Hilton New York Completes Green Roof and Installs Cogeneration System

The Hilton New York has completed its new green roof system and installed a Cogeneration (Combined Heat & Power) System, both designed to reduce the hotel's overall carbon footprint.

To help promote awareness of the hotel's sustainability efforts,  guests staying at Hilton New York will be provided with room keycards that depict an image of the new green roof.

"Hilton New York is dedicated to growing our sustainability initiatives and leading the hospitality industry in reducing waste and conserving energy," said Mark Lauer, general manager of Hilton New York. "We are proud of both the green roof and cogeneration system installation process, and look forward to assessing and sharing how the project continues to expand and benefit the surrounding area in the coming years."

The 16,000-square-foot green roof system was installed by Xero Flor America and is located on the hotel's fifth floor rooftop setback on the building's West 53rd Street side. It supports local farming industries and plays host to locally grown plants harvested from an upstate New York farm. The foliage and roots of those plants naturally absorb airborne pollutants, which in turn prevents large quantities of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. Additionally, the vegetated rooftop deflects solar radiation and reduces the thermal load, reducing the energy previously expended in cooling the property. All together, these benefits aid in the reduction of the Urban Heat Island effect - or increased temperatures in midtown Manhattan due to concentrated cityscapes and a lack of vegetation.

The installation of a highly-efficient, environmentally-friendly cogeneration system also situated on the hotel's 5th floor roof setback, will provide in excess of 50% of the hotel's electrical power and over 40% of its steam consumption for heating and hot water requirements.

As one of the largest hotels in New York City with 1,981 rooms, the Hilton New York consumes over 23 million kW hours of electricity per year. The cogeneration system is expected to be fully operational by summer 2012.

Based on well-proven technology, this 1,750kW cogeneration system uses clean and efficient natural gas to produce electricity and hot water for the hotel. The system will consist of seven 250kW energy modules manufactured by SDP Energy, Inc., a California-based leader in green and reliable on-site energy systems.

At 1,750kW, this will be the largest cogeneration system to be installed at a New York City hotel. Once operational by early summer 2012, the system will reduce the Hilton New York's carbon footprint by in more than 30%, the Co2 reduction into the atmosphere will be over 10,000 metric tons per year equal to removing more than 6,000 mid-sized sedans from the roads.

Hilton New York has worked to build a strong track record of green practices. Other programs include the use of UTC Power fuel cell technology, which is a cleaner method of providing electric power and hot water to the property. As a result of these practices and others, Hilton New York has earned a 4 Green Keys Rating (out of a possible 5) from the Green Key Eco-Rating Program.

In 2007, Hilton New York installed a PureCell system, which provides electric power and hot water throughout the hotel's 1,981 rooms, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week without combustion. Since its implementation, the cell has produced approximately 1.75M kilowatts per year of electricity for a total of nearly 3.5M kilowatt hours to date. That equates to approximately 6% of the hotel's consumption.

The 1,981-room Hilton New York, located in the heart of midtown Manhattan on Avenue of the Americas between West 53rd and West 54th streets, is within a short walking distance of Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, the Museum of Modern Art and Carnegie Hall, and is just a few blocks away from Times Square, Broadway theaters and the renowned Fifth Avenue shopping district.

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