Gore Mountain's solar array
The recreation of skiing while a healthy and fun activity is often attacked on the grounds of ski areas being energy hogs, but to the contrary, they have been doing plenty, that in reality make them leaders among businesses for sustainable and renewable energy.
Here are some sustainability leading efforts at Alpine ski areas in the east:
BOLTON VALLEY and BERKSHIRE EAST
Bolton Valley in VT has had its 121 foot tall wind turbine since 2009 annually producing 300,000 kwH of power and generating electricity at wind speeds as low as 6 mph. The ski resort uses net metering for a price reduction on electric rates and the energy produced is the equivalent of 45 Vermont households. The system was installed by Northern Power Systems. Ice on the blades does happen and the turbine shuts off automatically when it gets iced, thus making the winter months the least productive for the wind turbine. Waste heat is used in the pump house and pellet stoves are used to heat the base lodge. High efficiency snowmaking guns are used at Bolton and LED outdoor lights saves 1,195 kWh per year/
In 2011, Berkshire East of MA added a PowerWind 56,900 kWh wind turbine and in 2012, formed a construction and power purchase agreement with All Earth Renewables, to build and use the electricity from a 1800 panel, 500 kWh solar tracking system. These additions, make Berkshire East the first ski area in the world to be 100% powered by onsite renewable energy. They also installed 500 LED lights. According to the ski area website, they burn wood harvested on site for heat and replaced fuel oil burners and replaced 400 night light for skiing with LED bulbs that can be turned off remotely. Berkshire East has signed an agreement to pioneer a micro pump water energy system, which pumps water up when electric rates are low and drains that water through turbines to produce power when the price of power is high.
Bolton Valley's wind turbine
KILLINGTON
Killington Resort in Vermont is among the ski industry leaders in sustainable operations. Killington’s numerous solar power projects include 14 AllEarth Solar Trackers and 3 rooftop solar installations which combined generate 200,000 kWh of energy. Killington also partners with Namaste Solar to operate off site solar farms in Vermont which generate about 3,100,000 kWh of clean electricity annually for the resort and sister property, Pico Mountain.
The AllEarth Solar Trackers which have been designed, tested and engineered in Vermont use GPS technology to follow the sun throughout the day, allowing them to produce up to 45 percent more energy than a fixed system.
The solar projects at Killington generate more than 10 percent of the resort’s annual usage. The electricity produced from all solar initiatives would power 370 homes annually and conserve 2,471 metric tons of CO2, according to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
The Cow Power program is a unique form of producing energy whereby about a dozen Vermont farmers use cow manure at their farms in an anerobic digester system to generate electricity to sell to Green Mountain Power and Killington purchases 1,125,000 kWh annually of this energy to power the K-1 Gondola and the Peak Lodge.
Killington has installed 47 EV car chargers around the resort and in 2019 composted and recycled to divert 201,600 pounds of food scraps from the landfill (this represented about 25% of the total waste produced at Killington).
Ridership with the regional transportation for resort related trips exceed 375,000 one-way trips. The Freeaire Refrigeration system pulls cold air into the cooler system when the outside temperature is below 40 degrees while shutting off the coolers internal evaporator fans whenever possible. This system reduces energy usage and CO2 emissions by about 13.2 tons per year. The wastewater treatment facilities recycle treated wastewater effluent for use in toilets and during the winter this conserves about 35,000 gallons of fresh water daily.
GORE MOUNTAIN
Gore Mountain in North Creek, NY Gore Mountain is home to a 25-year solar energy project, the largest solar array dedicated to a ski area in the United States. In 2016, 14,589 ground-mounted solar panels were constructed on 20 acres. Gore is actively decreasing energy use and continuing a long-term investment in high-efficiency snowmaking. The solar array saved nearly $124,000 in one year and the new, efficient snow guns saved 860,000 kWh of energy translating to a reduction of 946,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. These projects make Gore an industry model for its reduction of kilowatt-hours used and offsets of CO2.
Gore is also expanding recycling, creatively repurposing buildings and materials, offering locally produced foods, and making strategic trail modifications. The reduced use of salt in Gore’s parking lots is helping to protect the environment
Gore Mountain’s fleet of snowcats now runs on the latest Tier 4 engines as well as an E+ Hybrid 600 cat, which makes Gore’s fleet some of the cleanest and quietest snow groomers in the industry. These state-of-the-art engines reduce both emissions and noise pollution, all while increasing performance.
Gore Mountain is continuously adding more new high-efficiency, low-energy snowmaking tower guns to the trails. The Mountain has also upgraded its snowmaking system to save energy, allowing more trails to open earlier in the season and deliver the best snow conditions possible.
JIMINY PEAK
Jiminy Peak's wind turbine
Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort located in the heart of the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts constructed a 2.3 megawatt community solar facility located on 12 acres of the ski area and resort's property, owned and operated by nexamp. Renewable energy is not new to the resort – back in 2007 it was the first ski area in North America to generate power from its own GE 1.5 MW wind turbine.
The solar project significantly expanded Jiminy Peak's renewable energy program, while extending the environmental and cost-saving benefits of solar to up to 200 neighboring homes and small businesses. By adding the solar power facility to Jiminy Peak's existing wind turbine, 75 kWh cogeneration unit, and extensive conservation efforts, the resort can claim to be one of the few resorts in the U.S. powered 100% by renewable energy and one of the most sustainable energy ski resorts.
NORDIC SKI AREAS
Nordic ski areas are also becoming more sustainable. Craftsbury Outdoor Center in VT has incorporated sustainability in its mission statement to be carbon neutral. At Craftsbury Outdoor Center everything is net metered with 32kW on the trackers and 3,000 square feet of panels on the roof, supplying the Activity Center with close to 70 kWh. Between the two, that provides 63% of operation’s electricity and there is also solar thermal to provide summertime domestic hot water, which is supplemented with heat pumps.
Craftsbury has incorporated massive amounts of insulation into all of the new buildings, and locally sourced many of the wood products used in the building construction. The roof of the Activity Center is at R72 and the walls are R46.
Solar panels at Craftsbury Outdoor Center
High efficiency wood gasifying boilers provides all of the heating and domestic hot water demands during the cooler months. They're tied into the 10 million BTUs of thermal storage in the form of 20,000 gallons of water. This storage system allows them to cogenerate with the snowmaking generator - providing electricity for the pumps and guns, and catching waste heat off the engine.
Sleepy Hollow Inn Ski & Bike Center in Huntington, VT added 10 kWh of solar and now has 50 kWh of solar net metering from its solar panel arrays to provide for electric needs that include power for a snowmaking system used to guarantee snow early in the season. A solar hot water system heats 50% of the hot water use at the inn and the lights on the ski trail have been converted to LED lights. Sleepy Hollow Proprietor Eli Enman commented, "By April, we're expecting to see that close to 100% of our total electricity would've been powered by solar energy and that includes our all-electric snowmaking system water and air pumps." The Sleepy Hollow invested $50,000 to convert its diesel engine trail groomer to a full-sized battery powered machine.
These investments at eastern ski areas are only a few examples of what the resorts are doing to take the lead in becoming sustainable businesses.