It Is Easy—and Important—to Be Green

Four-dollar-a-gallon gas is (unfortunately) not a fad—and neither is the need for club and resort managers to get serious about finding ways to cut energy-related costs and lead their properties into more responsible operating practices.

by Don E. Vance, CCM (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
July 2008
 

When I was a child growing up in Los Angeles, I remember school days when we were told we couldn’t play outside, due to dangerously high levels of carbon dioxide. Going to school each morning, we knew we were doomed to have one of those "shut-in" days if we couldn’t see the mountains, because they were hidden by all the smog and pollutants in the air.

Fortunately, schoolchildren in L.A. don’t have to be kept indoors at recess anymore—and can enjoy better views of the mountains—because of steps that have been taken to reduce emissions and improve the ambient air quality. To me, this is an important lesson to remember amid the current talk about whether the "going green" movement represents just a trendy fad, or instead stands to bring serious and real change to the way we go about our jobs as club and resort operators.

Surveys show that 40% of Americans now consciously seek "green" accommodations (those that create a smaller environmental impact) when traveling. In response, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, nearly 70% of hotel properties now use (and promote) energy-efficient lighting.

In addition, 20% of the properties in a recent survey said they have already gone a step further to incorporate Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards into their operations, with another 21% of respondents saying that they planned to implement LEED practices in the next 12 months.

Following the LEED

If you don’t have full appreciation for what LEED involves—and how it can have a positive impact on the success of your own club operations—you should make a trip to Boulder, Colo., as I recently did to visit my son who lives there. You’ll soon learn that LEED goes well beyond just using more efficient lighting and really zeroes in on the much bigger picture of building construction and operation (according to the United States Department of Energy’s Center for Sustainable Development, buildings consume 40% of the world’s total energy, 25% of its wood harvest and 16% of its water consumption).

In Boulder, it’s fascinating to see how a concerted, city-wide effort to build more environmentally efficient homes has led to the proliferation of things like solar panels, reclaimed roofing tile, flooring and paneling made from salvaged "beetle-kill" pine, straw-bale exterior walls, drought-tolerant landscaping materials, and low-water-usage flush toilets and shower heads. And it’s even more fascinating, from an operational perspective, to hear how these new approaches can pay off—it’s been documented that homes that are built according to LEED standards consume 30% less water and 20% less electricity.

 

The 50th is First

Another interesting place to visit and gain more insight into the value of "going green" is Hawaii. Since the sun shines in the 50th State almost 365 days a year, many of the hotel properties there got wise years ago about looking into the value of using photovoltaic solar panels to generate electricity. While this can be an expensive capital project, most who took the leap found it paid off within 10 to 15 years.

Then there’s the added value to be gained by receiving the resulting environmental awards that can be earned for following these practices (many Hawaii-based properties annually top the lists of the most "Earth-Friendly Resorts"). In addition to being commended for making such good use of their state’s most valuable (and plentiful, and least costly) natural resource, these resorts were also cited for many other leading-edge practices, such as: installing motion sensors to regulate air conditioning and lighting; using saline rather than chlorine in spas, pools and hot tubs; using 100% biodegradable to-go containers and flatware for carry-out and casual food and beverage operations; shutting down escalators to common areas overnight; and adjusting the irrigation of ponds and waterfalls, to recycle the water.

We’ve also all seen how many hotels and resorts have now implemented water conservation programs, by placing biodegradable note cards in each room to let guests know that all hotel linens will be changed every third day, unless the guest requests otherwise. This is not only a smart conservation practice, it also has a huge positive financial impact on the properties’ budgets for utilities and linen service. Plus, it creates a feel-good connection with your guests, by allowing them to "opt in" to participate in the conservation effort.

I still vividly remember, in fact, the first time that I saw this practice being used—about eight years ago, when I visited Maui and stayed at a fine resort. A beautiful seashell "wristband" had been left on the foot of the bed, holding a very attractive note card (on recycled paper, of course).

