February 1, 2017

Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,

Our next meeting will be Thursday February, from 2:30 to 4:00  at the Courtyard Boston Downtown  in the Library Room, floor 5.             
 
I thank our hosts: Cathleen Wardley and Albert Tsaturyan.
 
I hope you can come!
 
Dan 
 
 
SPEAKERS

Albert Tsaturyan, Chief Engineer,  Courtyard Boston Downtown 

Mr. Tsaturyan will discuss the Courtyard's recent green achievements 
and its plans for 2017.

Emre Schveighoffer , CEO,  National Resource Management, Inc.    

H ave you ever dreaded having your refrigeration system fail on the day of a big event? Or wondered how you could prevent costly losses due to a refrigeration malfunction on a Sunday at 2:00 a.m.?  

Mr. Schveighoffer, will discuss refrigeration control and monitoring systems that help companies avoid these catastrophes. The NRM system improves cooling performance; and it provides predictive fault detection, a user-friendly dashboard, real-time alerts, etc.
 
It also cuts energy use by 30% on average. It qualifies for Mass Save rebates and has an attractive ROI.
 
Among NRM's 14,000 customers: Pebble Beach Resorts, Harvard, Boston College, UMass and 60 Chili's Restaurants.



Amy WeberRecovery and Donations Specialist,  Center for EcoTechnology  (CET)
Josh Cook, Green Business Specialist, RecyclingWorksMA   
    
When hotels divert building materials for reuse or recycling during renovations, they reduce disposal fees and often reap tax deductions.
 
Our speakers and their colleagues help MA businesses develop practical, 
financially-viable plans to reuse and recycle building materials. They identify 
the materials that can be diverted and find organizations that take them.  

CET's EcoBuilding Bargains outlet offers free site visits and pickup services for MA businesses.



Brian Hindt, President and CEO, EcoClear 

Dirty coils increase HVAC energy consumption by up to 30%.  Mr. Hindt will explain how a thorough, deep cleaning of your hotel's HVAC coils is one of the best and easiest ways to reduce energy consumption. 
 
He'll explain how HVAC coil cleaning removes dirt and biohazards like legionella, thereby improving indoor air quality and reducing risk.  



 
IDEAS

The Lenox Hotel Now Donates Food Regularly to Boston Rescue Mission

This fall, The Lenox Hotel started donating food from their weekend catering operation to the Boston Rescue Mission (BRM). The BRM, located in Downtown Crossing, helps the city's homeless and poor by providing food, shelter and social services.
 
According to The Lenox's Samantha Sorrin, the relationship developed when six hotel managers volunteered at the BRM and served a meal of donated food. They saw what a difference it made to the Mission's residents and guests.
 
Working with the BRM proved to be easy. Jenn Glucklich, The Lenox's Banquet Manager, simply calls her BRM contact over the weekend and arranges for a Monday morning pickup. 

She  said, "Donating leftover food to The BRM was a no-brainer. I knew I wanted to do something with leftovers but wasn't sure how. Once we learned about the BRM, it just took a phone call or two and the rest is history!"
 
In their first three months, The Lenox donated 152 pounds of food per month--all from meetings they host on weekends. The hotel will consider donating food from its restaurants, too.
 
The Lenox doesn't worry about liability issues. According to RecyclingWorks Massachusetts, "extensive legal research does not turn up a single legal case related to food donation liability."  Several federal and MA Good Samaritan laws protect businesses. The Harvard Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation posted three legal guides for businesses that donate food.  The same rules for serving uneaten food in the employee cafeteria apply to donating food the BRM.
 
Eric Grenfell-Muir, the BRM's Director of Information, said, " Our guests don't get many chances to eat high quality food from hotels like the Lenox. We make it easy to donate unused food, because it raises the spirits of people who are struggling and living on the edge.

The BRM truck picks up donations every day, though not at all hours.  The BRM can return chafing dishes and other containers to hotel donors. 
 
Fairmont Copley Plaza and The Liberty Hotel also donate food to the BRM.

To learn how your hotel can participate, contact Mr. Grenfell-Muir (617-338-9000x1209,  [email protected]). To get a hotelier's perspective, contact Samantha Sorrin (617-421-4915, [email protected]) of The Lenox.


 
ARTICLES 

Glenn Hasek, Green Lodging News, December 12
 
Recently, we had a presentation and an article on the remarkable advances in dishwashing technology. This new article expands on this subject by surveying the products sold by leading suppliers: Meiko, Hobart, CMA Dishmachines, Electrolux, Insinger Machine Company and Jackson Warewashing Systems.
 
New machines cut water use by as much as 88%. They cut energy use substantially, too, by recovering waste heat, using better insulation, using blower dryers, etc. Modern dishwashers give off less heat and are quieter than their predecessors.


Understanding the Value of One Degree of Flexibility in HVAC Setpoints
Jen Jackson, Director of Product Management, BuildingIQ, October 31
 
A Pacific Northwest National Laboratory study shows that when facility managers flex a building's set-point by one degree (lower in winter, higher in summer, for example), they cut HVAC energy use by three to six percent.

 
Sarah Kollar, Ocean Conservancy, November 28
Glenn Hasek, Green Lodging News, November 30
 
Around the globe, 500 million plastic straws get thrown away daily. Plastic straws are one of the most common items found in beach and river cleanups.
 
Skip the Straw campaigns urge restaurants to provide straws only upon request. They implore customers to not to ask for straws.


 
2017 MEETINGS

The following meeting will be 2:30 to 4:00. 

Feb. 9 Courtyard Boston Downtown
March 9  
April 27  
May 25  
July 6  
Sept. 14  
October 12  
December 7 Le Meridien


See you February 9 at Courtyard Boston Downtown!


Boston Green Tourism
Phone | Email | Website