Room for Luxury and Energy Efficiency: Hospitality Goes Green  

Recently, individuals booking a hotel reservation on one of the major discount online travel services found a green leaf symbol attached to the hotel listings. This new label identifies an eco-friendly hotel to the traveler. Many hotel guests are following the links on these online sites to find out more about a hotel's or vacation spot's green practices. Eco-travelers are looking for hotels that meet sustainable initiatives, such as providing alternatives for those with chemical sensitivities, saving energy and water, or providing operable windows and healthy finishes. Even the most luxurious chains of hotel properties are greening their image to capture this market.

The Green Hotel Association has hundreds of member hotels worldwide and encourages travelers to rate their experiences. Guests are choosing to stay at facilities that promote sustainable practices extending beyond linen services. They are looking at how a hotel saves energy and conserves water. To meet this demand, hotels are rebranding themselves as vacation destinations that will provide environmental stewardship of the planet, as well as healthy places to stay. Green hotels save water and energy, favor environmentally friendly materials and reduce waste. Owners are striving to meet the triple bottom line of sustainability defined in the 1987 Brundtland report as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability proponents in the hotel industry promote the interaction of the three fundamentals of sustainable development: economics, equity and the environment. A recurring measurement in many of the major environmental checklists for hotels is the fourth "e"-educating their guests on their green initiatives.

The hotel industry is finding that being green means increased business returns both for sales and for operating costs. The American Hotel & Lodging Services Association (AH&LA) conducted a survey in 2008 and compiled responses from 217 hotels. The results showed that motivations to go green included environmental benefits that increased guest loyalty, pre-empted governmental regulations, provided financial savings, increased market share and provided new revenue opportunities.¹ While many travelers are looking for green hotels, hotel owners are finding cost savings in this new initiative. Driven by economics, as well as green branding, hotel owners are requesting energy-efficient buildings and building interiors that convey the sustainability message. Hotel chains are advertising their new environmental consciousness and achieving green ratings from organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). However, as Todd Schwarz, sales manager, commercial division of The Sliding Door Company notes, "Sustainability is not just a checklist of materials, healthy finishes or certified products. It is problem solving that affects design in a cost-effective manner. Often a design solution that allows for a smaller building footprint is one of the most sustainable attributes of a hotel room, even though it may not achieve a point on a green rating system."

Flexible sliding glass walls can be used to enhance the minimalist design of a hotel lobby and allow for future renovations with the least amount of construction. Photo courtesy of Modernus

This article will explore products for the exterior and interior of hotel buildings as illustrations of a few of the ways hotels are making themselves more sustainable and energy-efficient. From wrapping buildings with efficient air barriers to expanding small spaces with sliding doors, design professionals will be provided with a snapshot of integrated design solutions that can help their clients in the hospitality industry.

Space-saving sliding doors allow for the reduction of overall square footage at the Ravel Hotel in New York City. Photo courtesy of The Sliding Door Company

 

The particular challenge to hotel design is that projects need solutions that can be applied across identical buildings in many different parts of the world. Exterior products that can be specified for installation and performance in any climate are cost-effective. Interior products that can be installed or removed on a three- to five-year cycle have added benefits. Durability and easy maintenance are important factors to add to the cost analysis for this market.

When it comes to interiors, the actual design of guest rooms has the largest impact for a green hotel project. In addition to paying attention to air quality and finishes, the design professional should maximize the use of space to reduce construction and associated environmental impacts. Eco-friendly hotels need to be stylish and provide a sense of luxury as well as maintaining a connection to the local environment. Designers are looking at ways to make a statement by using materials that as Matteo Baceda, principal of Modernus, states, "are functional as well as have a large visual impact like the doors in a room. User and tactile experience are important to the aesthetics and branding of a hotel room design." To meet this challenge, design professionals are using more finishes that are natural and they pay a lot of attention to the technical specifications of the products they use. To increase air quality, they are using materials that have low VOCs or are formaldehyde-free. They are also exploring strategies to provide greater access to daylight and fresh air, such as daylight harvesting and the use of operable windows and all-glass door systems.

