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Anyone who uses as much hot water as the hotel industry should think
about having solar to assist whatever fuel source they use to heat
their hot water, says Howard Johnson Confederation Place Hotel
co-owner Bill Allison. Its a great investment the return is very
good.
Photo: Ian MacAlpine/Whig-Standard file photo
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Going green saves some green for hotel
Solar-heated hot-water system doubles estimated savings after first year of use
- Thursday, March 15, 2007 @ 00:00
By Jennifer Pritchett
Whig-Standard Staff Writer
Just a little more than a year after a downtown Kingston hotel
went green, its owners have doubled their energy savings and cut their
greenhouse gas emissions by 36 tonnes.
It is the equivalent of taking six cars off the road for a year.
In October 2005, Howard Johnson Confederation Place Hotel
installed a solar hot-water heating system to cut energy costs
associated with running its swimming pool, hot tub, bathrooms for 94
rooms, kitchen and laundry.
But even the hotels owners couldnt have predicted how much money theyd save.
Bill Allinson, who co-owns the hotel with sisters Beverley and
Barbara, said theyd expected to save $5,000, but their actual savings
for the first 12 months was $10,000.
Anyone who uses as much hot water as the hotel industry
should think about having solar to assist whatever fuel source they use
to heat their hot water, he said. Its a great investment the
return is very good.
Eighteen months ago, the Allinsons spent $52,000 on the new
system to save money and to promote their hotel as a green place to
stay.
The solar panels were made in Ontario using technology that
was jointly developed by a company called EnerWorks and Dr. Stephen
Harrison of the Queens University department of mechanical
engineering.
EnerWorks staff recently completed an audit, which found that
the hotel cut roughly 36 tonnes in greenhouse gas emissions. According
to Environment Canada, a typical late-model sport-utility vehicle
driven 20,000 kilometres a year produces about six tonnes of carbon
dioxide, a greenhouse gas and major contributor to smog.
A Kingston company, Quantum Renewable Energy Inc., installed
the solar panels and looks after their maintenance. But hotel co-owner
Barbara Allinson said the panels have very few maintenance issues.
Once its installed, its seamless, she said. Its not
something you have to manage day to day. If you can combine it with a
contract for your energy, you can really maximize the savings.
In another couple of years, she said, the hotel will have paid off the initial investment for the solar panels.
And that money will go into our pockets, she said. So its
not only a energy-savings exercise, its a money-savings exercise and
thats something we can all use.
The 20 solar panels on the roof of the hotel use energy from the sun to heat water as it circulates through flat, black panels.
The heated water is then stored in an insulated storage tank, where it can reach temperatures of up to 60 C.
As of now, Confederation Place remains the only hotel in town
using the energy-saving technology. Other solar systems in Kingston are
located at Canadian Forces Base Kingston, Joyceville Penitentiary, the
Landmark Condominium and two buildings owned by the Queens University
Science 44 Co-op.
Many of these systems, such as the one at Confederation Place,
were created using incentives from the federal government, including
the REDI program, which has since been cut by the Conservatives.
The Howard Johnson franchise also utilized the Ontario governments sales-tax rebate for renewal energy initiatives.
jpritchett@thewhig.com
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