4 minute read
Green Lodging Spotlight: Marriott Desert Springs Palm Desert, California
GREEN LODGING SPOTLIGHT
Advertisement
The Coachella Valley is one of the fastestgrowing regions in Southern California. It’s also a desert-meets-mountain land of extremes — well into the triple digits by summer, sometimes subfreezing in winter, with water always at a premium.
It’s the perfect locale for a forward-thinking hospitality concern like Marriott Vacation Club, which has a long, admirable record of investing in serious environmental stewardship no matter where it hosts owners and guests.
In 2011 Marriott enrolled all Vacation Club properties in Audubon International’s Green Lodging Program. The Marriott Desert Springs Villas in Palm Desert was ahead of the curve, joining in 2010 and becoming certified in 2011.
Dennis Berry, Director of Engineering, picked up where his predecessor, Glenn Knorr, left off when he retired two years ago. Berry and his staff, including Assistant Director of Engineering Art Ambriz—whose tenure at Desert Springs stretches back many years—continue to implement practices that raise the bar for other Marriott Vacation Club properties.
Desert Springs Villas originally earned a Silver Certification Rating in 2010. At their 2014 recertification site visit, they earned a Gold Certification thanks to improvements that included: • Creating a prominent display illustrating their environmental initiatives for guests • Making changes to landscaping to reflect the native desert environment • Installing solar heating on all pools
• Installing 98% efficiency‐rated hot water heaters and high efficiency air conditioning units • Creating passive exercise stations throughout their walking trails • Installing 38 charging stations for electric vehicles • Conducting water and energy assessments
Heading into 2023, the conservation beat goes on for Desert Springs’ Green Team. “Marriott has aggressive goals to keep us in line with the community as far as our footprint on the environment,” Berry said. “The biggest challenge is to keep the ball rolling.”
Most recently, that means implementing key efficiency upgrades to the 70 “camp style” guest villas under Berry’s purview — 24-key or 16-key two-story buildings.
“We are upgrading our HVAC units with new thermostats that give us much greater control with the check-in PMS system,” he said. “The system allows us complete control, so people can’t [make adjustments] outside of our parameters. And when they check out, it will automatically go to a higher temperature. If housekeeping comes in and puts it on cold, it will stay on that mode for two hours, then roll back up. So it’s automatically looking to find savings. It has so many built-in features to take us to that next step. We’ve already put in much more efficient HVAC systems into the units.”
Saving water and natural gas are also in Berry and Ambriz’ immediate to-do list via partnership with the city of Palm Desert, which offers hotels and resorts a stewardship-centric incentive program.
“Right now we are awaiting approval from the city about [new] heating units for the guest villas rather than storage tanks, which will give us a large natural gas savings,” Berry says. “It’s a safer process — water goes instantly out to the rooms. With a holding tank, where we like to keep water at 140 degrees so it’s 122 degrees once it reaches the room, the BTUs add up. The city will pay for typical installation, complete. Considering all the units we have, it could be a half-million dollars.”
On the water front, Berry says his crew is installing bottle refilling stations throughout the property, replacing old school, wasteful water fountains. It’s all part of a progressive and aggressive plan to keep Desert Springs at the forefront of Marriott’s green efforts. “They have been one of the top performers over many years,” said Fred Realbuto, Audubon International’s Chief Operating Officer. “Glenn Knorr was a real pioneer and innovator, and Dennis is keeping it going.”
Berry acknowledges Audubon International’s expertise as vital to the property’s sustainability mission.
“I appreciate that they give us all the tools and information, and their attention to detail as far as being aware of everything available so we can continue to improve our impact on the environment,” he said. “Sometimes we get busy and concentrate on what’s in front of us rather than seeing the big picture. They write up their certification report, and it’s great to have that in front of you. It’s great to reflect and see all those little efforts add up to a big impact.”
Ambriz agreed. “It really shows us what we need to do as a partner to become environmentally friendly and conscious. Back in the day, when we would buy faucets or other parts, we’d get something that’s more cost-efficient. But now we look at the gallons per flush, gallons per minute — all those attention-to-detail things that we sometimes didn’t think about. It’s a great partnership, to have all the information — from the kind of napkins we use, to recyclables, to Star-efficient televisions and appliances. There’s so much to think about to be a company that’s striving to do its part — to leave a footprint that’s progressive for the environment.”
“One thing I’ve heard a mentor say that applies to this situation is, ‘What gets measured, gets done,’ Berry added. “Audubon International is measuring and keeping track of it all, and helping us see it, which creates awareness. Awareness leads to action, and then we have a better result.”
Read Marriott Desert Springs’ Case Study
