In the ski industry we tell ourselves we are good stewards of the land, we claim to have an intimate relationship with the environment in which we work and play, and we believe our guests share those same feelings.

Several years ago, though, we at Powdr Corp. had reached our tipping point. Questions needed answers. Is the climate changing? Do we believe in global warming? Has the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere been accelerated due to our insatiable use of fossil fuels and our indiscriminate destruction of natural habitat? If any of this could be true, is it our responsibility to do anything about it? Can we do anything about it?

Yes. One reason (rather shortsighted) for this answer is, our business is snow. We need cold temperatures. We need the powder. So: what do we do to keep it coming?

We started with a carbon audit. We purchased a software program specifically designed to determine our carbon footprint and what the causes were. So we got to work, and we now have a tool to track the success or failure of our carbon reduction measures.

With our base in Utah, we had good reason to reduce our energy use. More than 90 percent of the power generated in Utah is from coal. The quantity of coal-generated electricity we use at Park City Mountain Resort was the source of 86 percent of our carbon footprint, an average of more than 12,000 tons of CO2 released annually. It became crystal clear we could reduce our carbon footprint by reducing our electrical consumption, and at the same time we were going to save a lot of money on power bills. How could we go wrong? Our power provider even has a program that pays us to be more efficient!

Powdr Corp. now conducts annual carbon audits at all its resorts: Mt. Bachelor in Oregon, Boreal and Soda Springs in California, Park City Mountain Resort and Gorgoza in Utah, Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort in Nevada, and Killington and Pico in Vermont. We are working diligently to reduce our carbon footprint (and save money) at each.
Here’s a sample of some completed energy efficiency measures.


ACTIONS AND RETURNS

• Programmable heat. At Park City, we’ve taken several steps. One mountain patrol building was heated with wall-mounted electric units with internal thermostats, plus a woodburning stove. We replaced the internal thermostats with remote programmable thermostats and installed a blower kit on the wood stove. Cost of the project was $1,000. Last season we used 12,120 kWh’s less power and saved $970 on power cost.

• LED sign. Boreal recently upgraded an electronic freeway sign with old lighting technology to LED technology. We expect to save 47,000 kWhs annually. In dollar terms, we will save $14,400 the first year in power and maintenance costs, and $10,800 per year thereafter. Cost of project: $66,000.

• Snowmaking efficiency. As other areas have discovered, purchasing more efficient snowmaking equipment and upgrading your existing equipment will save millions of kWhs annually. One resort realized an increase of five gallons of water per kWh over the past five years, reducing carbon, saving money and increasing production.

• Free refrigeration. A more unusual move was to use free air refrigeration at Killington. This project takes advantage of ambient temperature by bringing cold outside air into the refrigerator, reducing the use of cooling compressors. Cost of project was $40,595. The savings on our power bill is $12,000 annually, and we received $6,690 cash back from the local utility company for doing the project.

• Building renovations. We took the opportunity to address more than just power efficiencies; we’ve done several building renovations. Among the steps we’ve taken: purchasing Energy Star rated appliances; installing programmable thermostats with lock boxes; switching to high efficiency HVAC and lighting; installing air doors to reduce heat loss; adopting waterless urinals to save an estimated 40,000 gallons per unit annually; and constructing restroom stalls made from recycled materials, which are easier to clean and highly resistant to graffiti and vandalism. One of our upgraded buildings received the Energy Star rating from the EPA. The building exceeded requirements by reducing greenhouse gasses 45 percent below the national average. Savings on power bills are estimated at $5,000 annually.

• Biodiesel. Park City Mountain Resort has used B20 bio diesel year round for the past several years. The use of bio fuel has reduced carbon emissions by 862 tons in the past four years.

• Fewer snowmobiles. Reducing the number of snowmobiles in the fleet at one resort achieved a 31 percent reduction in CO2.

