|
“Going green” is the latest marketing buzzword—amusement parks, resorts, even car washes trumpet their ecofriendly initiatives. More than 50 percent of consumers in a recent Travel Horizons survey said they would prefer to patronize a hotel or resort that practiced environmental responsibility; so “going green” clearly resonates with many visitors.
But what does it really mean?
Going green can cover a wide range of activities—fromrecycling, energy conservation, and reducing water use; to serving organic food, reducing chemical use or oil consumption, and cutting CO2 emissions. Initiating green policies, likewise, encompasses a huge range of investments. Some policies are quite easy and inexpensive; others require significant upfront costs but recoup their investments; and still others may help the environment but never recoup costs.
Jim Levesque, president of Leisure Entertainment Consultancy, says he has noticed a recent surge in eco-friendly theme parks.Going green, he says, “provides a public relations platform as being eco-friendly development,” but adds, “‘going green’ in theme park development can be beneficial not only for the environment but the project’s bottom line.
“There are many green alternatives that can be used on a project that have little or no real cost impact,” Levesque says. “Others may have initial investment costs, but those costs can be outweighed by the long-term benefits, such as lower operational and maintenance costs and promotional aspects relating to corporate participation in going green.”
Green Upkeep: A Place to Start
Of course, while being environmentally responsible in principal is something few people would argue with, it’s rare a facility can accomplish it in one fell swoop. Even the largest parks are considering ways to ease into expensive green projects, ways to incorporate inexpensive but effective green practices, or ways to replace less environmentally friendly features with more energy-efficient ones when the ride or facility naturally needs maintenance or refurbishing.
For example, while upgrading one of its oldest attractions,Disneyland in California replaced the old diesel engines on the revamped “FindingNemo Submarine Voyage” with clean, quiet, zero-emission magneticcoil- powered electric engines. The “coral” reef in that ride is no longer painted; it gets its color from recycled glass sprayed on with organic epoxy.
“Some of the amusement rides I advise on have options to save some energy, or to give parks the choice between different drive systems,” says Jeroen Nijpels of the Luxembourgbased JN Entertainment & Leisure Consultancy. “Pleasure Beach in Blackpool (UK), decided to replace its old gasoline driven cars with new electric Fun Cars from FAB in Luxembourg. There aremuch lowermaintenance costs as well, because of less greasing, oil consumption, etc.’
Saving Water
With much of the world facing drought (and municipalities sometimes penalizing for overuse or mandating conservation efforts), water conservation is front and center for most facility managers.
According to Levesque, the not-yet-opened Myths and Legends theme park in South Korea will use waterless, no-flush urinals for all 40 urinals in the park. “On average one waterless urinal saves 45,000 gallons of water a year,” he says. “This would translate into 1,800,000 gallons of water saved per year, meaning less water and sewage costs. There is also a savings with the installation since water feed lines, flush valves, and sensors would no longer be needed. The overall operating cost of a no-flush urinal is about $1 per 1,000 uses.”
 Landscaping water is another spot ripe for conservation. The use of drought-resistant or native plants is growing, and new technologies have made watering exactly the amount any plant needs easier than ever. At Legoland California, reclaimed water is used for all irrigation, and the park installed a new control system to monitor the whole operation. “This on-site weather station feeds data [humidity, wind speed, high temps, etc.] into the irrigation controller and factors how much water is used by plants each day, adjusts irrigation run times, and controls the amount of water use,” says Legoland spokeswoman Julie Estrada.
Europa-Park in Germany uses a centralized water treatment plant to cut the use of ground water for the supply of the artificial lakes and water attractions by 50 per- cent, says EsterWawrin, communications director. “Another effect of the centralized water treatment is the fact that there is no more need to use chlorine,” she says.
Saving Petroleum
Retrofitting diesel engines to accept biodiesel is widespread in the industry. At Universal Orlando, adoption of biodiesel fuel technology will result in reduction of CO2 emissions by 158 tons per year, according to spokeswoman Janel Moncada. Universal Studios Hollywood has installed new low sulfur-burning diesel in its “Studio Tour” trams and is examining biodiesel and alternative fuel/electric for trams and other vehicles.
