For Immediate Release
Photos Available
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, February 17, 2009 - The Furnace Creek Inn & Ranch Resort in Death Valley National Park has received an award from "Flex Your Power," California's energy efficiency and conservation campaign, for the resort's successes in "Peak Demand Response."
The Peak Demand Response award recognizes Furnace Creek's successes in reducing peak power use and protecting California's power grid during periods of high demand by shifting electrical consumption, shutting down systems, and taking immediate conservation action. Of the 10 award winners taken from applicants across California, Xanterra was the only tourism company recognized.
In partnership with Southern California Edison, the Furnace Creek Inn & Ranch Resort reduced peak load during demand response events by a maximum of 1,000 kW, or 50 percent of its peak load. Furnace Creek accomplished this reduction by shutting down unused buildings, shifting golf course irrigation pump use and golf cart charging to off peak periods, and completing laundry operations earlier than normal. Along with being a demand response leader Furnace Creek saved more than 35 million gallons of water as compared to last year with low-flow fixtures, decreased golf course irrigation, and other measures.
Flex Your Power also recognizes entities for their efforts in the categories of Energy Efficiency, Media and Education, Innovative Products and/or Services and Water Conservation/Efficiency.
"A key to our success was our extensive employee outreach program and our employees' subsequent buy-in," said Joel Southall, director of environmental health & safety. "For example, our front desk agents now consolidate guestrooms by individual buildings rather than spreading them out so that we can turn off the air conditioning for the day in buildings not used. Considering that Death Valley summertime temperatures are among the hottest in the world, energy savings are considerable."
The single-biggest development undertaken by Furnace Creek operator Xanterra Parks & Resorts was the installation of a four-acre, one megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) system. The system's 5,740 panels were commissioned June 20, 2008 and generate 2.2 million kWh of emissions-free electricity per year, equal to one-third of Furnace Creek's total annual electricity needs.
The company also undertook an extensive lighting retrofit, highlighted by the replacement of 100-watt incandescent flood lights in its museum with 13-watt CFLs and 75-watt incandescent fan lights in one of its restaurants with 7-watt cold cathode bulbs. "We see real benefits from these retrofits - reduced electrical consumption, improved environmental performance and superior product reliability" said Southall. "Flex Your Power's recognition of our successes in an environment as extreme as Death Valley will hopefully encourage others to follow our example."
The Furnace Creek Inn & Ranch Resort has been welcoming guests since the 1930s. The AAA Four-Diamond-rated Furnace Creek Inn is open from mid-October through mid-May. It features 66 rooms, including two suites with a full array of amenities, fine dining, tennis courts and a spring-fed pool. Open year-round, the Furnace Creek Ranch is situated adjacent to the golf course and features 224 rooms in a casual setting, general store, spring-fed swimming pool, tennis courts, horseback riding and the Borax Museum.
For more information about facilities in Death Valley National Park or to make room reservations at in-park lodges, call toll free at 1-800-236-7916 or 1-303-297-2757 or go to www.furnacecreekresort.com.
###
Xanterra Parks & Resorts® (consisting of Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Inc. and Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C.) operates lodges, restaurants and other concessions at national parks and state parks and resorts. Xanterra Parks & Resorts is the country's largest park concessioner. Xanterra operates concessions in the following locations: Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Rocky Mountain and Petrified Forest National Parks, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial; and at the Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif.; and eight Ohio State Parks. Its affiliate Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C. operates concessions at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Xanterra also operates the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Ariz.
Long committed to the preservation and protection of the environment, Ecologix, Xanterra Parks & Resorts' environmental program, includes a variety of proactive environmental stewardship programs in each location. Xanterra has been repeatedly recognized for its environmental leadership in the hospitality industry and is the recipient of many honors, including major awards from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, Travel Industry Association, Colorado Department of Public Health, State of Arizona, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
For more information about Xanterra, links to individual properties and reservations numbers, visit www.xanterra.com.
Media contact:
Mona Mesereau
(1) 720-842-5271
Close window