In recent years, we have had the opportunity to ponder our relationship with the environment. Consequently, we have come to recognize the importance of being more conscientious about our decisions, whether in our own homes or on holiday. To begin with, selecting an eco-friendly and sustainable accommodation is a good place to start when vacationing. If you want to learn more about how to do this, here are a few questions to consider asking.
What Are The Criteria’s To Qualify As An Eco-Friendly Hotel?
Certification for a hotel requires meeting specific standards in areas such as energy efficiency, water consumption, waste management policies, construction materials, design, community awareness, and sustainable site development. The most well-known certification in the hospitality industry is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Other certificates, including EarthCheck, Green Key, Green Growth 2050, Forest Stewardship Council, The Rainforest Alliance, and Global Sustainable Tourism Council, are available.
Are Their Any Sustainability Reports?
Typically, these reports can be found on the company’s website. To determine how well the property was integrated into its environment, check for information on the amount of recycled or sustainable materials used in construction, such as certified wood, and whether the building is bioclimatic and outfitted with upcycled materials. You can also read about their carbon offset programs, staff training, community impact, energy consumption, linen reuse, recycling and waste management efforts, use of single-use plastics, and use of environmentally friendly cleaning products, among other things.
Is There A Waste Management And Recycling Plan In Place?
o ensure sustainability, it’s crucial to have a robust waste management system. Verify if the property composts food waste and learn about its efforts to reduce it. Inquire about their recycling practices, particularly their approach to plastic waste and how they manage any plastic waste generated.
What Is Their Plastic Policy?
Sustainable hotels opt for greener practices such as replacing plastic water bottles with reusable glass ones, some even having their bottling plant on-site. They are also transitioning from single-use shower toiletries to larger, refillable ones. Plastic straws and stirrers are being eliminated. When searching for eco-friendly accommodations, these are some factors to consider.
Do They Source Their Food Locally?
Check whether the hotel has a kitchen garden and follow a farm-to-table dining approach. Do they obtain their meat and eggs ethically? Is their menu created using seasonal produce? Lastly, do they adhere to sustainable seafood guidelines in their kitchen?
How Do They Save Water And Energy?
Inquire whether the establishment has adopted sustainable and energy-efficient measures, such as employing solar energy, LED lighting, and low-energy bulbs. Investigate the energy efficiency of their Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning Systems (HVAC) system and other construction methods like insulation to decrease the demand for air conditioning, resulting in lower energy usage.
Automation, emissions analysis, upgraded technology, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence – these are just a handful of ways that businesses are promoting sustainability and reducing greenhouse gasses.
Hotel Marcel, based in New Haven. Conn., wants to lead the way when it comes to sustainability in the hospitality sector. With this goal in mind, a team of eco-conscious design, architecture, and technology experts have built the first net-zero hotel in the United States. Hotel Marcel is also one of only 10 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum-certified hotels in the country. Since its opening in 2022, the hotel has won countless awards related to its sustainability.
Hotel Marcel had a long life before becoming what it is today. It started life as the Armstrong Rubber Company Building in 1968. After a period of vacancy started in the late 1990s, the building was listed on the Connecticut Register of Historical Places in 2020 and then the National Register of Historical Places in 2021. Those designations added challenges for converting the building into an eco-friendly hotel. But with a steadfast vision by lead architect, developer, and owner Bruce Becker, along with partner Sinclair Digital, the hotel is now a model for those that follow.
Renovated Hotel Relies on Renewable Energy and Microgrid Technology
The details are impressive. The hotel reused as much of the existing infrastructure as possible during a full renovation. To meet its goal of generating all its power, the hotel relies on renewable solar power onsite to produce electricity for the entire property. Engineers also installed triple-glazed windows for efficient insulation; a heat pump system for hot water, space heating, and cooling; and elevators that generate their own electricity. Even the hotel’s laundry room runs on renewable electricity instead of natural gas.
While some of these measures, like coated windows and renewable building materials, were right in Becker’s wheelhouse, other, more technology-driven features were less so. Early in the process, Becker’s team installed an energy-efficient, DC-powered microgrid for the hotel’s converters, microcontrollers, and batteries. The localized, solar-powered DC microgrid runs independently of the main power grid and is powered by an Ageto ARC controller, which enables grid services and resilience sequencing.
Becker knew from learning about other sustainable hotel endeavors like the Sinclair Hotel of Fort Worth, Texas, that low-voltage Power over Ethernet (Poe) would make a significant difference. Unlike high voltage power, low voltage uses less electrical current and sends power and controls on the same cable, reducing the amount of infrastructure required and resulting in greater energy efficiency. These systems also operate at levels of as low as 24 volts, making them safer and installable without an electrician.
“Our engineers visited the Sinclair Hotel to see how PoE would work in a hotel setting,” Becker said. “We were very keen on using it for lighting and intelligent occupancy sensors and integrating it with mechanical blackout and sheer shades to create quiet, dark, and efficient rooms.”