The steam locomotives were the largest consumer of diesel fuel at Disneyland before being converted to biodiesel—a move that saved 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year while greatly reducing emissions (although the fuel prices are currently competitive with gasoline). “Making the switch to biodiesel was relatively easy and inexpensive,” says Frank Dela Vara, technical director of environmental affairs for the Disneyland Resort. “The use of soy-based biodiesel could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80 percent.”
Saving Energy
Energy savings can be as simple (and inexpensive) as replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs or as complex (and expensive) as retrofitting existing structures with windor solar-powered energy sources. Even simple changes can make a huge difference: Walt Disney World in Orlando upgraded to a more efficient fluorescent lighting system in more than 17 million square feet of its facilities. The annual electrical savings amounted to 46 million kilowatt-hours— the equivalent electrical usage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom during its first year of operation.
Other energy-efficient projects are large and costly but repay the investment fairly quickly. Europa-Park has a solar panel installation on top of a covered walkway fromthe parking area to the entrance. The solar power plant, with 2,500 solar modules, produces 230,000 kWh per year. “The electricity consumption of a small village could be covered with that,” saysWawrin. “This results in an environmental relief of approximately 150 tons of CO2 per year.”
And solar panels aren’t the only way to run the meter backward. “Pleasure Beach [in Blackpool, UK] bought a ride called ‘Star Shape’ from the Zierer factory in Germany, and they included an option that would convert the energy that was produced to brake the ride back into the electricity grid, and saved 10-15 percent on the electricity bill for this specific ride,” explains Nijpels.
“As this becomes a bigger issue in the overall society, this will in time spill over to our industry specifically,” he says. “We might see the requirement to calculate CO2 footprints of the rides, and/or parks having to calculate that for their business, and in turn make efforts to reduce that over time.”
Lisa Anderson Mann is a freelance writer specializing in travel/hospitality,marketing, technology, and food andwine. She is based in Northern California and can be reached at lisa_mann@comcast.net
Creative Energy Problem- Solving at the Auckland Zoo
IN 2001, THE AUCKLAND ZOO INTRODUCED ITS “SEA LION AND PENGUIN SHORES” EXHIBIT, which features a walkthrough aviary with a saltwater pool and a beach where guests can view New Zealand fur seals and California sea lions underwater. An unfortunate effect was the resulting energy bill, which jumped roughly $62,000 per annum. “Nothing in the facility’s design hinted at this kind of energy use and it risked blowing our transformer,” says Tess Doogue, environmental coordinator at the zoo. “Something had to be done.”
 Assets and Project Manager Andrew James commissioned consulting company Energy Solution Providers (ESP) to investigate the energy use, and the exhibit’s three fixed-speed filter pumps were identified as the major source of the problem. “The filtrationwasworking as hard at night when the animals were inactive as it was during the day,” says Doogue. Upon the suggestion of ESP, the zoo installed variable-speed pumps on the filtration motors for regulation; reducing pump use at night, when animals were inactive, was applied throughout the entire park.
“ESP also identified a power factor problem,” Doogue says. “We were running around .9 efficiency, which was costing us several thousand dollars each year in wasted energy.”To solve the problem, the zoo installed a 45 kVAr automatic power factor correction unit at themain switchboard and added insulation to the park’s piping infrastructure to keep the water at the correct temperature.
The zoo’s overall savings are an encouragement to any attractions deterred by cost in modification to be more energy efficient. “The total investment for the project was $31,350,” says Doogue. “In the first year alone,we enjoyed energy savings of $73,830—an overall payback period of less than six months.”
Since 2001, Auckland Zoo has reduced its electricity usage by 25 percent and its water usage by 33 percent, and now recycles 85 percent of all zoo waste.
“As a zoo, we take reducing our carbon footprint in our own backyard as seriously as the work we do breeding and releasing endangered native species, our in-the-field support, and our research and education,” says zoo director JonathanWilcken. “We’re constantly looking at ways to better our performance, and to share these practices with our partners and visitors.”
