Dave Campbell
Regional Director of Engineering
Hersha Hospitality Management

Dave oversees a portfolio of seven hotels in his role as West Coast Regional Director of Engineering for Hersha Hospitality Management. The work he began at the Courtyard by Marriott eight years ago served as a jumping off point for retrofit projects at buildings throughout San Diego.

Built in 1928, the San Diego Trust and Savings Bank building had a storied history in Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter before its conversion into a hotel ten years ago—rumor has it that the 14th floor once served as a shooting gallery. Since reopening as a hotel in 1999, the building has built upon its dynamic legacy by becoming a great example of adaptive reuse.

When Dave Campbell first set up his Portfolio Manager account to track the building’s progress, its ENERGY STAR score was a meager 45. He was “undaunted,” he says, and created a five-year plan to meet a set of aggressive sustainability goals. Today, the building has a score of 78, thanks to tens of thousands of dollars of rebate-funded retrofits. 

In addition to replacing nearly every light in the 245 guest rooms with LED lamps, new smart controls offer economical operation of a range of building systems. A $70,000 water savings project has cut water usage in half in every guest bathroom, sink, and shower—a project Campbell plans to expand to other buildings he oversees. Finally, a rewards program encourages reuse of bathroom towels, while partially-used shampoo bottles, older sheets, and towels are donated to a local women’s shelter.

WHAT THEY DID:

• Took advantage of over $90,000 in utility rebates to fund the project
• Installed smart controls and sensors to operate thermostats and lighting
• Implemented an aggressive recycling and trash diversion program, including donation of half-used shampoo bottles to a local women’s shelter
• Raised guest awareness of sustainability during Earth Hour every March by turning out lights in the lobby, offering a specialty cocktail, and providing glow sticks