Green roofs save energy and also provide new views from hotel windows. Photo courtesy of Henry Company

 

This article will also look at green product choices, such as sliding doors, and their impact on hotel aesthetics. Glass sliding doors, for example, allow the designer to take advantage of daylight harvesting while maximizing space in small rooms. One case study will show how manufacturers can use integrated problem solving and solutions-based design to develop durable, fashionable products scaled and multiplied for many installations. Doors are just one of many products that can be specified with components made of recycled or recyclable materials, and with low-VOC finishes to protect air quality.

On the exterior of buildings, products discussed in this article include an innovative and highly efficient air barrier that uses no mechanical fasteners. On the roof, cool and green roofs demonstrate a means to reduce the effect on the building's energy consumption from the heat island effect. Green roofs can also provide new views for guests who are looking out at lower roofs of hotel facilities adding value to once less marketable hotel rooms. From the exterior to the interior, this article provides a quick snapshot of how to add to your green hospitality toolkit.

Hotel Exteriors: Building the Green Envelope

Air Barriers

In the 1990s, a few high-profile cases highlighted the problem of mold in hotel chains. An increase in mold caused by air and water penetration led building scientists to examine the science behind hotel construction practices. According to a study by the Air Barrier Association of America, air leakage has been found to be the real problem behind the transmission of moisture into buildings, rather than vapor pressure. An estimated range from 30 to 200 times more moisture transport occurs via airflow than vapor diffusion.²

According to Marc Tropper, P Eng, director of product management and marketing, air barriers and waterproofing, of Henry Company, "Studies show that buildings account for 48 percent of U.S. energy consumption and generate far more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector. Although there is a lot of talk about the reduction of energy in buildings by 2030, there are not enough discussions as to how to make the changes in construction practices necessary to achieve these goals." One method to save energy is to design buildings that do not leak air uncontrollably. Buildings are more energy-efficient when the structure of a building is wrapped with an air barrier. An air barrier should form a continuous plane around a building to prevent uncontrolled air movement in and out of a building envelope.

Air barriers with no mechanical fasteners are able to seamlessly wrap a structure for additional energy savings. Photo courtesy of Henry Company

Air barriers save energy, reduce utility costs, improve air quality and protect buildings. According to the EPA, commercial buildings are subject to larger infiltration rates and air leakage is a measurable problem. Infiltration in commercial buildings including hotels can have many negative consequences, including:

• Reduced thermal comfort
• Interference with the proper operation of mechanical ventilation systems
• Degraded indoor air quality-causing sick building syndrome
• Moisture damage of building envelope components
• Increased energy consumption

An EPA study revealed that the right air barrier can help improve building performance by reducing heating and cooling costs by as much as 36 percent.³

In the past, weather-resistive barriers have been mechanically fastened to a building structure. Air barriers can now be specified that are peel and stick allowing the application of an air barrier with no mechanical penetrations. This means that the air barrier will provide a fully adhered wrap around the structure to prevent air and water leakage in order to optimize building performance. The advantages of the air barrier being fully adhered to the substrate versus being mechanically fastened in place include:

• Fully adhered membranes do not require staples or screws to install thereby reducing the amount of penetrations or holes through the air barrier which are sources of air or water leaks.
• Fully adhered membranes can provide a continuous plane or air and water tightness throughout the building envelope without having to rely on tapes or sealants.
• They prevent lateral air and water migration between the substrate and the air barrier.
• Wind loads can be transferred directly to the bonded substrate without causing a billowing or pumping effect on the barrier.
• They are less prone to wind cycling damage from sustained winds when exposed during construction.

By wrapping a building in a seamless air barrier, the added advantage is the ability to reduce the size of HVAC systems due to fewer air leaks in the building envelope. For a hotel chain that may have projects in many climate zones, these barriers are designed to function in even the most extreme environments as shown in the case study on the Hurst Conference Center at the end of this article. They can also be adhered with products that emit low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Hotel Interiors: Space Planning

While discussing sustainability with their clients, some architects point out that strategic planning includes the understanding of building programs and prioritizing spatial requirements. They encourage their clients to reduce their proposed building footprints as an energy-saving strategy for sustainable design.

Tall, frameless doors can create visual illusions in a small hotel room. Photo courtesy of Modernus

 

Designing a small space that is both efficient and interesting requires that the designer pay attention to all of the details. One space-saving strategy that is becoming more popular as a design solution for hotel rooms, spas and restaurants is the use of sliding doors. Sliding doors can be durable and provide flexibility for room design. They also can meet universal design principles when used in renovations as well as new construction.

