Featured Hotel

Holiday Inn
San Antonio International Airport
Green Campaign

The Holiday Inn San Antonio International Airport, an upscale 397-room hotel located one mile from the San Antonio International Airport, has been lauded for it's environmental initiatives. The Hotel launched an environmental “green” campaign nearly three years ago, posting results that have garnered National and International attention. The results were the target of a case study produced by Caroma and marketed by Lighthouse Marketing, and now have become the Pilot Hotel for InterContinental Hotels Group Green Engage Program to be rolled out globally.

Recycling Program: In 2007 the Hotel started a recycling program by collecting paper and cardboard, producing 21 tons and donating $2000 in rebates to the Ronald McDonald House of San Antonio. In 2008, the Hotel transitioned to single stream recycling collecting 83.34 tons of material (170,000 pounds) that would have otherwise been sent to the landfill. The recycling is a full single stream program allowing the Hotel to recycle paper, cardboard, plastics 1-7, glass, aluminum, and tin. Every department and guestroom throughout the Hotel has recycle containers. The Hotel staff spent an afternoon training with our recycling partner, Vista Fibers, learning about items in their departments that they touch every day that can be recycled instead of going to the trash.

Water Conservation: The Hotel won the San Antonio Water System Water Saver Award for 2008. They installed high efficiency dual flush toilets in every guestroom, low flow showerheads and water saving spigots in guestroom vanities. The property asks guests to assist in water conservation by hanging towels that can be re-used and asking that bed linen be changed only every third day of their stay and daily service is available upon request. The Hotel captures condensation from rooftop air conditioning units by installing pumps into a water capture container and directing the water to flower beds. The hotel also diverts water from the pool during the cleaning process into hedges along the perimeter of the property, instead of sending it down the drain. In 2006 the Hotel was consuming 203 gallons of water per occupied room. This was reduced to 161 gallons in 2007, and by the end of 2008 we were only consuming 123 gallons per occupied room – totaling 7+ million gallons of water saved annually.

Energy Conservation: During the course of the Hotel's renovation from June 2006 to June 2007, they replaced all incandescent light bulbs with energy saving compact florescent bulbs. Digital thermostats were installed in every guestroom with a 4 degree range allowed (72 degrees +/-). These can be reprogrammed by the Hotel for guests with special needs. Hotel storage rooms are equipped with motion sensors so lights cannot be left on by busy staff. Hotel boilers are programmed “in line” only utilizing the back up boiler when occupancies require the additional water. It is estimated by Burton Energy, that the Hotel will save 553k KWH annually with our energy conservation program.

The Holiday Inn offers a bevy of dining options for guests and over 10,000 square feet of meeting space for unrivaled event coordination. What’s next for their in-house green program?: Although the Holiday Inn San Antonio Int’l Airport is a leader in the community for their “Green Campaign”, they are still finding new programs to make a positive impact on the environment. Here is a look at other initiatives that they are in the process of implementing:

• Planting an herb garden on the roof-top of the pool house. Any plants and produce that cannot be used by the Hotel kitchen, will be given to the employees. Seeds from the garden will be packaged and given to guests, encouraging them to “Stay Green”.

• The roof-top garden will be watered by capturing the condensation from two air conditioning units above the lobby of the Hotel. Any excess water will be diverted into the landscape.

• Investigating the option of sending all food waste to a composting site, and have already conducted our initial site visit with Texas Disposal Systems.

• Working with Trane to capture cooling tower condensation and redirect it to the Hotel chiller. This condensation could save the Hotel 500 gallons of water each week.

Holiday Inn San Antonio Int’l Airport – your only choice in San Antonio to “stay green”.

Holiday Inn San Antonio International Airport
Hotel Direct: (210) 349-9900

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