I couldn’t help but pick up this ornate presentation and read what it had to say. Once I did, I felt obligated to "rotate" my towels and ask the hotel housekeeping staff to delay servicing my bed linens as part of their conservation program. What a brilliant way to get customers at a high-end resort to not only not mind that they won’t get fresh linens each day, but instead be glad to help you save on water, electricity and the other not-inconsiderable costs related to providing the service.

 

Doing Our Part

But does all of this have any application for "regular" club operations? Absolutely. At the Club at Longview, we too have "gone green," and everyone associated with the club—members, guests and staff—is proud to be part of the effort.

We no longer use aerosol products and we separate all plastic containers, paper products, glass and waste, and recycle them accordingly. Our Executive Chef, Paul Verica, has developed a tradeout agreement with area farmers, who come and pick up our used fryer grease, which they then use as biodegradable fuel for their farm equipment. In return, they trade fresh organic produce to us. I can remember when it wasn’t too many years ago when we had to pay companies to haul our grease away—but now, we not only greatly reduce our cost of goods by trading it for products we need, we generate a positive environmental impact in the process.

In addition, we have our very own vegetable garden on property, where we grow 25% of our produce and 100% of our herbs for our food and beverage operation. (See "A Garden Adds Variety," C&RB, December 2007). Our garden is 100% organic (we do not use any chemicals to manage weeds or insects), including the compost we create for the soil out of post-consumer products from our operation.

 

We Have No Bananas?

Chef Verica has also enlightened me about how even our menu choices can have a favorable environmental impact, by lessening the stress now being placed on many varieties of foods that are being consumed to the point of near-extinction.

Are you even aware, in fact, that there is actually an "endangered foods" list? I wasn’t, but then I learned about it through www.slowfoodusa.org—and was shocked to discover that even things like bananas are under siege, as the loss of forests through urbanization has shrunk the gene pool for the
Cavendish variety, which accounts for nearly all of the world trade in that fruit. So we now are looking to see how we can use some of the other available species, from among the 500-plus existing varieties of bananas, to meet our foodservice and preparation needs.

Studies have shown that in total, there may be between 60,000 to 100,000 varieties of plants now under threat throughout the world—plants that are not only vital to our ability to eat, but that also provide us with medicine, fibers, fuel, building materials and have many other useful purposes. Concern over the rapid rate of growth in the earth’s human population (which has doubled in size, to now over 6 billion, in the past 40 years), and that growth rate’s impact on the planet’s diminishing resources, has led to the creation of a World Millennium Seed Bank (located in the UK) that is collecting seeds for those plants already on the brink of extinction.

This is an amazing project, and anything that each of our own operations can do to further the cause and raise awareness, no matter how small it may seem, is certainly worthwhile.

 

Seeing the Light

On other parts of our properties, there is also much we can do to contribute to the effort—and at the same time make our operations more cost-effective. On our golf course at Longview, we apply the IPM (integrated pest management) program and employ other more environmentally sensitive practices, such as raising our mower heights, which encourages deeper rooting of the plant material.

To use less water, we have planted drought-resistant landscape materials, and we also keep our mowers sharp, which creates a cleaner cut so the plant will require less water. We are also aerating our course on a regular basis, which improves the movement of water and nutrients into the soil and at the same time decreases water runoff when it rains. We also have more energy-efficient "hydro" tennis courts—and yes, we now use energy-saving light bulbs throughout our property.

Our employees participate in these programs eagerly and with great pride, because they feel good about contributing favorably to the environment. Many have told me about similar things they are now doing at home, too, which can only help to create a far greater positive impact.

In fact, if we can help to educate people in the workforce about the benefits of such practices as turning off lights in empty rooms, turning up air conditioning thermostats, unplugging unused appliances, and opting for post-consumer paper products over their plastic alternatives (which take up to 200 years to dissolve in a landfill), we will be "paying it forward" in spades—not only for our operations, but exponentially, for the world.