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Wind Will Power Fairmont Hotel Check-In

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 16, 2006
Consumers who consider hotel computers to be full of hot air may have a point. At least that's the case at properties belonging to Fairmont Hotels & Resorts throughout North America.

The Toronto-based chain has refitted 249 check-in computers to be operated by wind power � a move designed to cut greenhouse gas consumption by almost 100 tons.

Company spokesmen now claim that check-in is a breeze for customers.

According to Michelle White, who holds the imposing tile of manager of environmental affairs for Fairmont, "The purchase of wind power is a new component of our company's Green Partnership Program. We will do anything to make our properties eco-friendly."

Certified Ego-Logo wind power, purchased by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts for a one-year period, will work the computers instead of electricity from the public grid. The purchase is equivalent to 116 MwH of wind power.

The new policy is a good one, according to a spokesman for an independent, non-profit enviromental policy think tank.

"Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is one of a growing number of progressive copanies purchasing wind power," said Tina Barzo, a development associate of the Pembina Institute. Her agency handles environmental policy research and serves as an education institute for wind power.

She did not say how the hotel chain would react to customers whose reservations are gone with the wind.

Fairmont's involvement with environmental issues is not new. Since 1990, corporate headquarters started asking employees for suggestions about a �hotel green� program. The response was so overwhelming that a 150-page Green Partnership Guide was printed exclusively for Fairmont employees.

In addition, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise has generated enough power through wind and free-flowing rivers that it has cut gas emissions by more than 10,000 tonnes since 1999.

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