Utah hopes for new flight from Tokyo
PARK CITY, Utah -- A flight from Paris, France, to Salt Lake City has done well for the destination resorts of Utah. With that in mind, Utah tourism officials are eagerly supporting a potential flight from Tokyo. As in Europe, the North American West is a hot commodity in Asia, tourism officials tell The Park Record. But important is whether the U.S. dollar remains low relative to the Japanese yen.
Even locking doors can be done with just a click
PARK CITY, Utah -- Automation is found increasingly in homes. At a 13,000-square-foot home in Park City's Deer Crest neighborhood, there is little that cannot be controlled with a computer panel.
A firm called S3 Entertainment has installed tough-panel interfaces that can control everything from the movie library, which has 1,000 titles, to the air conditioner, heater and probably even the dishwasher.
"Everything you see on the 'Jetsons' we put into this house," joked Arthur Mayor, sales manager for the company, referring to a 1960s cartoon series about a space-age family of the distant future.
With a house that big, it might take a lot of walking to make sure all the lights are off and the doors locked, notes The Park Record. Here, it can be done from one place -- and it can even be off-premises.
The future, technicians say, are homes in which clothes driers can be turned on remotely, or ovens can be switched on as somebody drives down the highway with a take-and-bake pizza.
Park City studies wind potential at ice arena
PARK CITY, Utah -- Park City officials continue to investigate how they can shrink their carbon footprint, as they have vowed to do by signing onto the Mayors' Climate Change Agreement. The latest effort is to test the wind potential at a place called Quinn's Junction. In the 1980s, the area was too windy for a proposed airport. Now, there's an ice rink maintained by the city nearby, and a Park City official says early tests suggest there may be enough electrical production from a turbine to meet one-third the annuals needs of an ice-resurfacing machine. Tests via a 66-foot-tall tower this winter, reports The Park Record, should better determine how accurate this estimate is.
Vail town plan would cut use of gas, electricity
VAIL, Colo. -- After several years of talking about getting after a more green agenda, the Vail town government earlier this year hired a person to mastermind environmental initiatives. Now, a draft plan is out.
The plan proposes six goals, including reduced energy use of 20 percent below 2006 levels by 2020. Another goal is stepped up recycling, to reduce the trash going to the landfill by 10 percent in five years. Additionally, another is to reduce the total vehicle-miles traveled by 20 percent, again with a target date of 2020.
The town has not substantially revamped its building codes. However, ski area operator Vail Resorts, a major developer of real estate in Vail, is proposing to build a major new base village west of the existing ski lifts and aim for a platinum certification under the LEED program. Platinum is the highest of four LEED levels.
Also, ski company chief executive officer Rob Katz earlier this year announced stepped-up company-wide energy reduction goals for its operations in Vail. It also operates four other ski areas and a resort in Jackson Hole.
