The upgrades are slated for the Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn and the Holiday Inn Express. Innisfree Hotels manages the three Gulf-front properties.

ADECA Director Jim Byard Jr. called the improvements “an excellent investment made possible by AlabamaSAVES, a program ADECA created to help businesses install energy-saving upgrades, reduce operating expenses and boost employment.”

“When an Alabama business cuts its energy bill, competitiveness improves and potential for growth increases,” Byard said. “Energy efficiency is good for the environment, but it also expands economic opportunities and that is good for everyone, especially those who need employment.”

The loans will pay the cost of installing energy management systems that include automatic thermostat controls in each guest room and sensors that turn the lights off when a room is unoccupied. Innisfree officials expect the new systems to cut energy consumption by 25 percent in each hotel. The company will have six years to repay the 2-percent-interest-rate loans, but energy savings will exceed the payment amount creating extra cash flow for the business.

According to U.S. Department of Energy estimates, one job is created for every $92,000 invested in energy-efficiency improvements.

ADECA established AlabamaSAVES with funds made available to the state by the DOE’s State Energy Program. Loans of $50,000 to $4 million are available to help existing commercial and industrial businesses finance energy-saving improvements. Projects are evaluated on potential for job creation and retention, sustainable energy savings, cost savings, renewable energy generation and emissions reductions.

Abundant Power, a firm that works with states and municipalities to design, administer and finance energy-efficiency and renewable energy programs, is helping ADECA administer AlabamaSAVES.

For more information about the program, go to www.alabamasaves.com.

Contact: Mike Presley, Larry Childers