Sunday River

Sunday River: green factor

• Introduction to green factor assessments
• Environmental overview of resorts
• Environmental initiatives

Major Initiatives

100% Renewable Power User
In November 2006 Sugarloaf/USA and Sunday River, the two largest ski resorts in Maine, jointly chose to offset 100 percent of their resort operations’ electricity usage with energy generated from wind.

Together the resorts are now the largest purchaser and consumer of wind power in New England. Under the new plan, electricity generated from wind will be used to offset power use at all resort base lodges, offices, ski lifts, energy-intensive snowmaking operations and three Grand Resort Hotel and Conference Centers. The two resorts are purchasing 30 million kilowatt hours of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from Constellation NewEnergy to achieve this goal. A Green-e certified REC entitles the owner to one megawatt hour of power produced by a green power generator. One certified REC has the environmental impact of indirectly reducing the emissions associated with one megawatt hour of electricity produced by a fossil fuel generator.

Based on a national average utility emissions rate, fulfilling the two resorts’ electricity needs with zero-emission, non fossil fuel sources will keep more than 41 million pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. That amount is equivalent to avoiding the C02 emissions produced by 3,600 passenger cars each year and is the same amount of electricity needed to power more than 2,500 average American homes annually. This purchase of wind energy qualifies Sugarloaf and Sunday River to the EPA’s Green Power Leadership Club and supports continuing development of renewable energy sources nationwide.

"The State of Maine is committed to increasing energy independence and supporting the development of renewable energy," said Governor John Baldacci. "This initiative recognizes that climate change stands to impact Maine's ski industry. I am pleased that the two largest ski areas in the state are taking a key role in supporting the use of renewable energy, and by doing so, benefiting all Maine people."

The move to wind power is the latest environmental program taken on by the resorts within their comprehensive environmental initiatives. Both resorts support the National Ski Areas Association Sustainable Slopes program and the Keep Winter Cool Campaign.

Sugarloaf and Sunday River have invested in new snowmaking technology in the form of low energy snowguns, which use 40 percent less energy to make snow. Used vegetable oil from community and on-mountain restaurants at Sugarloaf is being recycled into biodiesel fuel for use in the resort’s busses and grooming equipment. In addition to on-mountain bio-diesel use, the resort is also in discussions with the Town of Carrabassett Valley to develop an environmentally friendly transportation system.

Recycling programs have been in place at both resorts, and programs addressing wastewater, carpooling, and expanding the use of bio-diesel continue to grow.

“Responsible energy use and reducing our environmental impact have been priorities at Sugarloaf for many years. It's the responsible thing to do, and we are a great venue to showcase the viability of using renewable energy to large audiences,” said John Diller, Managing Director of Sugarloaf. “Our use of wind power is making the resort even more environmentally friendly, and it will help to support the development of renewable energy nationwide, while showing our guests and staff that we can all contribute to this global effort.”

The resorts purchased their renewable energy through Renewable Energy Certificates. Proceeds from the certificates subsidize the construction and operation of renewable energy generation facilities, which then replaces energy from traditional fossil fuel sources on the national electric grid. Since the majority of airborne pollutants in the Northeast originate in the Midwest where coal dominates the energy mix, reducing emissions from the national electric grid is likely to contribute to a cleaner environment in the Northeast.

“Preserving the environment is key to our business,” said Dana Bullen, Managing Director of Sunday River. “We make a lot of snow here at Sunday River. It’s where we use the most energy. By powering our snowmaking system and all other resort electricity needs with wind power, we’re going to be able to provide the same dependable snow, while greatly reducing our carbon footprint.”

www.newenergy.com

Recycling
There's an extensive recycling program at Sunday River. The office complex located at South Ridge has a recycling room employees, and they recycle office paper, cans, bottles, cardboards, magazines, newspapers, batteries, construction materials, etc.

Each of the base lodges has separate containers for bottles and cans. For several years, the resort took food waste to a local pig farmer. That pig farmer is no longer in business, but they are actively looking for another similar program.

Sunday River has also been established by Oxford County Recyling as a satellite Recycling Center, which means that they fill recycling containers on site. This ensures that the recycled materials are only handled once to maintain quality. Over the past year the resort has added computer products, fluorescent light bulbs and scrap metal to their recycling program.

Snowmaking Water Recycling
Springwater run off in the mountain is collected in snowmaking ponds and reused for the following season.

Environmental Protection Plan
Sunday River endeavours to educate employees and guests on best eco practices. The resort's vice-president of operations is very involved in environmental issues and serves on the local board to protect regional water ways, including the Sunday River, from which the resort draws "a minimal amount" of water from for snowmaking.

As a resort, engineers works closely with state Department of Environmental Protection, which monitors water withdrawal. The resort has never come close to the maximum amount of allowed withdrawal. Sunday river has also joined the National Ski Areas Association in their program to reduce global warming.

Traffic Reduction
For many years Sunday River have had an on-mountain trolley system to get people around the resort so cars can be parked. Five years ago, Sunday River in cooperation with the local business community and the state of Maine introduced a free public transportation system that runs from November to April. The shuttle runs between the resort and the village of Bethel, which is about six miles away, with several stops along the way. The resort's marketing group actively seeks out group business which will use buses rather than cars to arrive at the resort. The resort has also instituted a "No Idling Policy" at the resort to ensure that buses are not being run all day.

Managing Restaurant Waste Water
Since Sunday River has it's own Waste Water Plant it is vitally interested in reducing the volume and content of waste water flow. The resort has instituted a program in which all garbage facilities are removed from on mountain properties and has a policy in place that prohibits their installation in future buildings. The resort has also worked with all commercial users of the plant (restaurants, cafeterias, and lodging facilities) to reduce the amount of organic waste that enters the plant.

Green Building Policy
Sunday River completely supports the National Ski Areas Association's Green Building Programs and Policies which are maintained and utilized by our Construction and Engineering Department.

Since resorts are continuously increasing and improving their environmental practices, we update the Green Resort Guide throughout the year. If you have any information about new resort environmental policies/practices or anything that you think we may have missed, please email greenresortguide@skiclub.co.uk.

• Maps
• Historic Snow