Installing Lantronix Switches
At the same time, the Sinclair organization, now called Sinclair Digital, was expanding from its role as a traditional hotel developer to a consultant that partners with hotel developers to choose and implement PoE and other energy-saving technologies.
To enable PoE throughout Hotel Marcel, Sinclair Digital advised implementing Lantronix’s Smart Managed Gigabit PoE++ switch, which would support direct, high-voltage DC power and the latest PoE standard.
“After we did the Hotel Sinclair, we learned about Lantronix,” explained Sinclair Digital COO Hannah Walker. “We knew that it was increasing the power of its technology to 90 watts as opposed to 60 watts, which meant that if you had a network switch with 24 ports, you can now pass 90 watts per port, which gives you a lot of capacity.”
In keeping with the low-voltage theme, Sinclair also installed VoltServer Digital Electricity to power the Lantronix switches. This enables the switches to safely transport DC power at high wattages over long distances on Class 2 wiring. Digital Electricity is a low-voltage technology but has the power and distance capabilities of AC by splitting energy into packets and transmitting them every second by the hundreds from a transmitter to a receiver unit.
Racks of switches now populate four original electrical closets throughout the property, connected via fiber run between the floors. The switches power lighting and motorized window treatments and are integrated with the HVAC system. Becker said that the hotel’s 55 PoE++ switches have reduced lighting energy use by more than 30%.
Emergency Battery Backup System
Next up was comprehensive emergency battery backup for the entire hotel, including emergency lighting, elevators, and stairway pressurization. While emergency battery backup was a fairly new concept, Walker recommended going the extra mile because of its significant energy savings.
“All of the systems we use today in buildings are DC inside, so all renewable energy generates in DC,” Walker explained. “But every time you transport it in AC, you lose 15% of efficiency, and it adds up.”
The team chose a battery developed by Sinclair and LG Electronics. The massive Lithium Ion battery, designed to replace energy-hogging diesel generators, can be recharged with solar panels via a microgrid.
Grand Opening
With everything in place, the hotel opened last spring. Five-star ratings populate virtually every hotel booking and review site.
Becker ensured all systems were metered to help the hotel stay on track with its sustainability goals and LEED Platinum requirements. Both the Lantronix and VoltServer equipment have in-line metering capabilities and associated software. Becker and Walker will consider adding an energy monitoring system to better determine energy usage at all points and so guests can see how much energy their rooms save.
With its focus on sustainability practices, it’s unsurprising that Hotel Marcel continues to break barriers. Today, it’s on the cusp of being certified as the only Passive House hotel in the United States. Passive House, which focuses on building energy and efficiency, is a well-established standard in Europe and is gaining popularity in the U.S.
As Head of Sourcing & Sustainability EMEA at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Philip Halanen says that succeeding in his complex role comes down to clear and cons.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is the world’s largest hotel franchising company, with approximately 9,000 hotels across over 95 countries. Through its network of approximately 819,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveller, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry.
Renderings of the Six Senses Svart in Norway are straight out of a sci-fi movie. An overwater hotel shaped like a wheel glows at the foot of a glacier – the Svartisen glacier in the Holandsfjorden fjord, to be specific – like a space station floating in orbit.
If all goes according to plan, the otherworldly image will come to life in 2024 as the first carbon-neutral and emission-free resort (Six Senses has not yet broken ground on the project), joining an emerging movement of carbon-conscious hotels.
In Turkey, the Stay Hotels says it is the country’s first carbon-neutral hotel group. In Denver, construction is underway on Populus, a 265-room property that claims it will be the United States’ first “carbon positive” hotel when it opens in late 2023. In New Haven, Connecticut, Hotel Marcel, opened in April, is the first US net-zero hotel.
Hotels contribute about 1% to global carbon emissions, says Claire Whitely, head of environment for the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance charity.
Of the 36.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted worldwide last year, that would mean hotels contributed roughly 363 million tonnes – about as much as it takes to power about 45.7 million homes for a year.
There are more than 90,000 hotels in the United States using energy on air conditioning and heating; laundering towels and sheets; lighting rooms and lobbies; and refrigerating the mini bar – not to mention the energy and resources to build and furnish them.
Parkroyal on Pickering in Singapore calls itself the world’s first “hotel in a garden”.
“We are talking about properties that are operated 24/7 and talking about over a billion hotel nights,” says Peter Templeton, interim president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council.
The carbon-neutral and carbon-positive labels sound good on paper, but some experts question if they are more performative than productive. Travel industry experts and climate scientists explained what travellers should know about the new wave of ‘green’ hotels and how to pick one.
What does it mean to be carbon neutral?
When hotels says they’re carbon neutral, they usually mean they are taking the same amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as they emit. Christoph Meinrenken, a physicist at the Columbia University Climate School says technically the term should be net carbon neutral, as true carbon neutral would mean having zero carbon emissions – but carbon neutral is more commonly used.
