Providence, R.I. — First Bristol Corporation, the developer and manager of the new Hampton Inn & Suites in downtown Providence, plan to incorporate a series of environmentally-friendly initiatives at the historic site of its new 110-room hotel property. Located in the heart of the financial district, this notable building, the original home of the Old Colony Bank and most recently St. Francis Chapel, will feature cutting-edge, energy efficient technology to yield greater customer satisfaction and lower operating expenses after it opens in December 2008. These green renovations will significantly reduce the amount of energy used to provide heating, air conditioning and electricity throughout the hotel.  

The Hampton Inn & Suites Providence-Downtown will maintain a High-Efficient Heat Recovery System which will reuse existing heated and cooled air within various areas of the hotel to assist heating and air conditioning where needed, thus reducing the need to generate more power. This system can also heat and cool different areas on the same day by reusing heat removed from outside of the “sunny” side of the building, and then send it to the cooler “shady” side of the building. In addition, all the windows in the existing building are being replaced with new energy efficient insulated windows to reduce energy loss.

In the guest rooms and commercial areas, computerized thermostats, which contain sensors, will raise and lower temperatures as they sense occupants or movement within a room. Commercial areas will also use automatic light sensors that turn on/off depending upon activity. In the laundry facilities, a large energy user, a new “ozone cleaning system” will substantially reduce the amount of water and significantly eliminate the need to use chemicals when cleaning linens.

Some additional modifications to the historic building include: 95-percent efficient boilers for hot water which put out and maintain higher volumes of hot water with much less heat loss, creating better output at lower costs; and Water Source Heat Pump HVAC units in the common areas that provide low cost operation and the ability to simultaneously heat and cool separate parts of the building at the same time for greater guest comfort.