY STAR partners from leading hotel companies presented their corporate energy management strategies. Jenny Murray of EPA moderated the discussion. Representatives from Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Corporation, MeriStar, and White Lodging discussed individual corporate energy management strategies and addressed specific areas of demand-side savings in these plans, including those from alliances with utility monitoring system companies, energy-efficient procurement, and adjustments in employee work practices through staff training. Hoteliers also discussed approaches for obtaining funding from upper management by presenting energy-efficient projects as opportunities for investments using metrics such as percent increase in shareholder value.

Panelists discussed difficulties in implementing energy management plans at the corporate level and how many challenges are still present or how each was overcome. One recurring topic of discussion was the very complex ownership and management structure inherent in hotels whereby hotels can be corporately owned, managed, and operated; or, hotels can be corporately managed and operated, but not owned. Hotels can be only managed and not operated or owned by corporate. The latter two cases present unique issues whereby individual owners are the investors, while the former presents a corporate-level decision-maker acting on behalf of the corporation. This means that energy managers must present investment opportunities in effective ways that resonate with individual owners as well as corporate-level executives.

Edwin Figueroa

Edwin Figueroa talks about winning the 2001 ENERGY STAR Award.

One important achievement that panelists described is the proactive resolution of possible energy consumption discrepancies often encountered from utilities. By implementing real-time utility monitoring and energy data tracking systems in the hotels, operations staff has saved thousands of dollars on a monthly basis due to identifying and correcting failed motors or meters, and by comparing data to that of billing statements. One panelist described receiving an energy bill with the correct address and contact information, but the energy consumption was that of a neighboring hotel!

Implementing these technologies, as well as careful management of incoming billing statements allowed hoteliers to dispute bills and to generate significant savings. One panelist described a routine of monthly disputes with utilities. In some cases, a failing motor causing the peak load for that month to increase considerably was disputed and a new peak load was established, saving thousands for that month!

Establishing partnerships with energy service providers, data tracking companies, and ENERGY STAR as part of the overall energy management strategy continued to surface as a cost- and time-effective strategy for leveraging efforts, resources, and experience in a variety of specific topics related to energy.

The panel concluded with a round table question and answer session whereby panelists answered inquiries primarily related to technology and cost savings.