Water Efficiency Projects Save 40 Million Gallons and 240MT CO2 Annually at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
LABBC CASE STUDY
PROPERTY OWNER
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
PROPERTY TYPE
Hospitality
SQUARE FEET
1,368,248
5.3%
Water Reduction in 2018
2019 Innovation Awards: Water Efficiency Project of the Year
“We are very proud of our conservation efforts and will continue to challenge ourselves to do better.”
KEN PILGRIM
Managing Director, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
PROPERTY
DESCRIPTION
From its location in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites has attracted U.S. Presidents, dignitaries and stars of television and film. At 367 feet tall and 35 stories, it is the city’s largest hotel.
SUSTAINABILITY GOALS
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites in the midst of upgrading its water reclaim system to offer improved amenities while lowering water and energy costs. The goals of this project were to maximize efficiency using existing heat gain to decrease gas usage and eliminate as much waste as possible.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
In 2014 the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites partnered with AquaRecycle, Watersaver Solutions and the LABBC to improve energy and water efficiency in the hotel’s laundry facilities. This partnership has continued through 2018.
2018 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Undertook a boiler "cycle up" project, which led to savings of 1M gallons annually.
Expanded existing water-recycling system to receive boiler blow-down water for laundry
Converted the existing stainless steel recycled laundry water final holding tank to a hot water tank that supplies hot water for the wash process.
At the end of 2018, the combined projects undertaken saved over 40 million gallons total, or 10 million gallons of softened city water annually in water and sewer savings. The projects also reduces CO2 emissions by 240 metric tons annually.
PROJECTS COMPLETED
BEFORE 2018
Installed a 125 gallons-per-minute laundry wash water recycler to reduce potable water usage in laundry facilities by 75%. It was designed to save 8 million gallons of drinking water and sewer costs ($96,000), and over 4,100 therms ($2,900), of natural gas energy each year.
Installed three shell and tube heat exchangers to convert a slip stream of HTHW into 80-psi steam for use in laundry and kitchen.
PRO TIPS
“If there is one thing I can recommend about energy conservation start with a good Building Energy Performance Assessment. Target the low hanging fruit then team with your utilities and consultants like the LABBC to maximize all rebate opportunities and to complete your larger tasks.”
PATRICK SERGE
Director of Engineering, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The project team partnered with LABBC, Watersaver Solutions and Aquarecycle to set sustainability goals and design solutions toresource waste. They engaged laundry staff in monitoring water savings and tracking achievements overtime.
INNOVATION
The project’s heat savings enabled the laundry to shut down the main laundry hot water heat exchanger that was not a high efficiency heat source. The laundry now only requires a small amount of trim steam injection to heat the wash water at a fraction of the cost thanks to the new boiler system.
