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Table of Contents
Background and Overview
Environmental Management
Operations
Reasons to Change
P2 in Action
All Ski Areas links
Only Operations links

Essential Links:

Greening Your Ski Area
The handbook provides environmental strategies for on-mountain operations, as well as for management...
details

Building Life Cycle Cost Software
Provides an economic analysis of proposed capital investments that are expected to reduce long-term ...
details

CleanerProduction.com
Resources for management systems used in implementing Cleaner Production and Pollution Prevention, a...
details

Sustainable Design and Construction at Ski Resorts...
Many examples of how ski areas are implementing sustainable design and construction practices.
details

Integrated Pest Management Electronic Textbook
Electronic textbook whose objectives are to provide (1) a venue for easily maintaining and updating ...
details

Ski Areas: Operations
Ski Operations

Primary Environmental Concerns

The pollutants of concern are essentially all of the pollutants identified throughout this topic hub, as well as pollutants from the manufacture, transport, and disposal of all products


Purchasing

Ski areas purchase numerous products from a variety of commercial and industrial sources. Virtually all items purchased have environmental aspects that contribute to a ski area's environmental impact or "footprint." Ski area purchasing operations focus primarily on purchasing and distributing items for ski areas and developing purchasing arrangements with vendors. The term purchasing applies to all types of purchases from cleaning supplies to uniforms to energy from power companies. Therefore, environmental purchasing policies and guidelines present an opportunity for ski areas to make significant environmental performance improvements.

Vehicle and Equipment Maintenance

Primary Environmental Concerns

  • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) - parts cleaning mineral spirits and some chemicals used in the shop
  • Hazardous waste generation - parts cleaning mineral spirits, non-empty aerosol cans, oil filters, paint waste, and miscellaneous sludges
  • Toxic and hazardous chemical use - brake cleaner, carburetor cleaner, engine degreasers, and lubricants
  • Solid waste generation - aerosol cans, paper rags, and miscellaneous items
  • Spills - hydraulic line breaks in shop and on mountain, chemicals, and fuels
  • Use of non-renewable resources - oil, gasoline, and diesel
  • Air emissions - snowcats, groomers, snowmobiles, trucks, off-road vehicles, and other small engine equipment

Ski area vehicle maintenance shops maintain vehicles and equipment including snowcats, groomers, snowmobiles, pick up trucks, off-road vehicles, and other small equipment. Ski area vehicle maintenance shops generate a variety of solid wastes, hazardous wastes, and air emissions and have many opportunities to reduce these environmental hazards. For example, a typical vehicle maintenance shop that implements the environmental strategies discussed in the "Greening Your Ski Area" handbook can generate little or no hazardous waste. Environmental issues associated with vehicle maintenance shops arise from:

  • Parts cleaning
  • Chemical use (brake cleaner, carburetor cleaner, engine degreasers, and lubricants
  • Chemical application
  • Shop heating
  • Gasoline and oil use
  • Oil bottle and filter waste generation
  • Snowmobile use
  • On-mountain hydraulic line break


Lift Operations

Primary Environmental Concerns

  • Energy use - electric and diesel
  • Solid waste generation - sheave liners and aerosol cans
  • Hazardous waste generation - spent solvents from parts clenaers, oil-based paint, and paint thinner
  • Natural resource consumption - diesel and oil

Operating lifts involves lift maintenance, monitoring peak demand with local utilities, changing energy source (from electric to diesel) depending on electricity demand, heating and lighting lift houses, painting lift towers, and occasionally, purchasing new lifts.

Food and Beverage Service

Primary Environmental Concerns

  • Known and suspected human carcinogens - in polystyrene foam, some cleaning, landscaping, and pest management products
  • Not recycling or using recycled content products - polystyrene foam, paper, metal, glass, plastic, and printer cartridges
  • Plastic product use and disposal - cups, utensils, garbage bags, and straws
  • Chlorine-bleached paper products
  • Harmful chemicals - cleaners, landscaping, and pest management chemicals
  • Inefficient energy and water use
  • Use of electricity from non-renewable energy sources

Restaurants at ski areas range from coffee shops and bars to cafeterias to full service restaurants. Some restaurant operations include cooking, cleaning, serving, general management, purchasing, solid and hazardous waste generation and disposal, and regulatory compliance.

