Green Suites International, hospitality�s leading provider of profitable solutions with environmental benefits, would like to take this opportunity to thank its thousands of hotel customers who collectively have embraced a plethora of money-saving solutions that are simple to implement and easy to afford, and that provide proven ROI for the properties and the planet.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2003, Green Suites International is proud to say that its lodging partners collectively have:

• Replaced some 200,000+ lights with energy-efficient bulbs, saving more than 61 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity and avoiding 6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year from coal fired power plants
• Deployed water-efficient guestroom solutions such as sink aerators and low-flow showerheads, saving an estimated 219 million gallons of water per year;
• Installed more than 10,000 GuestatTM Energy Management Systems, saving 10 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity and avoiding 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year;
• Added 12,000 bathroom amenity dispensers, annually diverting more than 8.5 million plastic bottles from landfills; and
• Adopted a linen-and-towel reuse program, conserving 95.9 million gallons of water per year.

Bornholdt said today�s ever-escalating utility rates are prompting many properties to take another look at these so-called �fixed costs.� Opportunities exist at every turn for lodging operators to cut costs while helping preserve the planet. 

�In the first quarter of this year alone, we added two new solutions that each could save the lodging industry millions of dollars every year � the VendingMiserTM, an energy saving technology proven to cut related electricity consumption $150 to $200 per vending machine per year, and WorkHorseTM recycled latex paint that performs as well as the rest at a cost 30 percent less,� Bornholdt said. 

�Our mission at Green Suites International is to develop and market environmental solutions that save businesses money,� he said. �We realized from the start that if our products didn�t make dollars and sense, we wouldn�t be able to make half as much impact on preserving our natural resources. We know the environment and we know the hotel industry and the hot buttons for owner/operators� bottom lines. Our environmental solutions are bottom-line driven � allowing Earth Day to truly be an every-day event at our client properties from coast to coast.� 

Water-Saving Solutions � Low-flow showerheads (2.0 and 2.5 gallons per minute), low-flow sink aerators (1.5 gpm), early-closer toilet flappers and toilet tank diverter valves.

�We implemented just a few of Green Suites International�s water and energy saving solutions and expect to save $100,000 per year at just six of our properties. If we take this program to the rest of our portfolio, it would deliver more than $300,000 in total cost containment that would go directly to our bottom line ever year,� said Alpesh Patel, KANA Hotels VP. 

Project Planet Linens & Towels Reuse Program � The only such program endorsed by the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

�We commenced the project at our 600-room hotel and the immediate results were staggering � Over the course of the first year, we estimate we saved $121,000,� remarked the GM at Holiday Inn � Midtown in New York.

Guestat Programmable Digital Thermostat � An in-room energy management system with programmable temperature setback points to reduce related energy costs up to 25 percent or more at a cost of less than $100 per guestroom.

�We looked at several other energy management systems and we are confident Guestat is the best buy out there. Guestat quickly pays back its own costs and continues to provide significant on-going cost savings. 

Sweetening the deal, oftentimes, hotels can benefit from utility company rebates that help offset the marginal investment expense � whether it be a new build or retrofit upgrade,� said Mit Amin of Diplomat Hotels Corp.

Energy-Efficient Lighting � Products from partners such as GE Lighting that can reduce lighting costs up to 70 percent and a property�s overall electricity costs up to 40 percent.

�All of the lamps in our guestrooms, corridors and passageways, and public areas now use GE Lighting�s energy-efficient Hospitality Solutions offered by Green Suites International. Energy savings already has paid for the entire project, and we expect on-going savings of $16,000 or more annually to be realized by our property for many years to come,� said Richard Gaines, GM of the upscale 110-room Radisson Beverly Pavilion in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Nature�s Mist � An-all natural deodorization system that helps thousands of hotels guarantee non-smoking rooms, while protecting property assets and guest satisfaction/loyalty. Properties using Nature�s Mist are listed on Green Suites� www.odorfreestay.com site (with hyperlinks to their individual Web sites, if available). 

�We believe so strongly in the bottom-line benefits of the Nature�s Mist Odor Control System and related preventative maintenance program that we�ve mandated its usage at each of our 13 Phoenix Inn Suites, as well as at our Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn,� said Scott Snyder, Regional Manager for VIP Hotels Inc.

All-Natural Bathroom Amenities With Convenient/Cost-Efficient Dispensers � Soap, body gel, shampoo, conditioner and lotion dispensed through an elegant system that saves hotels time and money by eliminating the need to restock and landfill millions of plastic amenities bottles every year. 

�Our housekeepers and guests absolutely love the convenience of Green Suites� Bathroom Amenities Program. As an owner, I absolutely love the program�s bottom-line savings benefit. Now we don�t have to collect and throw out all of those little plastic bathroom amenity bottles, which tend to waste money and our housekeepers� time, as well as take up space in our landfills. Green Suites� Bathroom Amenities Program saves us $500 or more per month. Now our guests can use as much of whichever bathroom amenities they desire � while we save $6,000-plus-per-year, which goes directly to our bottom line, I might add,� said Sam Patel, General Manager and Co-Owner of the 50-room Best Value Inn � Blythe, Calif.

O-Tech Direct Injection Ozone Laundry System � Reduces laundry water usage up to 40 percent, energy consumption up to 80 percent, chemical costs up to 70 percent and related linen degradation up to 50 percent.
�About 60 percent of the costs incurred to install O-Tech systems on three of our washers was covered by rebates from local utilities. In the end, we paid just about $8,000 out-of-pocket to outfit three washing machines with O-Tech, and in the first year we recouped that money in energy, water/sewer and chemicals savings,� said Doug Bartells, Vice President and GM of the 123-room Best Western Executive Inn in downtown Seattle.�

Based in Upland, Calif., Green Suites International is lodging�s leading provider of profitable solutions with environmental benefits. For more information on Green Suites International, contact Ray Burger, VP Sales & Marketing, at 888-590-2285, e-mail [email protected], and visit www.greensuites.com.