• Light bulbs. It baffles me when folks avoid changing light bulbs because “what good can changing a few light bulbs do, really?” It can do a great deal of good. I read a statistic, can’t remember where now, which stated, “there are 110 million households in America. If every one of those households replaced the five most-used incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, there would be a reduction of CO2 into the atmosphere of a trillion pounds.”

We changed bulbs from incandescent to CFLs in two buildings. The power use was reduced by almost 7000 kWhs. It cost $546 to change them, and we save $495 annually in power costs. ROI, anyone? That “little” project will prevent over 11,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere annually!

• Lift shack heat. If you are “walking the walk,” your staff will recognize your commitment and buy in. One project I’m most proud of involved upgrading lift terminals and operator shacks with programmable thermostats and timers. Our lift maintenance department electricians installed this equipment in several locations. The energy use was third party-verified before the equipment was installed, and again during commissioning after completion. The results are staggering. The cost of installation for those locations was $10,823. The reduction in power consumption was calculated to be over 600,000 kWhs annually, resulting in savings of over $32,000 a year. The environmental impact from that project alone is a reduction of more than 1,000,000 pounds of CO2!


OVERALL SUCCESS

Talking about individual projects is fun, but to see real value, look at overall success. Powdr resorts have completed almost 30 energy-saving initiatives. The reduction in power usage, calculated when the projects were commissioned, is over 3,000,000 kWhs. Project costs were approximately $1,300,000, but thanks to rebates and other incentives, we have received more than $271,000 cash back for completing these projects. Annual savings on power costs are over $250,000 annually. Simple return on investment is four years.

Energy efficiency measures continue this summer at Park City, Killington, Boreal, Las Vegas and Mt. Bachelor. The projects include five lighting upgrades, three snowmaking system upgrades, three heating system replacements, solar thermal installation at a restaurant, insulation and door replacements. The cost of these projects is projected at $564,000. Cash back incentives are projected to be $87,000, and again, we expect that the ROI will be relatively quick.


ALTERNATIVE ENERGY CREDITS

What about purchasing alternative energy for carbon offsets? Been there, done that. Sure, but isn’t that just buying your way out, you ask? Well, yes, no and maybe.

If all we do is purchase renewable energy credits without at least trying to reduce our energy consumption, then yes, we are just “buying our way out.” If we buy REC’s and put forth a little efficiency effort for “window dressing” in highly visible locations, then, maybe. But when we reduce our energy use by purchasing efficient equipment or making other permanent changes, and the results of those savings repeat year after year, then we’re doing more than buying our way out. If we are diligent in identifying and taking action to reduce our carbon footprint and then purchase RECs, I would argue that is a better solution.

Powdr Corp. has purchased over 107,000,000 kWhs of renewable energy credits, mostly wind power, since 2005. We have purchased enough wind power to offset 100 percent of our electricity use for the past two years.


QUANTIFYING THE CHANGES

We set our feet on this path to help “save our snow,” to be good stewards of the land and increase our environmental awareness. And we can quantify our return on investment in the environment.

Our carbon footprint has shrunk by 84,134 tons since 2005, via offsets and efficiency initiatives. Out total footprint for that same time period is 168,362 tons (2009 footprint is estimated). That’s a reduction of almost 50 percent.

There are several ways to conceptualize how much of a savings that is. Using calculations from the U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalency Calculator, we find that 84,134 tons of CO2 is equivalent to any one of the following:

• Driving 165,735,024 miles.

• CO2 emissions from 8,663,459 gallons of gasoline consumed.

• The amount of carbon sequestered by 1,957,053 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.

• The amount of carbon sequestered annually by 532 acres of forest preserved from deforestation.

I’m feeling pretty good about that!

It doesn’t matter if I believe in global warming, climate change or Santa Claus. I do believe every effort taken to reduce the negative effects we force upon our environment will improve our quality of life. And I am sure that it lowers our energy costs immediately, and reduces our overall expenses in the long run.