—Marion Hixon
Web Resources
United States Environmental Protection Agency. General environmental resource www.epa.gov
United States Department of Energy High-Performance Initiative for Buildings http://eere.energy.gov/buildings/highperformance
The United States Energy Star Program. Promotes highefficiency products and practices www.energystar.gov
BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability). Free software measures environmental performance of building products www.bfrl.nist.gov/ose/software/bees
United States Green Building Council www.usgbc.org
—Compiled by Lisa Anderson Mann
|
Green Ingenuity
More environmentally friendly ideas from parks and attractions Three Bears Lodge IndoorWaterworld at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp Resort inWisconsin spent nearly $2 million on a system that takes exhaust heat from the hotel’s air-conditioning system and uses it to help warm the waterpark’s pools. Projected an annual savings: $115,000.
 In 2007, employees at Sandusky, Ohio’s Cedar Point collected and recycled 2,820 pounds of aluminum cans as part of the Aluminum Cans for Burned Children program. The more than $1,400 generated from the drive went toward the Burn Care and Reconstructive Center at St.Vincent Mercy Medical Center inToledo, Ohio.
Rather than using toxic cleaners and water, Legoland California’sModel BuildingTeamcleans themore than 15,000 Lego models throughout the park with a spray of finely powdered recycled walnut shells. After “exfoliating” the models, the shell powder is swept up and reused. Also at Legoland: To control rodents, the landscaping team encourages natural predators to nest along the perimeter of the park. A pair of horned owls recently hatched three owlets in the Castle Hill area of the park in one of many owl-nesting boxes erected by the landscaping team.
At The Disneyland Resort in California, a teamof custodial cast members rewards random guests who are observed recycling by giving thema lanyard and“environmentality” pin featuring Jiminy Cricket, both made of recycled materials. Since 2004, the program has recognized more than 1,500 guests for their environmental gestures.
New Rides Get E-makeovers
When designing “The Simpsons Ride” for Hollywood and Orlando, Universal Studios gave the former “Back to the Future” attraction an energymakeover.Variable frequency drives efficiently control the electrical power supply on the refurbished ride, saving an estimated 50 percent; software controls the ride’s hydraulic systems for maximum efficiency; and the attractions are lit with 2,582 LED lights. |
Solar Power: Living and Learning
GUESTS WHO ENJOY THE OCEAN VIEW while swinging on the “Sea Dragon” and spinning on the “Super Flip” can now also catch a glimpse of 108 sleek solar panels sitting on the roof of Funland, a boardwalk park in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Intrigued riders often ask about the addition and are pleased with the park’s clean energy initiative.
After attending a green energy conference in 2007, Treasurer Bill Henschke and other park owners were motivated to reduce their carbon footprint and incorporate solar energy at Funland. “It brought the idea of conservation to the forefront andmade us aware of what we’re using,” Henschke says. Adding incentive was a 30 percent tax credit from the state of Delaware for running clean energy, for which Funland had to produce by the end of the year to qualify.
 Although their solar panel additions went into effect quickly, getting there proved more difficult, partially because solar power is lesser known among commercial businesses and has developing regulations. But Henschke and the Funland family were dedicated to the transition and are now pleased with their solar power addition and the near 18megawatts of clean energy they’ve produced to date (at about 120 kilowatts per day).
“It wasn’t an easy path, and if there was anyone more reluctant to do it, it was me,” says Henschke of paying for the process. “But there wasmore to it than money.”
The park hired Blue Skies Solar & Wind Power to affix the solar panels on an unused section of roof, and by December 12, the park was producing clean energy. Funland doesn’t run entirely off solar energy since peak ride times are often after the sun has set, but the park will also produce more energy than it consumes during winter when the park is closed. And with the clean energy the park produces, it receives a small return from the power company for each kilowatt per hour produced. These kilowatts are tracked by meters, and an inverter is used to convert DC power into AC power.
Beside the environmental impact and tax credit, Funland is also able to earn renewable energy credits (RECs) through the government’s Generation Attribute Tracking System. The programallows facilities to sell their credits for around $220 per megawatt. “That’s another source of income that we didn’t even realize would be available to us,” says Henschke. |
 Henschke’s Tips for Incorporating Solar Energy
1. Hire a consultant to help with the transition.
2. Have your consultant provide a projection of energy and financial savings.
3. Examine how your local energy company bills solar power.
4. Explore tax refunds or rebates in exchange for switching to solar power.
5. Investigate local building codes and regulations before installation. |
|
