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The Clock Is Ticking For PG&E Hotel Clients - Rebates give hotels free fluorescent lights
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Funds for utility’s ‘Summer Sale’ Rebate Program
expected to dry up in a few weeks; qualifying hotels can install
free fluorescent lighting & capture quadrupled rebates ($48/unit) for Green Suites’ Guestat programmable digital thermostat
Upland, Calif.—(Aug. 12, 2002)—Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s hotel clients are on the clock. In a matter of weeks, funds from the utility’s 2002 Express Efficiency ‘Summer Sale’ Rebate Program likely will run out—along with qualifying hotels’ opportunity to capture quadrupled rebates, making many fluorescent lighting retrofits free and reducing the cost of Green Suites’ Guestat programmable digital thermostat to $27 per guestroom.
“In today’s competitive travel markets, and with utility prices soaring again along with demand, what PG&E hotel client can afford to pass up these limited-time quadrupled rebates?” said Dan Bornholdt, President and Founder of Upland-based Green Suites International, hospitality’s leading provider of ecological solutions providing economic benefit.
PG&E’s Express Efficiency ‘Summer Sale’ Rebate Program is available to small- and medium-sized, non-residential customers with valid PG&E commercial, industrial, agricultural and gas accounts using less than 500 Kilowatts per month. According to Bornholdt, a typical PG&E hotel client with 300 guestrooms or less will qualify for the ‘Summer Sale’ Rebate Program. Rebates for select energy-saving products purchased and installed between July 15 and Oct. 15, 2002, are expanded until funds for the limited-time program run out. During the past few weeks we have worked with several dozen hotels to expedite the rebate reservation process.
“It’s imperative that we get the word out on the availability of quadrupled rebates for fluorescent lighting and programmable digital thermostats as soon as possible to all PG&E hotel clients,” Bornholdt said. “Funds for this program likely will close out in a matter of weeks and we don’t want the hotel industry to lose out on this rare, limited-time opportunity for free fluorescent lighting and Guestat digital thermostats at a net cost of $27 per unit.
“These two energy-saving lines combined can trim a qualifying hotel’s electrical budget by 30 percent or more annually,” he said. “With three of these CFL lamps, it’s all R and no I in the ROI equation. For the Guestat, it’s a matter months before the system pays for itself with savings that last decades.”
Lightened Load
Through a partnership, Green Suites International and GE Lighting perform audits and implement energy-conserving lighting solutions that have payback periods often measured in months yet provide on-going savings for years.
Bornholdt said many hotels suffer from electricity bills that have skyrocketed 50 percent or more, but that GE Lighting’s hospitality replacement lamps offered by Green Suites International can help properties reduce overall electrical bills 30 percent almost overnight. Bornholdt said that total lighting costs typically account for 40 percent of a property’s overall electrical expenses.
Bornholdt added that GE Lighting’s energy-efficient Hospitality Solutions help hotels improve room ambiance, safety and security while reducing costs and helping preserve natural resources at the same time. Hotels supporting green initiatives also have the added benefit of significantly increasing their appeal to the more than 43 million-environmentally conscious U.S. travelers.
Ray Burger, Green Suites International’s VP Sales & Marketing said the PG&E Express Efficiency ‘Summer Sale’ Rebate Program effectively will give qualifying hotels that apply immediately:
• FREE 14-watt spiral compact fluorescent lamps with the equivalent light output of 60-watt incandescent bulbs;
• FREE 20-watt spiral compact fluorescent lamps with the equivalent light output of 75-watt incandescent bulbs;
• FREE 27-watt spiral compact fluorescent lamps with the equivalent light output of 100-watt incandescent bulbs.
“We are GE Lighting’s partner in hospitality and offer dozens of GE Energy Star lighting solutions that: Have electronic ballasts providing flicker-free, instant starts; deliver warm pleasing natural light; and incorporate rare-earth phosphors for brighter, more-vibrant atmospheres,” Burger said. “If you have light bulbs in your hotel, we have ideas that can save you significant dollars with zero upfront costs.”
Go Guestat
In addition, PG&E’s ‘Summer Sale’ reduces by more than 60 percent the cost of Green Suites’ Guestat programmable digital thermostat thanks to a rebate that has been expanded from $12 to $48 per unit through Oct. 15, 2002, or as long as funding lasts.
Designed specifically for the lodging industry, the Guestat delivers a payback in a few months thanks to this limited-time rebate. Conservatively estimated, the Guestat can save hotels $100 or more per guestroom per year, Burger said.
While there are other in-room energy management system providers that also offer PTAC-compatible programmable digital thermostats, most of these systems cost three times as much or more—making them a non-option for many properties, particularly at this time in lodging’s downcycle. Furthermore, some of the more expensive occupancy sensor-based digital thermostats can be difficult and time consuming to install, and can trigger guest-service issues relating to sensor failures and/or infra-red technology limitations.
Vince Andres, GM of the 140-room Ramada Limited & Suites in Costa Mesa, Calif., underlined the bottom-line impact Guestat can have on a property’s near-term and long-term performance.
“Strange as it sounds, we collectively as people, not just the hospitality industry, for decades have ‘just paid the bill’ and moved on — usually after a bit of moaning and groaning — when it comes to electricity,” Andres said. “Why is this? Why aren’t all of us leveraging the knowledge of experts such as this alliance to find out just what we’re getting for our hard-earned money?
“We comparison shop for almost everything but energy. Go figure — how many other monthly payables have doubled to tripled on average during the past 18 months?” he said. “When times get really tight like now, hoteliers’ need lighting and EMS solutions such as these that shed energy costs propertywide.”
Based in Upland, Calif., Green Suites International assists hotels by developing solutions that are profitable to hotels and image enhancing to the more than 43 million environmental travelers in the United States. Solutions include natural amenities delivered from elegant dispensers, non-toxic cleaners, air and water filtration systems and energy and water efficient products. Facilities reaping the benefits of Green Suites’ solutions include properties from every state and 12 different countries. For more information on ETL’s crowd-pleasing water-efficient showerheads and Green Suites International’s
wide array of other ecological solutions providing economic benefit, please contact Ray Burger, VP Sales & Marketing, at 888-590-2285, e-mail rburger@greensuites.com, or visit www.greensuites.com.
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Date Listed: 2002-08-13
More news about:
 Industry: Hotel
Category: Technology
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