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By Jim Donnelly
As the meetings industry changes, and as
more and more managers of convention centers are being charged with the
responsibility of being profitable instead of being the loss leader,
we’re in a conundrum because the owners (political subdivisions) have
changed the rules.
In most cases, we were envisioned and funded by a community that saw a
convention center as an investment by the community to be an economic
generator by filling hotel rooms, restaurants, entertainment and
attractions and increasing expenditures in retail shopping. Now the
expectations are different. We still must be the economic generator, but
without being subsidized by the community (tax dollars).
We must still attract the “heads in bed” business, keep our assets (the
facility) in good repair, keep up with technology improvements demanded
by our clients and provide quality service. We must keep our employees
trained, not only in compliance with all local, state and federal
regulations, but also in the care and feeding of our clients in a very
competitive environment. All this must be done while reducing operating
expenses and utility expense.
Finding Solutions
We are a 20-year-old facility with 20-yearold technology. Our challenge
is how to reduce our operating expenses while still providing our
clients with the product they demand from us in today’s competitive
climate.
Believing that our employees are very productive, we focused on our
second largest expense we have (after salary, wages and benefits), that
being utilities. We engaged all of our maintenance e and operations
staff to help us control, and indeed reduce, this burden — without
sacrificing customer service.
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Ohio’s SeaGate Convention Centre significantly
reduced its utility expenses while still providing clients the
product they expect. |
Examples of our ability to reduce energy
cost through efficiency improvement are:
• Conversion of 4 FT lighting fixtures from T12 to T9 electric ballasts
• Conversion of chiller motor control to variable speed drivers, two
large chillers
• Use of compact fluorescent lamps in replacement of incandescent lamps
• Lighting control through use of motion detectors in mechanical space
and restrooms
• Replacement of a 400-ton electric chiller with a 350-ton natural
gas-fired chiller
• LED Exit Light conversions at 110 locations
• Installation of four 60KW natural gas-fired microturbines used to
supply heat and power (CHP) for the operation of the SeaGate Convention
Centre, supplying energy during the conventionin- progress operating
state
• Use of the microturbine exhaust energy to produce hot water that
provides facility heating, which directly offset the production of our
less efficient boilers
• Use of electric power produced by the microturbines to offset the
power supplied by the electric utility grid; reduced the electric
heating loss in the transformers and wires of the urban electrical
infrastructure
To my knowledge, we’re now the only convention center using this
technology to generate our own electricity while reducing utility
expense in general. I’d be happy to share our program with anyone
looking to improve the bottom line.
Jim Donnelly is
president/CEO of the SeaGate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio. |
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