PG&E Energy Audit at Portola Hotel

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Technical Solutions Engineer Chris Saiz demonstrated his expertise as we walked through the Portola Hotel and Spa yesterday. We were conducting a Level I Energy Audit walk for the hotel's LEED Existing Building Operations and Maintenance certification. The account manager for PG&E, Alex Calvillo, arranged for this audit. Alex was present, as well as Alicia Kilgore from PG&E; Al Hittle, the Portola's Chief Building Engineer; and George Lewis from the Engineering Department.

We thought that most of the lighting upgrade opportunities had already been implemented, but Chris pointed out large areas in Jack's Lounge that could be converted from 50 watt MR16 halogen lights to 3 watt LED equivalents. There were also a number of incandescent lights still in some of the lobby areas that could be replaced with CFL's. Chris made a point of observing the intent of the lighting. If it was directional, he would lean toward LED lighting, even over efficient fluorescent lights.

The Portola Hotel has quite a large kitchen area that serves both restaurants and banquets. Chris offered inisights on the refrigeration and kitchen equipment, explaining how PG&E provides incentives to purchase or upgrade equipment. This will be valuable information for future reference. As equipment requires major repairs, knowing the incentives for replacing the equipment, as well as energy savings makes better informed buying decisions.

Similar to most luxury hotels, the Portola Hotel and Spa has a dedicated laundry operation. The hotel has a state-of-the-art co-generation plant to help make the laundry operation efficient. This did not stop Chris though. He saw opportunities to preheat water before it entered washing machines and to use heat exchange technology for the dryer operations. We also discussed time of day usage and the potential to change the schedule of operations to reduce the impact of peak time rates.

We managed to brave some rather vocal seagulls on the rooftop where Chris offered suggestions to improve the operation of the chiller and air-handling units. We also toured some of the gorgeous rooms. It's hard to focus on energy savings when you're enjoying a terrific view of the Monterey Harbor and marina, howevber, we did manage to find some potential savings here. Even a relatively small savings per room can get big when you consider it's multiplied by more than 300 rooms.

Finally, Chris was able to provide suggestions on reducing computer energy demand. Chris works primarily in the Silicon Valley, so data center energy management is a core competency for him. He made the case for virtualization using products similar to Vmware to reduce the amount of servers in the data center. Each server generates 255 watts for 8000 hours a year. It also requires about 350 watts of cooling, so this can add up! He is also a big proponent of energy management software that can shut down any of the hotel's 80 computers as they become idle.

We're awaiting a report from Chris about his observations. We will use that to implement low-cost/no-cost solutions. We will also form a long term capital plan based on upgrades that will present some large opportunities. This is where the LEED certification process challenges you to a higher benchmark of achievement. As a result, the Portola Hotel and Spa will achieve terrific energy savings, and offer a great place to stay for the Green-minded traveler.