The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco has contracted with American Audio Visual to provide and/or monitor the handling and use of all Audio Visual (“AV”) equipment on property.

Please note that no rigging of any type will be allowed by an outside vendor, and that storage is not available for items delivered prior to set-up dates.

All outside equipment must be removed from the premises on the tear-down day. In addition, a refundable deposit of $2,500.00 will be collected prior to the program and held until tear-down and move-out is complete as protection against damage to the hotel and its property.

We encourage you to utilize American Audio Visual for these needs. However, realizing that there may be a preferred vendor or a contract that prevents you from doing so, we offer the following options with regard to the handling and use of AV equipment:

The AV Liaison: The AV Liaison will be the on-property guide for your AV contractor each day for the set-up and tear-down of your meeting. They will assist in directing your contractor through the hotel and monitor the movement and use of equipment to protect the assets of the hotel. The AV liaison charges will be based on the prevailing hourly rate with a five hour minimum per day.

Partial Use: In the case that you have a preferred vendor, there may still be needs that can be met by the use of American Audio Visual. A sliding scale fee applies based on the equipment rented.

• Transportation organization
• Off-site activities and events
• Dedicated Meeting Services personnel to streamline communication and guarantee facility quality and consistency

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco is proud to promote sustainability and the conservation of energy and natural resources throughout its daily hotel operations.
The following are highlights of the hotel’s industry-leading green initiatives:

• In October 2005, The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco became the first hotel in the world to install UTC Power’s PureComfortTM 240 power solution to conserve energy and protect the environment. UTC Power is a leading manufacturer of clean, energy-efficient combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) systems and fuel-cell power plants. The PureComfortTM power solution provides our 336-room hotel with 240kW of electricity and 120 tons of cooling year-round, with 80 percent efficiency (reducing power usage by 20%). The advanced CCHP system emits 40 percent less carbon dioxide a year than conventional systems – a benefit equal to planting 150 acres of forest. It also emits 90 percent less nitrogen oxide a year – the equivalent of removing 250 cars from the road within the same time period.
• A hotel co-generation system, one of the first in the industry, allows the hotel to reduce electrical usage by 20% by supplying chilled water to the air conditioning system. Additionally, it fully supplements the hotel’s heating system 90% of the time.
• Hotel water is conserved through the use of low-flow showerheads and low-flow faucets in the hotel, while sidewalks and driveways are cared for via sweeping rather than spraying. Hotel staff members are instructed to shut off lights and HVAC when guest rooms are unoccupied.
• The majority of hotel cleaning products are environmentally responsible (e.g. cloth towels utilized in restrooms).
• An aggressive recycling and composting program has been adopted by all divisions of the hotel, with even crates and cartons being recycled. Our recycling program also includes fluorescent light bulbs, ballasts and batteries which are collected, packaged and shipped to their respective disposal facilities.
• If linens are not reused as rags, they are donated to non-profit organizations such as Glide Memorial, to local animal shelters, or to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) International. Old towels are cut, re-seamed, and transformed into reusable rags by on-site seamstresses.
• The hotel's “house car” is a hybrid vehicle.
• In the beginning of 2008 the hotel implemented a state-of-the-art energy management system which has reduced the hotel’s energy usage by 12% compared to 2007. This reduction is the equivalent of removing 277 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.