In happy news for eco-conscious travelers everywhere, the 1,310-room Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa has installed a new gridsmart solar panel lighting system in its outdoor parking lot, reducing its power consumption from 30,000 watts to 12,000 watts a day. The gridsmart solar lighting technology harnesses solar energy to power more than 45 percent of the needed electricity to run the lights at night.
Some of the benefits of gridsmart solar lighting include:
* Energy efficient – 85+ lumens per watt
* No flickering, strobing or noise
* Long life – 100,000 hours
* Minimal maintenance – can go 10 years without change out
* Minimal color shifting – light quality doesn’t decrease with age
Gridsmart solar lighting uses existing electrical grids (instead of batteries) to store energy during the day. The local utility sells that power to others during peak hours, reducing the amount of fuel consumption to supply the city with electricity. The solar power generated throughout the day is credited and returned to Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa after peak hours, providing electricity to light the parking lot and thus reducing hotel costs.
This is only the latest step the hotel has taken towards going green. In 2009, resort associates recycled:
* 24.14 tons of glass
* 314.47 tons of wet waste which is provided free of charge to local farms to feed their animals
* 19.13 tons of cardboard
* 10.93 tons of fryer oil which is used to make biofuel by a local vendor
* 19.43 tons of white paper
Two years ago, the Resort's guestrooms and suites in the oceanfront Kealohilani Tower were renovated with eco-friendly highlights including compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, four efficient chillers that provide air conditioning, air conditioning sensors in guestrooms that turn off the air conditioning when the lanai (balcony) door opens, tinted lanai doors to help reduce the heat load as well as the demand for increased air conditioning, low flow toilets and shower head, and automatic sensors for toilets and sinks in public restrooms.
The oceanfront resort was the recipient of the Energy Star award by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy in 2008, 2006, 2005 and 2004.
