The Vineyard Hotel continues to lead the charge as a pioneer in sustainable tourism with the recent installation of 80 new 250 watt solar panels on the hotel’s pool deck and fitness centre roofs. Since the installation in mid-January, the hotel has generated some 2,600kWh of the 40,000 kilowatt hours this installation is expected to deliver over the next 12 months.
The panel installation, part of a pilot project commissioned by the hotel and supplied by solar energy company, M-solar, is a key addition to the hotel’s award winning ‘Living Green’, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and Waste Management projects. The projects speak to the high premium the hotel places on eco-friendly and long-term sustainability practices.
Vineyard Hotel CEO, Lex Petousis, commented: “Through this initiative, the Vineyard Hotel has effectively become an electricity power station in its own right – it’s actually listed on the power grid as the “VH Power Station” and we’re enormously proud of the impact this noteworthy addition is making to our growing list of green practices.
“While this pilot project will provide a fairly modest 1% reduction in the hotel’s total energy needs, every bit counts. In using this source of clean energy, consider that in just three weeks we’ve avoided a hefty 2.570 tonnes of CO2 emissions – which is the equivalent work of more than 7 full-grown trees!”
The 2 grid tie inverter panel installation forms part of the hotel’s pioneering involvement in the Western Cape’s 110% Green Campaign, an initiative instituted by Premier Helen Zille in 2012. The campaign aims to advance the growth of the green economy in the province through raising awareness, facilitating networks and giving official recognition to “green pioneers” who are shifting to becoming low-carbon, resource-efficient and creating new economic opportunities. The Vineyard Hotel was the only hotel invited to participate and has been identified as the only property to exceed the 5% saving goal. The hotel has reduced its electricity usage by 9% - and this despite a 12% increase in occupancy over the same period.
Another green project undertaken by the hotel in 2013 was the installation of over R1m worth of energy-saving LED lights in its rooms, restaurants and conferencing venue. Conferencing and Events Manager, Robyn van Oudtshoorn, said: “Our current Green Conferencing offering is very attractive to corporate users mandated to reduce their energy impacts. We already purchase locally generated wind-driven energy certificates from Darling for the centre and this new solar panel pilot project will not only reduce our emission impacts by over 41 tonnes, it also reduces our reliance on traditional grid consumption.”
For more about Vineyard Green Conferencing or other Living Green projects, go to www.vineyard.co.za. To see energy generated by this project to date, visit www.goodwe-power.com