Case Study - Hidden Valley Cabins

Hidden Valley Cabins- Case Study

Winner of North Queensland Tourism Awards for excellence in sustainable tourism, 2008.

Changing light bulbs could take you further than you think. Hidden Valley Cabins ended up powering their business with 100% solar power and became the first Australian carbon neutral resort. Learn about their journey and how they made a difference to the environment.

About Hidden Valley

Located 1.5 hours northwest of Townsville, Hidden Valley Cabins is situated amongst some of Townsville’s most unique landscapes with Running River Gorge nearby, surrounded by a plethora of native flora, fauna and natural wildlife. Ian and Bonnie McLennan have owned Hidden Valley Cabins since 1986. In that time it has undergone some enormous changes, and to date is now a fully serviced resort and tour company with six cabins, four hotel rooms, swimming pool and spa.

Who was involved

The journey towards being environmentally focused and their pursuit for 100% solar power and carbon neutrality for Hidden Valley Cabins involved a number of different organisations and people. Searching for information, guidance and mentoring, the McLennan’s contacted:-

• Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) -Townsville Enterprise Limited
• Tourism Queensland
• Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry (DTRDI)
• Tourism Australia
• Ecotourism Australia
• Townsville and Thuringowa Councils
• Solar power enterprises

Not one organisation could provide everything they were looking for, but by gathering information, talking to people and seeking support the McLennan’s were able to bring it all together successfully.

Taking Action

When diesel prices began to escalate and the family became aware of the impact of carbon emissions on climate change, they asked themselves two questions: Can we afford to use diesel, and what effect are we having on our environment?

Both answers were very negative, so they decided that it was best for the business and the environment to look at other alternatives to diesel and the use of generators throughout the property.

The McLennan’s started by investigating where they were using energy including lighting, refrigeration and made small changes like switching off appliances and lights overnight around the property, changing light bulbs and changing their food menus.

They then followed this up with an in-depth look at how much energy they were using in the resort and what emissions they were contributing into the environment. The first step was to record their energy use. This was undertaken for four months to ensure there was good base information to cover all the different scenarios of the business.

Choosing the right solar power system was also important so the McLennan’s spent time researching the options and assessing available government rebates. After 18 months of researching and decision making as to which solar power system to purchase, construction was completed in just 10 days.

The McLennan’s considered other activities to support the environment:

• Vegetation and plants lost due to construction have been replaced and areas re-vegetated;
• Minimising waste by compacting food and paper products for use in the garden.
• Educating guests and the public on the importance of protecting wildlife.
• Building low impact walking tracks.
• Recycling all aluminium cans.
• Continuing to plant native trees and vegetation,
• Building with local timber.

Outcomes

Hidden Valley Cabins is now saving 78 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year along with an estimated $45000 per year in diesel fuel. Calculating this over a 20 year period and a minimum 5% increase per year in the price of diesel, this equates to $1.2 million in savings. The choice to go ‘green’ has also helped to offset a lot of their other business expenses.

The success with the implementation of solar power has encouraged them to continue making improvements. After commissioning a formal audit they identified and purchased enough carbon credits for the property to be recognised as carbon neutral.

They followed this with a comprehensive review by Ecotourism Australia. Hidden Valley Cabins were awarded Advanced Ecotourism certification.

Best Practice Education:

Ian discusses how he and the Hidden Valley team have become part of a green community since becoming carbon neutral.

"The best thing about implementing the solar power is the people we have been able to meet. People from all over the country, in tourism and other industries come and see what we’re doing and that is very gratifying. We learn from them and they learn from us."

Part of this ongoing learning process is the solar workshops that Hidden Valley Cabins offers to local business people, interested parties and home owners.

"Once a month Frank Dellamar from Tropical Energy Solutions in Townsville comes up and we run a two-day workshop showing people how to go solar.

"Electricians, electrical engineers, resort owners and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority have all come and learned about solar power from us.

"We had a guy who owns an accommodation place at Cape Tribulation come and see us. He currently spends $240,000 on diesel and we can help him save $80,000 very quickly. We are very proud of our solar workshops. We can really help a lot of people."

Ian and Bonnie also encourage their guests to be energy wise and have included ten hints in each guest’s room on how to be energy efficient.

The McLennan’s also wished to share their ‘green’ journey with others. In partnership with Tourism Queensland and Tropical Energy Solutions, a two-day workshop was made available to assist others in understanding not only the benefits but also the simplicity of solar power and adjusting your operations to become more environmentally friendly.

Ten hints to achieving energy efficiency:

Ian and Bonnie also encourage their guests to be energy wise and have included ten hints in each guest’s room on how to be energy efficient.

1. Install solar power. Hidden Valley Cabins is Australia’s first solar powered resort.

2. Turn off your lights when not required. You can save 150kg of CO2 a year just by turning things off.

3. Turns off electrical appliances at the switch. Did you know leaving a TV set on at the power point draws 20 watts per hour, 0.48 KWH per day, 1226.4 KWH per year, resulting in 1.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions?

4. Use gas kettles to save power and reduce carbon emissions.

5. Replace conventional light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent. It has reduced our power consumption from 2220 watts to an amazingly low 430 watts.

6. Watch your washing. Try not to wash your clothes on a setting above 40C. A wash at 60C uses 30 per cent more energy as 90 per cent of the energy used by a washing machine is used in heating the water.

7. Look for energy efficient appliances and make sure you read the label to see how much it draws.

8. Perform an energy audit on your house to see how much power you use and determine where you can save energy and money.

9. Only boil the right amount of water. This saves on average 33 per cent energy, which can mean conserving the energy of around 50 light bulbs. On average, consumers boil twice the volume of water that is required.

10. Use rechargeable batteries. People throw away over 650 million batteries every year, polluting the soil and filling landfill sites. Rechargeable batteries save energy and the slightly higher cost is recovered in the first five charges.

For more information - ARTN Convention presentation - Hidden Valley Cabins

Contact:

Tourism Queensland - www.tq.com.au/sustainability

Queensland Tourism Industry Directory - www.tq.com.au/qtid

Hidden Valley Cabins
Tel: + 61 7 4770 8088
Email: goodnitesleep@hiddenvalleycabins.com.au
Website: www.hiddenvalleycabins.com.au

Tropical Energy Solutions
Tel: +61 7 4772 7394
Email: info@tropicalenergysolutions.com.au
Website: www.tropicalenergysolutions.com.au