Local eco-friendly hotels lead the way

27 September 2015 - 02:00 By Tiara Walters

Hoteliers are increasingly delivering on demands for eco-friendly practices, with some local examples leading the way on a global scale. By Tiara Walters Savvy hoteliers understand there's a new commandment underpinning the industry: staying at a green hotel leaves guests feeling as warm and fluffy as those bamboo towels they ask them to reuse."Most hotels are now doing something to lessen their impact - it's something travellers are asking them about," says André Harms, the project engineer behind the award-winning, eco-certified Hotel Verde at Cape Town International Airport.Thanks to several eco-certification agencies launching in South Africa in the past decade, hotels can now have their green credentials independently assessed . and crow about their achievements should they pass the rigorous tests. The result is an industry that is becoming more competitive to meet the demands of a growing earth-conscious clientele.A green hotel, says Harms, is a business "constructed and operated with the express intention of minimising environmental impact". That's not to say hotels built before the relatively recent rise of commercial sustainability are lost to the cause.The Wilderness Foundation's Green Leaf Eco Standard (GLES), an independent tool for evaluating an organisation or property's sustainability performance, has certified 54 hotel brands, or 4500 beds, since its 2008 launch. This standard holds certified hotels accountable by requiring a "year-on-year reduction of water and energy costs", says CEO Andrew Phillips. "We don't only encourage these hotels to run on their existing systems as efficiently as possible but also to invest in new eco-efficient technology."The City Lodge hotel group, whose 52 nationwide hotels vary between one and four stars, is perhaps not the first chain one would associate with such eco razzle-dazzle.full_story_image_hleft2Yet, since 2011, the group has installed 40000 LED lights and focused on heat pumps, a 15% reduction in electricity usage, efficient flow technology in showers and taps, and improving waste management - including recycling and onsite waste separation.These improvements have earned the group GLES certification, placing it on a par with the likes of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, which includes Radisson Blu hotels from Dakar to Sandton; and the four-star Three Cities Royal Palm Hotel in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal."There is a serious shift among major hotel groups," says Phillips - "not so much from a duty-of-care perspective," he admits, but because "there is now a global culture of corporate reporting structures demanding this kind of compliance".Also in Umhlanga, the five-star Oyster Box is another GLES-certified hotel. It separates all rubbish on site and recycles all recyclable waste. Water from baths and showers is collected by a greywater tank, and used in toilets and irrigation. The hotel has installed heat pumps, aerators in hand-basin tap mixers to reduce water consumption, and lighting sensors and timers. For every key card returned to reception at checkout, the hotel donates R5 towards Rhinos Without Borders.block_quotes_start They inspire guests to look at how they consume in their own lives and what lessons they can take to their homes block_quotes_endEven the hotel's oysters are sustainably harvested - from its own oyster beds.Developed in 2003, Fair Trade is another major certification standard in South Africa and its online map (fairtrade.org.za) is a good guideline for tourists seeking ethical accommodation: by last year it had certified 68 tourism businesses that met its 200 criteria for businesses that foster human rights and environmental practices.Winner of the Best City Boutique Hotel in Africa at last year's World Boutique Hotel Awards, the four-star Peech Boutique Hotel in upmarket Melrose, Johannesburg, is a Fair Trade establishment that uses a greywater system, recycles all compostable food waste, runs all geysers on solar panels, has fitted its entire premises with energy-saving lights and uses only rechargeable batteries.full_story_image_hleft3In Cape Town, several luxury hotels have either been built as green hotels from scratch or are going green.The 4.5-star Vineyard Hotel at the foot of Table Mountain recycles 98% of its waste, creates compost out of kitchen scraps, and gives excess food to community NGOs as well as green trimmings to local farmers for animal feed. It also offers guests free-range and organic food products and menu options, plus solar-powered conference facilities.One of the city's chief tourism drawcards, the V&A Waterfront precinct, is now also brimming with eco-luxury: the nearby five-star Radisson Blu is GLES-certified; and its sister hotel the Radisson Red, a three- to four-star hotel for business travellers, is going up using green practices, such as recycled and certified construction materials. Planning to open next year, it will seek "green star" certification through SA's Green Building Council, another major evaluation agency, for aspects such as its planned "high-performance", double-glazed façade.story_article_left1Set in up-and-coming Woodstock, the four-star DoubleTree by Hilton hotel has also applied for certification through the council, which will judge it on yardsticks ranging from its cleaning products to its transport's carbon output. The process is stringent - at best, the hotel can hope to put the council's badge on its website in the first quarter of next year: 12 months after inspections began.Despite the slowing economy, the development of green hotels in South Africa is dizzying stuff, because it makes sense to save energy costs and optimise operational performance in this uncertain climate.Of these hotels, Hotel Verde is perhaps the most decorated. It has not only been certified by the local council but was also the world's first hotel to achieve the highest certification for its construction as well as design through Leed (Leadership in Energy Environmental Design), a respected US certification standard.Opened in August 2013, the 145-room, four-star hotel was built at a cost of R187-million, of which R20.2-million was spent on sustainability. This hotel is so far ahead of its time that its systems are using "roughly a third of the electricity plus half the amount of water of a typical Cape Town hotel", says Harms. When in use, the hotel's smart gym equipment feeds energy back into the building. Management has even eschewed bottled water. You can get your H2O from a "machine at the bar that takes Cape Town's good quality tap water and removes the chlorine before bottling it, and can even carbonate it".According to Harms, Verde has been such a hit that its occupancy rates are also looking "significantly" better than the average Cape Town hotel's. Now its management company is in "advanced" discussions to put up new buildings in Stellenbosch, Pretoria, Durban and Ghana.Last year it won the "eco-hotel Oscar" when it was named Best City Hotel at the World Responsible Tourism Awards. But it will not be the only shining star in Africa.full_story_image_hleft1Occupying 23ha on the Mauritian east coast, the 255-room Long Beach Hotel, (wlh.co.za) on the site of the demolished Le Coco Beach Hotel, was built entirely along ecological principles. Solar panels produce hot water, sun-protection frames reduce the need for air-conditioning and eco-lighting features throughout. Completed in 2011, much of the former hotel was recycled or reused, including its botanical heritage.Harms believes green hotels should be praised not just for their pioneering technology but also for helping to rouse a new generation of environmental ambassadors."What I find exciting is that [Cape Verde] is using all this to inspire guests, staff members and suppliers - and even the 3000 schoolkids who have been through our doors on educational tours - to look at how they consume in their own lives and what lessons they can take to their homes and offices." - © Tiara Walters..

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