Domestic and international travellers to Cape Town International Airport will soon be able to check into what will be the greenest hotel on the continent. Currently in the final stages of approval, the hotel will be built by the Cape Town-based developer Dematech, the luxury hotel has been earmarked for completion in early 2013 in nearby Michigan Street, less than 500m from the terminal building.

Aptly named Hotel Verde – “verde” meaning green in Italian – the 146-room, contemporary hotel will fall into the three-star category, although the room sizes, services and fittings will be similar to a four-star hotel. The focus will be on sustainable construction as well as operation practices. Hotel Verde will generate an estimated 103 direct jobs and a further 247 indirect jobs.

Hotel Verde is set to become South Africa and the continent's greenest hotel. The development, at the Cape Town International Airport, will provide domestic and international travellers accommodation which is driven by technology not yet seen in Africa. Their use of heat pumps, which are sunk into the earth's soil, double glazed windows to vertical axis wind turbines and the capturing and filtering of rain water are a total green building package. The Hotel Verde will be energy efficient, environmentally friendly and will prove to travellers that the City of Cape Town is a global leader in its fight to combat climate change and to use the planet's natural resources more effectively", says Wesgro CEO Nils Flaatten

Flaatten added that while Cape Town businesses had to adapt to the changing global demands from travellers who want more environmentally friendly travels and hotels, they should not underestimate the new demands being voiced by domestic travellers.

‘The showcasing of this Green Building in the Airport precinct will be a fantastic marketing tool for the City of Cape Town and will demonstrate just how sophisticated the City's climate change mitigation and adaption strategies have become. Wesgro engages many property owners who have indicated their determination to drive the green building agenda and the Hotel Verde development has just raised this bar to a new height. This announcement brings some good news to an otherwise damp COP 17 Agenda,' says Flaatten.

The visitors experience is also one that should be highlighted. Once a week guests will enjoy "earth hour" where all power will be turned off in the public areas and guests can enjoy a candle-lit dinner of pizza from the wood-burning oven. Guests who have been eco-friendly by re-using their towels for a second time and not used their aircon will receive a credit note at check out. The hotels climate control will allow a comfortable climatic condition in the room. However the customer could opt for a cooler room temperature by switching on the air-con system. The will be a jogging trail among a water wise fynbos garden as well as a Gym. Most Gym equipment will generate Power when in use.

Hotel Verde has been registered for the LEED certification system. The Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is an independent certification programme that provides guidelines for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. It has been created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the programme awards varying levels of certification to buildings that meet LEED rating standards in five major categories: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

A number of sustainable features make this hotel special and, indeed, Africa’s greenest:

•Geothermal-heating ventilation and air-conditioning system that makes use of a constant ground temperature of 19°C to heat up the building in winter and keep it cool in summer.

• Three 17m-high wind turbines will assist with the generation of renewable power.

• For guests there will be free electric shuttles to and from the airport terminal building, as well as electric-car shuttles to the city at a nominal fee. Guests will also have the exclusive opportunity to hire out electric cars for their Cape Town-based travel.

• Greywater from the guestroom showers will be fed into a greywater recycling system which will harness aerobic bacteria rather than chemicals. The recycled water will then be used to feed all toilets and urinals in the building

• Double-glazed, high-performance windows will be used throughout the building. Solar heat gain and thermal insulation will thus be optimised.

• Dishwasher and washing machines with the lowest available energy and water-usage consumption rates will be carefully chosen. Water will be recycled, making laundry facilities extremely efficient.

• Laundry dryers will use excess heat from the building to dry linen and table cloths via the heat pumps.

• The north-facing roof will be covered with a photovoltaic solar panel, helping to generate a large amount of power that will be stored in battery banks.

• Sport equipment in the gym will be equipped with power-generating devices as a practical learning tool for demonstrating how much work is required to generate a certain amount of electricity.

• Public areas such as lifts, toilets and passages will be equipped with movement-sensor-controlled lighting.

• The hotel kitchen will be fitted with energy-saving induction stoves and energy-efficient appliances and fridges.

• All showers and washing basins in the hotel will be fitted with water-saving taps and shower heads. This and other water saving measures, will reduce the potable water consumption by roughly 50%.

• The concept of “dematerialisation” will be implemented wherever possible. For example: the concrete slabs will utilise void-forming Cobiax spheres while maintaining structural integrity. Introducing the voids will reduce the amount of concrete used and thus the weight of the slabs.

• Rainwater-filter and collection tanks will capture, clean and aerate rainwater during the winter months. This will be used for irrigation and cleaning purposes when rainfall is scarce.

