Page 32 - Flathead Beacon // 4.13.16

BUSINESS IS PERSONAL 33 TRANSACTIONS 33 Business
Sustainability as a Selling Point
First hotel in Columbia Falls opts for high-e ciency details to attract customers
CBY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
OLUMBIA FALLS – THE WARM, spring weather was a welcome respite from the past couple weeks
of rainy weather at the construction site for the Cedar Creek Lodge, where crews were busy adding meat to the bones of the building’s skeleton.
Dried mud from the rainy days swirled on nearly every oor surface, but the mood at the site was elevated as the rst hotel in Columbia Falls o - cially went from dream status to physi- cal, three-story, 64-room reality.
The Cedar Creek Lodge is one of sev- eral major projects from local developer Mick Ruis, who has announced plans for a revitalization of sorts for Colum- bia Falls’ business sector. Along with the hotel, Ruis intends to build a pie factory, a steakhouse sports bar, apartment or condominium complex, and potentially other projects.
It’s all about looking to the future, Erick Enz, project manager for the Cedar Creek Lodge construction, said last week, and that idea has a ected how the hotel is coming together.
“We really desired to put not just a hotel into Columbia Falls, but a quality hotel in Columbia Falls,” Enz said.
Part of the idea of continually working with the future in mind is the building’s geothermal heating and cooling system, which represents one of the most e cient and environmentally friendly options available.
“It’s more expensive but it’s going to save money in the long run,” Enz said. “This is as green as it gets.”
The system is essentially this: in
Construction continues at the Cedar Creek Lodge in Columbia Falls. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
heating mode, the pump pulls low-tem- perature heat from the groundwater and converts it to high heat. This heat is then used for space heating as well as domes- tic hot water. The groundwater, with the heat removed, is then re-injected back into the aquifer at a slightly cooler temperature.
When the system is in cooling mode, it works in reverse, extracting the heat
from the building and transferring it to the groundwater, which goes back into the aquifer slightly warmer this time.
Each room is out tted with a fan coil, which is controlled by individual ther- mostats to either heat or cool.
The e ciency comes from not hav- ing to create new heat to move around, like a boiler or furnace would, Enz said. The hotel doesn’t have to burn fossil fuels
to make a new ame, and for each unit of energy used by the geothermal heat pumps to pull that heat from the ground- water, four units of heat are created.
That means the geothermal unit is 400 percent e cient, whereas the best gas boilers in the industry hit about 98 per- cent e ciency. This means a reduction in heating bills for the hotel when compared to traditional heating methods.
TIRE MAIL-IN REBATE*
*See dealer for details on rebate. Rebate Expires: April 30, 2016
ON SELECT SETS OF FOUR TIRES:
Certi ed Service
www.eisingermotors.com
Hwy 93 N & Reserve, Kalispell • 406-755-5555 • Open Mon - Fri 7am to 6pm • Sat. 8am to 5pm
32
APRIL 13, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
$100
BEST PRICE GUARANTEE!