Fernie Hotel Setting Sustainable Example
The Fernie Fox Hotel, located in the East Kootenays, is vying for the title of the most sustainable hotel in British Columbia, following the installation of an array of solar panels to the hotel roof, completed at the beginning of December.
The 62.4 kW installation, by renewable energy solutions leader Dandelion Renewables, is set to be one of the largest solar panel structures on a commercial building in BC. It will provide a sustainable source of electricity for the property, which features 43 rooms and an outdoor hot tub.
Marina Pauw, co-owner of the Fernie Fox Hotel, said: “We’re thrilled to be one the first hotels in BC to be powered by solar energy – giving back to our environment and our community. We hope to see more hospitality operators in BC and beyond make the change to renewables.”
Jeremiah Pauw, co-owner of the Fernie Fox, noted that: “Our goal is to provide our guests with a net-zero stay when they choose the Fox.”
Mikhail Ivanchikov, president of Dandelion Renewables, explained that: “The suite of products and services we are delivering to the Fernie Fox Hotel will provide substantial offsets to the total annual power consumption for the Fox. With the price of power almost certainly increasing moving forward, this will only provide better value in the future.”
Dandelion Renewables is an energy conservation, solar and wind power provider based in Edmonton, Alberta. This project is among the largest the company has worked on, alongside several large Albertan municipal ground-mount projects in Viking (1.2 MW), Bon Accord (648 kW) and Smoky Lake (169kW).
Since its incorporation in April 2020, the Fernie Fox Hotel has adopted a number of energy-saving actions under its Sustainability Initiative, leading the change in the way in which independent hotels run their business.
Over the last year, the Fox has installed two electric vehicle charging stations onsite, which broadens the reach of electric vehicles housed and travelling through the Kootenays.