• A jogging trail will be set among a fynbos garden for hotel customers.

Find full article at Cape Business News

For more information on Green Hotels and Resorts, go to Greenlodge.Org

Denver-based EcoGroomer Inc. has secured funding from a Tampa, Fla. investment banking investor and will soon begin production of 60 of the innovative “Snow Processing Unit” systems designed to reduce resort grooming costs. The company, launched this year by skiing entrepreneur Dan Osborne, announced Thursday it had enlisted a U.S.-based construction and agricultural equipment maker, a defense contractor and a Canadian firm to supply components of the new machines, which will be assembled at a facility in the upper Midwest.

The statement said Rocky Mountain resorts will receive the new machines as soon as next winter. The plan, according to the EcoGroomer website, is to lease the grooming systems to resorts for hourly usage fees.

The system adds two separately powered, retractable Snow Processing Units that attach to a traditional groomer, While doubling the amount of terrain a groomer can smooth in a night, the systems can save major resorts millions in grooming costs. If major resorts add EcoGroomers to only a portion of the grooming fleets, Osborne says the resort industry could save 20 million gallons in diesel and $150 million in grooming costs.

Go To Full Article: Denver Post

Atmosphere Hospitality Management based here has unveiled plans to create Adoba Eco Hotel & Suites.

The upper mid-tier brand will focus on sustainable construction and green operating practices.

Atmosphere Management principals James Henderson and Adrienne Pumphrey have targeted Denver, Seattle, Tuscon, AZ, Portland, OR, and other cities they describe as eco-driven, for Adoba development.

Adoba Eco Hotel & Suites

Atmosphere Hospitality Management

Aloft Hotel in Tempe has become the Valley's first hotel to gain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Aloft is among a handful of Arizona hotels seeking LEED certification. Drury Inn & Suites in Flagstaff was the first hotel in Arizona to gain the coveted green-building standard. Aloft, which opened in 2008,got news of the certification this week.

The hotel incorporated a recycling program, environmentally-friendly cleaning solutions, a network that controls air-conditioning -and heating systems so it uses less energy when the hotel rooms are not occupied, a heat-island roof effect to deflect sun and lower energy costs, a high-efficiency ventilation system to improve air quality and a number of other mechanisms to improve the environment. The hotel also stocks bicycles for visitors who want an alternative to a car for their jaunts around Tempe.

Green building in the hotel industry has lagged in the western United States compared to the East Coast.

Aloft executives said the project was made easier with support from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the Aloft brand parent company. Aloft Tempe is the seventh LEED-certified property for Starwood.

"We set out with ideas that were really common sense. Using desert plants for less water. Using wood and other sustainable materials. I think when you look at this type building from that perspective it's a lot easier to manage," said Michael Mahoney, chief executive officer of Triyar Hospitality, Aloft's owner and developer.

Mahoney hopes Aloft Tempe will spark a trend to address the growing number of people who want businesses to incorporate environmentally-conscious practices.

"It's tough because there is a large investment in green building up front that you don't see paid back right away," Mahoney said. "The payoff comes in the long run. We're pleased Aloft gets to set an example in Arizona."

Bonnie Richardson, the former chair of Arizona's Green Building Council chapter, is delighted that Tempe has set a standard that she hopes other Valley hotels will follow. Richardson is the project manager for the Tempe Transportation Center, which is seeking the highest LEED certification standard for incorporating a slew of green-building standards.

"We're seeing more and more office buildings seeking LEED standards. Aloft is part of a large chain so I think it's great they're showing that green standards are worth the investment," she said. "Incorporating standards in these large buildings really reduces your cost of operation and at the same time you're helping the environment and attracting customers who care about that. As a corporate strategy, that really makes sense."

Richardson said the environmental impact of building more green hotels will be considerable considering how much water and energy hotels use.

People at Aloft Tempe this week liked that Arizona was building green hotels.

Mike Burke is a hotel developer staying at Aloft during his visit to the Valley. Burke is launching a New York hotel that is using green-building standards. He thinks that as the economy improves more people will be willing to pay a few extra dollars to stay at green hotels.

"As long as we make it reasonable for people you will see a big customer demand," he said.

John Hockley, a cruise and tour planner, got a tour of the hotel Thursday as part of a networking meeting at Aloft. Hockley said he was surprised the hotel was so green considering how luxurious it is.

"I think people want green businesses but they don't want to sleep in some cubby to save the environment," he said. "They did a great job here balancing green with comfort."

Aloft Hotels