Two simple energy saving ideas have resulted in Killington Resort receiving the 2010 Vermont Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence and Pollution Prevention.

Killington employee Alan Patch had one particular project – FreeAire – on his shelf for a number of years that under former resort owner ASC never saw the light of day. However, once the resort was purchase by Powdr Corp in 2007, Patch presented the idea and it became the first of many significant environmental projects the resort has undertake over the past three years.

Patch, along with fellow Killington Resort employees Jim Shands and Tom Horrocks accepted the award on behalf of the resort from Governor Jim Douglas and Jonathan Wood, Secretary of the Vermont Agency for Natural Resources, during a ceremony Monday evening at the state capitol in Montpelier. This is the first time the largest resort in the East has received this award for innovative projects that reduce its environmental footprint. The pair of projects awarded, FreeAire and Centec Heat Exchange, have eliminate more than 1,400 gallons of heating fuel and saved more than 70,000 kWh of electricity annually.

The Vermont Governor's Awards for Environmental Excellence and Pollution Prevention were established in 1993 to honor Vermont individuals, organizations, institutions, public agencies, businesses, and industries using innovative approaches that reduce or eliminate the generation of pollutants and wastes at the source. Categories have been expanded since then to include other environmental leaders.

In the first of two projects recognized, Killington Resort partnered with Efficiency Vermont to retrofit nine of the resort’s walk-in coolers with FreeAire Economizer Systems. The FreeAire system uses cold outside air and high-efficiency evaporator fan motors to chill walk-in coolers and freezers. Since the installation began in August of 2007, the FreeAire system has saved more than 140,000 kWh of electricity – enough to power approximately seven American households for an entire year – and eliminated more than 88 tons of CO2 emissions.

At the time of installation, Killington was the first ski resort and one of the largest companies in Vermont to utilize the FreeAire Economizer System. In fact, it was considered so noteworthy that the installation was featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Invention Nation” series.

In the second project, the resort installed a Centec Heat Exchange System which uses excess heat generated by the snowmaking compressor system during the 120 day snowmaking season to heat buildings and for other uses.  The system captures excess heat that would otherwise be unused and processed through cooling towers, to heat our entire snowmaking facility and dry all our snowmakers’ clothing.  Additionally, the system provides hot water used for washing our vehicles with this excess energy. 

The Centec Heat Exchange System has saved more than $6,600 in annual energy costs, and approximately 1,435 gallons per year in heating oil.  By utilizing this system, the resort has eliminated an entire oil burning furnace and accompanying heating oil tank.