Buildings (including lodging)

Primary Environmental Concerns

  • Energy use - lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
  • Toxic and hazardous chemicals use - cleaning products, and paint
  • VOCs use - paint, paint cleaning chemicals, carpet adhesives, and carpet backing
  • Hazardous waste use - paint cleaning chemicals
  • Solid waste use - paper, glass, plastic, metal, newspaper, cardboard, and carpet
  • Obsolete electronic equipment disposal
  • Water use
  • Waste water
  • Known and suspected human carcinogens use - cleaning, landscaping, and pest management products
  • Harmful chemicals use - cleaners, landscaping, pest management chemicals, and pool and hot tub disinfection
  • Chlorine - bleached paper products
  • Use of electricity from non-renewable energy sources

Ski area buildings such as lodges, rental shops, administrative buildings, restaurants, ticket sales, and retail shops consume significant energy for illumination, heating, and ventilation. Although energy consumption in ski area buildings may vary according to function, the same general operations are the same in most buildings. Other than energy use, building maintenance operations generally include cleaning, painting, removing and installing carpet, and waste disposal.

Operations at lodging facilities are similar to general building operations. They include:

  • Room and common area cleaning
  • Laundry operations
  • Pools and hot tubs heating and maintenance
  • Office operations
  • Landscaping
  • Restaurant operation (see Restaurant section)

Snowmaking

Primary Environmental Concerns

  • Energy use (pumps, fans, water coolers and air compressors)
  • Water use

Many ski areas make snow to create and maintain quality skiing conditions on slopes during times of inadequate snowfall. Making snow involves selecting the appropriate snowmaking equipment, understanding meteorological concepts, knowing where snow needs to be made, maintaining appropriate line pressure and outlet pressure, modifying snowmaking set up as meteorological conditions shift, and identifying and fixing line air and water leaks.

Grounds Maintenance

Primary Environmental Concerns

  • Water use
  • Pesticide use and application
  • Water quality
  • Erosion control
  • Vegetation selection
  • Soil compaction

Ski areas maintain on-mountain grounds and landscaping around lodges and common areas. Many ski areas also have golf courses that operate in the summer months and require grounds maintenance. Operations include landscaping design, plant selection, planting, and maintenance (watering, pest control, erosion control etc..)

Sustainable Design and Construction

Primary Environmental Concerns

  • Planning sustainable site
  • Maximizing energy efficiency
  • Minimizing material and resource consumption
  • Enhancing indoor environmental quality
  • Safeguarding and conserving water

Sustainable refers to meeting needs of the present without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable design is the systematic consideration of project's life-cycle impact on environmental and energy resources. The basic theory of sustainable design is relatively simple. Implementation, however, is complex. Ten key elements of a sustainable building are:

  • Sustainable Site Planning and Landscape Design
  • Use of Renewable Energy Resources
  • High-Quality and Energy Efficient Lighting
  • Energy Efficient Building Shell
  • Energy Efficient HVAC System
  • Environmentally Preferable Building Materials
  • Water Conservation
  • Recycling and Waste Management
  • Construction Waste Reduction and Recycling
  • Commissioning

Incorporating these elements into the design and building of construction projects can significantly reduce building, maintenance, and operating costs during the life of the building. Building Life Cycle Cost Software provides an economic analysis of proposed capital investments that are expected to reduce long-term operating costs of buildings or building systems compared to conventional projects.


Hub Last Updated: 08/22/2003

The P2Rx Topic Hub Project was developed by:
The Ski Areas Topic Hub was developed by:
Peaks to Prairies
Peaks to Prairies
Contact Laura Estes (Peaks)
406-994-3451 or laurae@montana.edu