Ski Resorts Join Push To Environmentally Sound Sources Of Energy For Operation

'Sustainable Slopes' Program Comes To Vermont

Owners Of Stratton, Killington, Okemo Among Participants

By Sharon Faelten

December 2006

Snow grooming machines fueled by discarded French fry grease. Warming huts powered by wind towers. Tanks using tropical plants to treat waste water. Those are just some of the innovative technologies Vermont ski resorts use to minimize their impact on the local and global environments.

Ten ski areas in Vermont participate in Sustainable Slopes, a nationwide environmental charter for ski areas sponsored by the National Ski Areas Association. Primary initiatives adopted at ski areas include recycling, conserving water and energy, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, reducing fuel emissions, and protecting fish and wildlife habitat. In south/central Vermont, participating resorts include Ascutney Mountain Resort, Bromley Mountain Resort, Killington Resort, Mount Snow Resort, Okemo Mountain Resort, and Stratton. In north-central Vermont, participating resorts include Bolton Valley Resort, Smugglers Notch Resort, Stowe Mountain Resort, and Sugarbush Resort.

Specific strategies range from minor, low-cost changes to major capital investments. Resort managers say that "going green" is not only good for the environment, it's also good for business.

"All of these programs are driven from our core business practices of not only reducing our impact on the environment, but reducing our bottom line of energy consumption and costs," says Tom Horrocks, spokesperson for Killington Resort.

"It's a big misconception that environmentally friendly initiatives cost more," says Tom McGrail, environmental compliance manager at Smugglers' Notch Resort. "That used to be the case, back in the 1970s and 1980s. But with new technology, the costs are on a par with the ‘bad' way of doing things. Most have an economic benefit right off the bat."

"The more you reduce costs, the more money you have available to protect the environment, to invest in your business, or to add to your bottom line," says Rolf van Schaik, director of construction and development at Bromley.

Southern Vermont Resorts

Tim and Diane Mueller, owners of Okemo Mountain Resort, Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire, and Crested Butte in Colorado, recently purchased 27 million kilowatt hours of Renewable Energy Certificates-enough to power electrical needs at all three resorts for this year. Renewable energy is derived from a variety of sources, including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, or small-scale hydro-power. Okemo's purchase will save 18,800 tons of carbon dioxide, a primary greenhouse gas, from being released into the environment.

In developing Jackson Gore, Okemo's newest base area facility, the resort focused on energy efficiency, use of recycled materials, and pollution reduction, says Ted Reeves, director of planning and real estate development at Okemo. To reduce energy consumption, electrical and power systems use variable frequency drives. Other features include low-flow fixtures, high-efficiency lights, and state-of-the-art storm water collection methods.

Middlebury College Snow Bowl has also purchased Renewable Energy Certificates to offset its energy use.

Snowmaking consumes more power than all other ski area activities combined, so most resorts in Vermont are investing in more efficient systems. Killington Resort spent more than $5 million to increase the efficiency of their snowmaking system, including $500,000 for low-energy snowmaking guns, according to Horrocks. Significantly, upgrading to low-emission snowmaking compressors from older, diesel-powered compressors will reduce total emissions by 50 percent, or 100 tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, by 2008.

Other conservation strategies at Killington include using water from the Woodward Reservoir instead of surface water to make snow. Using reservoir water instead of stream water protects aquatic life, and it's more energy-efficient, since deep water is cold enough to make snow and doesn't have to be cooled further.

Mount Snow Resort is taking similar steps: installing low-energy snowmaking guns; a heat exchanger that uses heat generated by snowmaking compressors to heat the main base lodge; converting used cooking grease into fuel, and using antifreeze free of ethyl glycol to operate lifts, among other strategies.

Bromley has made several upgrades to its snowmaking systems: installing a computerized monitoring and control system; upgrading to energy-efficient pumps and motors; building a midway pump house; replacing undersized piping; adding high-efficiency snowmaking guns, and renting lower emission engines and zero-emission compressors.

