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SES and Eco Help HEI Hospitality

For Immediate Release

Contacts:
Thomas L. Kirkpatrick
Partner
President and Chief Executive Officer of Eco Engineering
E-mail: tkirkpatrick@ecoengineering.com
Phone:513-985-8301

Duncan Frederick
Partner
President & General Manager - Sun Electric
Email: Dfrederick@sun-electric.org
Phone: 714-210-5141, ex 229


SUN ENERGY SOLUTION’S PARTNER, ECO ENGINEERING, HELPS HEI HOSPITALITY REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY OVER 50%

(2006, Cincinnati, Ohio)

HEI Hospitality LLC and their energy consulting firm Think Energy Management LLC have engaged Eco Engineering, LLC, Sun Energy Solutions' sister company, for energy efficiency lighting projects.

After experiencing significant results in their 390-room Baltimore Marriott Hunt Valley Inn from a 7,300 light fixture retrograde in June of 2005, HEI committed to reducing annual lighting energy costs in all of their properties. Since then, and with their partner contractor, Eco Engineering, HEI executives expect to achieve over $1 million in annual lighting energy cost savings from a nearly $2.3 million investment. HEI looks for payback periods of three years or less for its lighting retrofits.

The Baltimore hotel cut wasteful spending on energy for lighting over 50% by replacing outdated incandescent and fluorescent lamps in favor of dimmable, long-life plug-in and screw-in compact fluorescent lamps from GE Consumer & Industrial, and high-efficiency T8 linear fluorescent lamps and UltraMax® electronic ballasts, also from GE.

"We've helped the hotel hit a 50-percent improvement on kilowatt savings alone," says Richard G. Lubinski, president of Ohio-based energy consulting firm Think Energy Management, LLC, a consultant to HEI. "There's also a tangible reduction in electrical demand peaks (KW), lower maintenance hassles and lower costs whenever long-life lighting products are applied."

Lubinski reports that the 6-month performance of the new lighting nets out as a recurring annual savings of 1,250,000 kWh of electricity consumed, compared with the old lighting. Most of the retrofit involves compact fluorescent lamps used for down-lighting and general lighting applications in hotel hallways, banquet rooms, conference rooms and guestrooms.

"HEI has expressed a keen interest in duplicating these results at other properties," says Lubinski, "and with the help of Sun Energy Solutions sister company, Eco Engineering, Inc."

The teams developed a self-funding energy-efficiency initiative that not only cuts wasteful spending on energy for lighting, but also delivers lower maintenance costs and better quality lighting throughout the hotels. Thus far, investment-grade lighting audits and established lighting retrofit standards have been conducted for 28 HEI properties. As new properties are purchased by HEI, the new energy efficient lighting standard will be applied.

"In the hospitality industry, our profitability ties directly to our approach to energy management," says Bob Holesko, vice president of facilities for HEI. "While we can't control escalating electricity and natural gas costs, we can control our properties' energy consumption with responsible demand-side energy management projects. Our Marriott Hunt Valley Inn is a classic example of how a simple lighting upgrade can greatly improve a hotel's financial performance."

Pursuit leads executives out back, up front and upstairs Back-of-house operations at the hotel, previously illuminated by T12 40-watt linear fluorescent lamps operating on magnetic ballasts, were retrofitted with GE Consumer & Industrial's highly efficient F28T8 UltraMax® System, which combines F28T8/SP35/UMX/ECO linear fluorescent lamps and UltraMax® electronic ballasts. For about 500 linear fluorescent fixtures, HEI saw light output improvements jump from 4,950 lumens to 5,170 lumens. Color rendering also improved.

HEI's energy-efficient lighting program has also generated a new best practice: it now conducts periodic group re-lamping at its properties to maintain lighting quality and to optimize energy efficiency.

Many down lighting and general lighting applications in hallways, banquet rooms, conference rooms and guestrooms-where up to 200-watt incandescent lamps had been used - now feature dimmable plug-in or screw-in compact fluorescent lamps. A 42-watt CFL from GE Consumer & Industrial, for example, offers up to 72% energy savings compared with a 150-watt incandescent lamp used near a guestroom reading chair.

According to ENERGY STAR, an EPA program that helps businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency, U.S. hotels spend about $4 billion on energy every year. It further notes that reducing these costs by just 10% is the equivalent of a $0.62 ADR increase for limited-service hotels and a $1.35 ADR increase for full-service hotels.

HEI, Think Energy Management and Eco Engineering, LLC are all ENERGY STAR Partners.

About SUN ENERGY SOLUTIONS
SUN ENERGY SOLUTIONS, LLC is a comprehensive provider of financially attractive solutions for complex energy efficient lighting projects. They are one of very few design-build service providers who operate on a national scale, utilizing their own teams of professional technicians to complete projects on-time, according to specifications and on-budget. Their goal is to maximize the energy savings associated with any lighting project they perform, while delivering the highest level of system performance and client satisfaction. SUN ENERGY SOLUTIONS is a joint venture between Eco Engineering (Ohio) and Sun Industries (California) that has performed projects throughout the United States in the commercial, industrial, retail and institutional markets.

About HEI Hospitality
HEI Hospitality (www.heihospitality.com), headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., is an ownership and investment firm that owns and/or operates 28 first-class and full-service hotels throughout the United States, under such well-known brand names as Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn, Radisson, Renaissance and Hilton. Merritt Hospitality is an independent hotel management company and a wholly owned subsidiary of HEI Hospitality.

About Think Energy Management LLC
Ohio-based Think Energy Management, LLC (www.think-energy.net), helps organizations in regulated and deregulated markets increase their profitability with permanent utility expense reductions made possible by supply-side and demand-side energy management tactics and strategies.