The Green Economy Centre of South Simcoe  

Go Green. Save Money.  

Green Business Profile Nottawasaga Inn Resort & Conference Centre Address: 6015 Highway 89, Alliston   Website: www.nottawasagaresort.com Number of employees: 360 Owners: Lou Biffis, Sue Biffis, Peter Biffis, Dino Biffis, and Sylvia and Rocco Lombardi Introduction Opened in 1968 by the Biffis family, Nottawasaga Inn has become a familiar landmark in South Simcoe. The Resort has grown through 23 expansions and now boasts 269 bedrooms and 34 meeting rooms and employ’s over 450 people during the busy tourist season.

Recently awarded a 4 Green Key rating through the Green Key Eco-Rating program, Nottawasaga Inn owners easily point to numerous changes they have made over the past 40 years to make the Inn economically efficient while being environmenatlly sustainable. What they did to go green According to the Environmental Plan (which is available on their website), the following are some of the environmental changes introduced by the owners: • 65% waste diversion from the landfill site,

with plans to reduce further • recycling bins in all guest rooms and even

on the golf course

• conversion of kitchen produce, deep fryer shortening and food scrapings into secondary fuels

• relocation of 1,500 local trees to the Inn grounds and the planting of over 13,000 new trees in the New Tecumseth area in partnership with Conservation Ontario

• replacement of T12 light bulbs with more efficient T8 bulbs, which use 40% less electricity while outputting 10% more light

• low-flush toilets, showerhead and faucet aerators throughout the resort

• high-efficiency dryers with that sense moisture levels in fabrics, allowing for shorter drying cycles which save gas and electricity.

Additional changes, which place Nottawasaga Inn at the forefront in their industry, include using heat from refrigeration compressors to warm the outdoor pool (so that it does not freeze). Similarly, they leverage the (free) cooling capabities of the cold water to inturn cool the compressors.

Peter Biffis highlighting the heat exchange system used to cool compressors and warm the outdoor pool.

 

   

The Green Economy Centre of South Simcoe  

Go Green. Save Money.  

Green Business Profile

The owners have also put capital costs into super-insulating the Centre Ice Arena Sportsplex(which boasts two NHL-sized ice pads), well beyond building standards along with high efficency screw compressors to drastically cut costs in electricity and natural gas consumption.

Guest rooms that once were equipped with through-the-wall air conditioners drew a lot of energy, so they have been upgraded with very efficient fan blowers that use water cooling and heating. The result has been a reduction in the amount of electricity used in the resort by almost 50 per cent. Another unique system was designed in the early 1990s and continues today: According to Peter, “To reduce the amount of phosphorous going into the environment, we came up with a way to clean and treat the effluent from the resort and then recycle the water onto the golf course. Once the tertiary sewage effluent is cleaned, we put it into storage ponds on the golf course and draw from that for irrigation.”

This not only feeds the golf greens with much needed phosphorous it also reduces the amount of fertilizer normally used, as well as reducing the amount of river water needed to keep the course green and healthy. Benefits from going green Peter also notes that resort staff work to reduce garbage by five to eight per cent each year. “Recycling bins are distributed throughout the resort, and staff really buy into this philosophy, going above and beyond to make sure items left behind by guests are then put into the correct containers.” With reduced energy consumption, the owners have been able to save considerably while protecting the environment. The cost savings have allowed them to pass these savings on to their patrons by keeping room rate pricing low, while increasing the number of staff, and further investing in the resort and the community. Future greening plans Always looking to the future, Nottawasaga Inn was recently licensed through Ontario Power Generation to create power through wind power and through natural gas co-generation. The resort owners are now studying the possibilities to produce electricity through solar panels, which will allow them to put power back in the grid and become completely self-sufficient. For more information about incentive programs, or to obtain no-cost green business consulting to help with your green initiatives, contact the Green Economy Centre toll-free at 1.800.509.7554 or visit the website: http://www.nottawasaga.com/get