That is often done through carbon offsets, which account for a person, business or government’s carbon emissions by removing carbon from the atmosphere. This can be done in several ways, such as planting enough trees to capture the amount of carbon dioxide the hotel emits, or financing renewable energy projects or reforestation.
Svart will come to life in 2024 as the first carbon-neutral and emission-free resort. Source SNøHETTA/PLOMPMOZES
Some hotels may not necessarily have “green” operations; they just buy offsets. Other hotels become net carbon neutral by being more energy-efficient, then covering the rest of their emissions through carbon offsetting. For example, at the all-electric Hotel Marcel, 100% of its electricity is produced by solar panels on-site.
While it will cost hotels to make green changes, “it’s not going to cost much extra to do now that so many [green] strategies are becoming more and more commonplace,” says Peter Rumsey, founder and CEO of Point Energy Innovations, a building-systems and renewable-energy engineering company.
Rumsey says hotels can become more energy efficient for less money these days with solutions that are readily available, such as LED lighting, induction cooktops and management systems with sensors that make sure energy is being used efficiently.
Whitely agrees. “The technology that we need to decarbonise the hotel industry is here,” she says. “We just need to put it into place.”
What about carbon positive and net zero?
Carbon negative, energy positive or climate positive refer to a hotel offsetting more carbon than it emits. The term carbon positive is sometimes used in the same context, although the term is counterintuitive; we want less carbon, not more. “Some people use it in marketing, but technically, it doesn’t make sense,” Meinrenken says.
A property may strive to do this by producing more renewable energy than it needs, or make up for the carbon used in the construction of the hotel, not just daily operations.
Svart’s proposed design is an example. The hotel and its adjacent services, such as boat shuttles and guest activities, plan to be self-sufficient in electricity, water and waste management. It will also create a surplus of renewable energy using solar panels and geothermal wells to offset the carbon associated with the building’s construction.
To make Populus climate positive, Grant McCargo, founder, CEO and chief environmental officer of Urban Villages, says they’re planting trees to offset the carbon cost of the hotel’s construction and operations. They are also using a low-carbon concrete mix and installing windows with “lids” designed to reduce the hotel’s energy needs and require less washing. They also omitted a parking lot to encourage visitors to use public transportation.
Properties claiming to be net-zero mean they are offsetting all of their greenhouse gas emissions – methane, nitrous oxide, among others – not only carbon.
Templeton has seen thousands of projects move toward green building certification such as LEED or Passive House, with some embracing the concepts of zero energy or zero waste. He expects more to come, particularly as new policies incentivize greener choices.
Criticism of carbon claims
Critics say pledges such as carbon neutral and net zero don’t always accurately factor the full scope of emissions. Others are wary of their legitimacy.
Then there’s the concern that a hotel may have noble sustainability goals but doesn’t stick to them.
“Once you put the label of green or sustainable on something, many people tend to stop asking questions,” says Robert Krueger, a sustainability expert who created the Environmental & Sustainability Studies program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
“The architects and engineers work to create a building on paper that works a certain way. But when you put people into that building, it changes the way it functions,” Krueger says.
Rumsey says buying carbon offsets can be a good thing, but it shouldn’t be considered a final solution to hotel sustainability concerns.
“That’s just sort of a temporary Band-Aid approach,” he says. “At the end of the day, we can’t buy our carbon-way out of climate change through offsets. These hotels and these flights have got to change their emissions in a fundamental way.”
The majority of Svart will sit on stilts. Source SNøHETTA/PLOMPMOZES
How travellers can do their research
Rumsey doesn’t think it’s up to consumers to fix the problem, but the hotels that travellers choose can influence the industry.
While shopping for a place to stay, Meinrenken says travellers should scrutinise a hotel’s sustainability claims. Consider it a red flag if a hotel claims to be green, eco-friendly or carbon neutral but offers no explanation on how.
“Usually, architects are proud of their designs, and the website will describe whether that hotel is off the grid or whether it uses solar panels on the roof, whether it’s a Passive House design, which would indicate very low intrinsic energy consumption, etc.,” Meinrenken says.
As for digging into what offsets a hotel uses, it may be difficult for a traveller to research whether the claims hold up. “Unless they voluntarily disclose that, it’s probably difficult to find out – too much work for travelers,” Meinrenken says.
Of course, greener hotel choices aren’t the only considerations travellers should be making.
“The most significant emissions associated with travel involve lifting a couple hundred people to 30,000 feet and propelling them to their destination at 500mph,” Michael Wara, director of Stanford University’s Climate and Energy Policy Program, said in an email.
“But making the hotels more sustainable can’t hurt and changing people’s perception of what luxury feels like can be very significant in terms of moving policy,” Wara added.
Ultimately, it’s not just about greenhouse gases. Meinrenken says it is also important to be concerned whether a hotel treats its workers fairly, whether it destroyed an ecosystem where it was built and whether it contributes to the community or just takes its resources.
Krueger recommends supporting social causes as well, and taking steps such as setting your own carbon emissions budget and making compromises to offset your trip (e.g., biking or taking public transportation to work).
