UNLV teaches hotels a thing or two about energy conservation

Brian Seals

Tuesday, May 12, 1998 | 10:17 a.m.

A group of UNLV students is getting an education at the Emerald Springs Holiday Inn by taking apart shower heads, peering into air conditioning units and examining lighting.

Since January they have made calculations, jotted down notes and consulted with experts. The fruits of all that labor were unveiled Wednesday in the form of an energy audit report the group ceremoniously handed over to Holiday Inn officials.

The benefit is severalfold -- students get practical experience in an important aspect of hotel management; Holiday Inn gets free advice that could save it money; professors and the university got to form a partnership with businesses and the U.S. Department of Energy.

UNLV professor Tom Jones conceived the course and the project as a way to integrate facility management and conservation of environmental resources. In doing so he lined up a project at the Holiday Inn and recruited businesses such as Nevada Power Co. and Sloan Valve to aid the students in technical aspects of gathering information for the audit.

"Ultimately, we hope it will reduce energy and water costs at the Holiday Inn," Jones said.

Monday was Holiday Inn general manager Lance Moore's first look at the audit, and he was hopeful the report would have practical information.

"Anytime you get a third party looking at something you're used to everyday, they'll see something you overlook," Moore said. "We'll do anything to save money."

Generally, the report contained suggestions on retro-fitting lights, water usage and heating and air conditioning systems maintenance.

For example, the students performed "life cycle costing" on lighting that examines using systems that may cost more initially but save energy and money in the long term, said student Karen Parker.

Parker said many hotels are looking at resource conservation as a way to save money. She cited the concept of "eco purchasing," which includes policies such as composting organic food waste and using items with environment-friendly packaging

"Hotels are using words like 'green' and 'environmentally concerned,' but a lot of those are just buzzwords that are much more concerned with the bottom line," Parker said. "It's an overall philosophy we're trying to cultivate."

The Energy Department wants to cultivate resource conservation policies as well. Officials with the DOE, Holiday Inn and university President Carol Harter signed a partnership agreement to participate in "Rebuild America," a DOE initiative aimed at forming community alliances to study and implement energy-saving practices.