New environmentally-friendly design would showcase best of "green" technology
The price tag for the Whistler Conference Centre upgrade has jumped from $7.5 million to $22 million, but Tourism Whistler says the new "green" design will reap huge financial, social and economic benefits for the resort.
Tourism Whistler has applied for an infrastructure grant for the project that would see the cost split three ways. The province and the federal government would each bear a third of the cost and the Resort Municipality and Tourism Whistler would fund the balance, hopefully with the help of corporate sponsorship.
The RMOW has already committed $3.75 million from its hotel occupancy tax coffers to the upgrade.
Tourism Whistler president Suzanne Denbak says she doesn’t know when she will hear if the grant application is successful, but she says the proposal should find a receptive audience, given the long-term benefits it would bring to the government.
"The conference centre now generates around $19 million a year in delegate spending and this figure would be boosted to $49 million annually with the new design facility," she explains.
"This translates into an additional $11.6 million in direct government revenue through hotel tax, PST and GST." However, she adds that current income levels from the centre will decline steadily unless urgent steps are taken. She says the conference centre still looks like the arena it was originally designed to be and an overhaul is long overdue.
"If Whistler is going to achieve its goal of being a four-season resort it needs to grow business in the spring, summer and fall," she says. "While the resort performs well in the shoulder-season recreation and leisure business, we are missing out on the extremely lucrative conference and meetings market because the centre is not up to modern standards."
The call for a conference centre upgrade has been a Tourism Whistler priority for more than two years now but the proposed design of the building has been constantly evolving.
A plan was released by the contract architects Lutz Associates last fall, but it subsequently went back to the drawing board with a goal to create "the greenest and most environmentally-sustainable conference centre in North America."
The latest design retains the structural features of the earlier plan.
It still allows for a 3,000-delegate capacity, flexible meeting room facilities able to cater for up to 10 different events at once and a grand-hall style entrance.
Wood and natural stone accentuate the North West theme of the new design, and the maximum single-room capacity has jumped from 1,400 to 2,300 delegates. It also features sophisticated conferencing facilities such as satellite links, high-speed Internet access and plug-and-play infrastructure.
However, substantial environmental improvements are now also part of the package, says Doug Stackhouse, Tourism Whistler’s director of building operations.
He says the revamped centre would use 100 per cent renewable energy including geothermal and solar power, passive water-based cooling and a no-emissions fireplace.
"The old propane-fuelled boilers we currently use for heat are only 50 per cent efficient and produce green house gas missions, while the chillers in summer emit CFC’s," he says.
"With the new setup water would be circulated under the building through the municipal pipes and fan and coil units, producing cool air — a totally closed loop system."
Lighting would also become more efficient through the use of skylights, windows and energy efficient fixtures, he adds.
"The proposed design yields some 135,000 square feet compared to the current 88,000 square feet, but 50 per cent less energy will be required for lighting."
Care has also been taken to chose environmentally-friendly materials and furnishings such as carpets and wall coverings.
Stackhouse says if the design goes ahead as planned, the Whistler Conference Centre could snare a platinum certification in the coveted North American LEED Green Building Rating System (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design).
Denbak says a green conference centre would offer a whole new dimension in marketing and sales — Whistler could attract meeting planners who want to host environmentally positive conferences. She says it would also meet the Whistler community’s stated goals under The Natural Step program.
Under the Natural Step, a community can reach sustainability by ensuring nature’s balance is not upset by the following: increasing concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust, increasing amounts of substances produced by society or by overharvesting or ecosystem manipulation.
It sets out to ensure resources are used fairly and efficiently to meet basic human needs worldwide.
Denbak says as an early adopter of The Natural Step program, Tourism Whistler sees the conference centre as an opportunity to showcase sustainable development and the top green technologies.
She adds that securing a strong conference and meetings market would bring security and stability to the Whistler economy and residents.
"The nature of the conference market is long-term bookings two to five years in advance compared to the shorter-term leisure market which can be affected by weather or economic conditions," she says. "This translates into year-round employment, a year-round housing demand and a stable economic platform."
The effects of this would be felt throughout the Sea to Sky corridor, with Pemberton and Squamish benefiting through related businesses and a stronger commuting workforce, she adds. "Our research indicates the increased business generated by the new centre would create 595 permanent full-year jobs, not including consulting projects."
Tourism Whistler says the new design could also serve as a media centre in the event of a successful 2010 Olympic bid. She adds the cost of the new building can be scaled back if funding becomes problematic, but she hopes to retain the design in its current form.
Other features of the proposed centre include shower facilities to encourage staff to bike to work and a child-care centre, possibly available to the wider community.
