hospitalitystyle.com

(September 2008) posted on Mon Sep 08, 2008 EDT

This Joie de Vivre Hotel uses green design to energize its roof line and its bottom line.

Tweet

By Judi Ketteler

• 
• 
• 

 

With fuel prices pressuring bottom lines and the green movement gathering corporate momentum, energy generation may be the highest use for hotels' rooftop real estate. That poses a fresh round of challenges for the architects, designers and solar energy consultants working to power up the rooftops of existing establishments such as San Francisco's Hotel Carlton.

Making the shift to solar may be primarily about energy savings, but it also has aesthetic and infrastructural implications. Sunlight Electric, a locally based designer and retailer of photovoltaic systems, took that into consideration when mapping out the installation for this Joie de Vivre Hotels' property on Lower Nob Hill. After a system analysis, Sunlight Electric decided on a ballasted racking system for the 105 panels that would sit atop the Hotel Carlton: The panels don't penetrate the roof, so they're modular and can be moved if necessary (if the hotel decided to add floors, for instance).

In order to maximize solar energy generation on the Carlton's rooftop, Sunlight Electric angled the panels at a 5 degree tilt. Site optimization is essential since many hotels have a limited area for solar, says Helen Nigg, account director with Sunlight Electric.

Plants and creative dividers are obvious choices to screen the panels from social spaces such as bars, spas or function areas that may share a hotel's roof. However, Nigg cautions landscape architects and designers to limit the height of these elements so they don't shade the panels.

But going forward, Marc Heisterkamp, manager, corporate & investment real estate, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), predicts some hotel architects and operators may be putting solar center stage. "Solar plays up a marketing angle. It's a visible sign of what the hotel is doing to be green," says Heisterkamp. Rooftops that advertise their eco-commitment will be proliferating. The New York Financial Center Marriott, for example, reconfigured its roof to make room for a micro-turbine generator. "It's not as glamorous as solar or wind power, but it's the right solution for the available space," he says.

With energy costs rising 7.5 percent every year in California, the financial implications of solar power for Hotel Carlton are obvious. Their efforts wound up costing the hotel only about $24,000, thanks to $140,000 in city and state rebates and tax credits. "It was a no-brainer," Flank says. "We've saved $2,500 on our energy bill already [as of July] and we estimate that within seven years, the whole system will have paid for itself."

If such results are possible in foggy, rainy San Francisco, solar power would seem to be a viable option for hospitality projects just about anywhere.