Microturbine farm at Marriott. Tuesday, 17th June 2008 Source : Marriott International

Harvesting energy – going green! the first hotel in New York City to install energy-efficient tri-generation plant.

“Microturbine Farms” cut costs, conserve energy and protect the environment. 

In a major initiative to reduce energy and carbon emissions significantly, the New York Marriott Downtown, a 500-room full-service Marriott hotel managed by Marriott International, Inc. and owned by Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., celebrated the inauguration of its new “microturbine farm” with a ribbon cutting on June 3, 2008 in Lower Manhattan. 

The installation of two hotel owner-funded PureComfort® systems built by UTC Power, a United Technologies Corp.  company, makes the hotel the first in New York City to use this ultra clean technology to provide its own electricity, cooling and heating on-site.

Waste heat generated by the system’s 11 microturbines is used for space heating, hot water and for air conditioning.  Not only will the hotel lower its overall energy costs, but the innovative technology ensures there is a minimal environmental impact because of the ultra-low emissions and efficiency overall. The overall system efficiency will approach 80 percent, almost three times that of a conventional power plant.

On an annual basis, two typical PureComfort systems  will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,700 tons (the equivalent of 360 acres of forest*) and nitrogen oxides emissions by 10 tons (or the equivalent of the emissions of 530 cars**), based on the U.S. electric utility grid emission averages.  The system will offset about 5800 MWhrs of electricity (5800 megawatt hours, enough to power 700 homes) each year.  In addition, 80 percent of annual steam usage will be displaced with a more cost-effective means of cooling and heating the hotel.

“We are thrilled to introduce this new technology at the New York Marriott Downtown,” says Ed Walter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., the hotel’s owner.  “This system has a proven track record of reliability and efficiency.  It demonstrates our ability and interest in conserving energy and protecting the environment, while also generating a significant return on our investment. In addition, we have registered the project with the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) for LEED® certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program.”

NOTE:  The LEED® green building rating system is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. (Source:  United States Green Building Council, www.usgbc.org )

For more than 20 years, Marriott International has been actively involved in energy conservation.  Over the last decade, its hotels worldwide have replaced 450,000 light bulbs with fluorescent lighting, introduced linen reuse programs, and installed 400,000 low-flow showerheads and toilets.

Earlier this year, Marriott mapped its worldwide carbon footprint. The company is committed to further energy reductions of 25 percent by 2017 and working with vendors to green our supply change and build more LEED-certified hotels. Marriott was named 2008 Sustained Excellence award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and has more ENERGY STAR hotels (more than 250) than any other hotel company.

“The installation of the new trigeneration plant at the New York Marriott Downtown speaks to Marriott International’s overall efforts in reducing our environmental footprint,” says Gene Coutu, Regional Vice President, Market Operations for Marriott’s Eastern Region. “Our hotel guests are very aware of hotels’ impact on the planet; more and more, they are making hotel choices based upon the company’s commitment to environmental practices. The New York Marriott Downtown’s trigeneration technology is a great example of how committed we are.”

“Once again, the New York Marriott Downtown hotel is leading the way in our neighborhood, this time by helping to make Lower Manhattan the world’s ‘greenest’ business and tourist destination,” says Elizabeth H. Berger, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York, the Lower Manhattan Business Improvement District.

“Just like the Downtown Alliance’s own ‘Going Green Downtown’ initiative, this effort to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions is about sustainability and the future.”

The New York Marriott Downtown is located at 85 West Street in Lower Manhattan, just two blocks south of the World Trade Center site.  The trigeneration installation comes on the heels of the completion of hotel renovations that include all new guest rooms, brand new meeting space, and a new concierge lounge overlooking New York City Harbor, with an additional guest elevator modernization slated for completion by November 2008.

^*Each acre of forest assumed to absorb 1.3 tons carbon/acre/year (Source:  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
^**Each car assumed to generate 38 lbm NOx/year (Source:  U.S. EPA)