The costliest energy conservation initiative at Bromley was a $100,000 facility-wide load management system and new, temperature-sensitive lift drive panels, with programmable thermostats and controls, to reduce electric demand, says van Schaik. "This project, without question, will represent the best return on investment both in vastly improved demand management as well as outright reduction of electrical power consumption."

North/Central Ski Areas

This year, Smugglers' Notch Resort was recognized as an Environmental Leader by the Vermont Business Environmental Partnership program. Initiatives at "Smuggs" include a biodiesel project, water conservation, several energy efficiency efforts, recycling, and wildlife and habitat protection.

"Sometimes the economic need drives the environment; sometimes the environment drives the economic side," says Dan Maxon, planning and permitting manager at Smuggs. Recycling is one example. "If trash-hauling rates go up, we find ways to cut down solid waste. The strategies are opportunities and part of our business objectives."

In fact, solid waste removal is one of the easiest ways for companies to increase their profit margins, says Maxon. "Garbage is big business, and moving it around is getting increasingly expensive. Recycling just a small percentage more translates into huge cost savings."

In a moisture-dependent industry like skiing, water conservation is a major focus. "The energy costs of handling water can be huge," says Maxon. "We require low-flow fixtures in all new construction. But the benefits go beyond that. We can drill fewer wells. We're pumping less water, we're treating less water in our treatment plant, and we're treating less water in our waste-water plant.

"Snowmaking can have a detrimental effect on small, local streams because it requires an abundance of water at a time of year when stream flows are low and aquatic species are sensitive to change," says Maxon. "In 2001, we constructed a six-million gallon reservoir that allows us to store water during periods of high stream flow, which is then used when stream flow is low."

One of the most expensive steps Smuggs took in 2006 was putting in a new electric snowmaking compressor, reducing emissions, at a cost of $200,000. "We expect a two-year payback on that expenditure," says Maxon.

Like other resorts, Smuggs is buying newer, more efficient snow guns that use less water and air, enabling mountain operations to make more snow with the same amount of resources. Variable frequency drives on motors move several thousand gallons of water per minute up the mountain. "The drives are expensive to operate, but if the equipment operates at optimal efficiency, then we can save a lot of money."

Stowe Mountain Resort purchases more than 50 percent of its power from renewable resources. Other environmental efforts at Stowe include utilizing energy-efficient construction and design techniques in all new construction and placing 2,000 acres of wildlife habitat on resort-owned land under permanent conservation easements. Stowe has reduced generation of solid and hazardous waste at the resort from more than 2,200 pounds a month to less than 220 pounds a month. When adding a lift and new lodging at Spruce Peak, 52 percent of materials from deconstructing preexisting structures were reused or recycled.

Cost Incentives

Financial assistance is available to ski areas that want to take steps to reduce their environmental footprint. Efficiency Vermont, a statewide provider of energy efficiency services, offers ski resorts incentives to purchase energy-efficient equipment. Last year, for example, Smuggs alone received $20,000 in rebates from Efficiency Vermont. Bolton Valley also works with Efficiency Vermont annually.

At Bromley, Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (CVPS) provided engineering and materials to install energy-efficient lighting and contributed a portion of roughly $30,000 in costs, says van Schaik. Bromley homeowners also received low-flow credit incentives to convert shower heads and toilets to low-flow fixtures, with one- to three-year paybacks, respectively.

Smuggs received a grant from the Department of Energy to conduct a pilot project for using biodiesel fuel in its snowmaking compressors. The ski area now uses a biodiesel mix (part vegetable oil, part diesel fuel) in off-road equipment around the resort.

Good planning is the key to getting funding from either company directors or outside sources, say managers. "A plan helps to prioritize needs, economically and environmentally," says Maxon. "If you have a solid plan in place, then it's a lot easier to get capital each year."

McGrail adds, "When grant money becomes available from the State or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), you tend to hear about it last minute. So if you already have a plan with numbers, you can more readily utilize grant opportunities."

Sound environmental initiatives are cost-effective and good for business, say resort managers. "After all, it's the environment that our guests come to enjoy," says Maxon.