Growing Demand For Sustainable Design Has Hospitality Market Seeing Green

By Robert L. Noble -- HOTELS Magazine, 9/1/2005

Sustainable design is a means of maintaining natural resources through responsible design that either minimizes a building’s negative impact on the environment or even improves the environment. Twenty years ago, entrepreneurs in “green” design began to show up in the marketplace, yet were often considered part of a passing trend. Ten years ago, the movement was still considered an idealistic concept available only to those willing to spend more to be green.

In the 21st century, because sustainable technologies have arrived and the marketplace is ready to accept them, sustainable design practices are quickly becoming reality. These new principles now are in high demand in the commercial, civic, educational and residential sectors, while demand continues to grow in the hospitality market.

Setting a precedent nationally is Philadelphia’s Sheraton Rittenhouse Square Hotel, which opened in 2002 as one of the first environmentally smart hotels in the United States. The 193-room Sheraton is the first hotel in the continental U.S. to provide fresh, filtered air, 24 hours a day to each hotel room, independent of the heating and cooling systems. The hotel’s centerpiece is an atrium lobby with a 40-foot-high bamboo garden, chosen because it takes in carbon dioxide and produces oxygen at a 35% higher rate than any other plant. The flooring in the lobby area is made from 93% recycled granite.

Another recent project to incorporate green elements was the US$16 million expansion and renovation of The Dana on Mission Bay, a 270-room waterfront hotel in San Diego, California. Reclaimed redwood from demolished buildings was incorporated as a prominent canopy element at the entrance to the hotel, and 200-year-old teakwood, which had been reclaimed from torn-down huts in Thailand, was refurbished for use as structural beams and wood accents throughout the hotel.

For builders new to the world of sustainable design, working with an architect who is well versed in the sustainable design process, as well as materials and methods, is key to executing a sustainable project efficiently and effectively. The architect should facilitate collaboration among project team members to ensure project success.  

Sustainable design in hospitality projects is an inevitable trend in today’s market that, according to all indications, will only continue to expand. In the near future, sustainable design will be requested and/or required for many projects. Plus, when considering near term payback and lifecycle costs, sustainable design may quite possibly emerge as the most cost efficient design approach for hotel designers and builders.  

To learn more about sustainable or “green” design, visit the Green Hotels Association, an organization committed to supporting and promoting ecological consciousness and the greening of the hospitality industry, at www.greenhotels.com.