InterContinental San Francisco
The team at the InterContinental San Francisco carried out a green campaign with the direction of Harry Hobbs, Area Director of Engineering for the hotel and through this campaign produced a LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2011. The hotel is the first InterContinental property, and one of the few hotels in American, ever to achieve this prestigious ranking for sustainability.
The golden rule the hotel set out with was that we would not accept anything that compromised the look and feel of the hotel and potentially impact the experience of the guests. As the World is in the grips of Global Warming, clients and companies have begun to demand sustainability and products/services which promote a reduction of the carbon foot print.
The hotel partnered with PG&E and the U.S. Department of Energy's DOE Gateway Program. The hotel long wanted to replace existing lighting with LEDs but had been unable to fin a new LED product of sufficient consistency or quality. The DOE and PEC experts selected the new lighting to meet the hotel's strict standards. 900 new 6.5 watt LED lamps were installed in the lobby and other public areas of the hotel. Having identified the best available LED technology, the hotel moved forward with the retrofitting of 3000 guest room lights with LEDs.
The largest and most impactful energy-saving measure to date has been the installation of a water side economizer for the rooftop HVAC system. The economizer takes advantage of the cool San Francisco Weather to provide more efficient air conditioning with less need for chillers.
The hotel partner with Zip Car to have a docking station for an electric proto Prisus Electric Hybrid. This car is being tested for Toyota and will soon be in full production. The hotel has achieved a trash diversion rate of 83%, closely approaching the 90% needed to be considered a zero waste stream hotel. In addition, the Hotel's ENERGY STAR rating has improved from 64 to 87, which in conjunction with LEED Gold, makes the InterContinental San Francisco one of the greenest large hotels in the nation. Harry gives enormous credit to his PG&E LodgingSavers for the success of this huge undertaking for the colleagues.
Through the retro commissioning of the hotel guest room water usage was reduced by 22% and linen reuse has a 41% success rate. Electricity usage which is 100% off set by wind power, has contributed to an overall savings of $161,357.25 yearly. Totally yearly savings $217,600.74 - as the hotel continues to look for measures to help reduce the carbon foot print.