Scale-Rightsizing

As part of an integrated design process, details do make a difference when part of a sustainable design solution. Doors are the first material that a hotel client touches in the room and that sensation of touch can convey aesthetic experience and emotional feedback. Doors frame views and they help define the scale of a room. The relative visual size of any space is created by the size relationships between objects. Human scale is acknowledged as the average relationship of the height and reach of most people and the sense of space in a room can be dramatically altered by using visual techniques that affect the scale and proportion of a room space. Oversized door openings create an illusion of height even in small rooms and when the ceiling height can be as low as 8 feet. Tall frameless doors of the same size as a framed door make the room look taller and visually alter the proportion of the space. Door openings of the same size look larger without casings around the door opening. Even very small rooms or a tightly enclosed room like a bathroom can look or feel larger by manipulating the sense of scale in a room.

Small hotel rooms also feel bigger with sliding glass doors. The USGBC, The American Society of Interior Designers and The Hospitality Industry Network sponsored a sustainable suite design competition at the 2010 Hospitality Design Expo. The award-winning hotel room highlights many strategies that presented "luxury redefined as effortless sustainability."⁴ Sliding glass walls and doors were used as just one way to add value to the aesthetics of this space. Sliding glass doors in the bathroom or on closets increases the apparent usable square foot area in a small space.

This sketch compares flush frames used to extend space visually. Sketch courtesy of Modernus

Daylight Harvesting

Glass doors allow for interior daylight harvesting from exterior windows as well as shared lighting between rooms. Increasing natural light in an interior is recommended by numerous green building rating systems. Access to daylight and shared illumination between rooms reduces the use of electricity. Exposure to natural light also has been shown to increase occupant well being.

A typical hotel room is narrow and deep with an end window. Natural light usually provides enough daytime lighting to eliminate the need to turn on electric lights. If there is natural light or electric light in an adjacent room additional electrical energy can be saved by using glass doors.

Materials Durability and Healthy Finishes

Solving the problem of mirror cracking required a solutions-based manufacturing process. Sketch courtesy of Modernus

Frosted glass, highly polished finishes and natural wood veneers can reinforce a design statement that can be carried over into the rest of the interior finishes. Modern hotel designers are also finding that sliding glass doors are easy to maintain as well as durable. Today, floor-mounted tracks have features that prevent doors from leaving the track and have low profiles to meet barrier-free requirements. New sliding door technology allows designers to create spaces that are unencumbered by floor tracks in hotels. Top-hung doors can be easier to install, they facilitate room cleaning and they do not introduce physical or visual barriers. The lack of a floor track makes them friendlier for people with disabilities. For these reasons top-hung sliding doors are often the preferred choice by hospitality designers.

A criterion for healthy indoor air quality by most green rating systems includes the avoidance of VOCs. VOCs are a component of many building products, usually in the form of some adhesives, primers and paints that emit harmful chemicals into the air. Green professionals are choosing low-VOC paints and finishes for hotel properties. They can now find door products that also meet low-VOC requirements. New doors are available with low-VOC finishes as well as zero formaldehyde content.

According to the EPA, most pressed-wood building products have adhesives that contain urea-formaldehyde. In large doses, this product can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing in some humans exposed at elevated levels (above 0.1 parts per million). High concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. It is unlikely that the average hotel guest may have such a high exposure, however there is evidence that some people can develop sensitivity to formaldehyde. Travelers with chemical sensitivities may report eye, nose, and throat irritations, wheezing and coughing, skin rashes and even severe allergic reactions.⁵ In addition to building products, green hotels that cater to those with chemical sensitivities also select cleaning and bath products that are fragrance- free. Eco-travelers are checking to see if the air quality in hotel rooms is rated to meet their environmental requirements.

Flexibility and Universal Design

Most hotel chains need to refresh the design of their interior architecture on a regular basis in order to reduce the churn rate of their clientele. Customers will return to a hotel based on its branding and as it stays in fashion with current trends. Planning for the constant turn over of interior architecture requires a flexible design strategy for room configurations and one that minimizes construction waste. New sliding doors can be entire walls that are designed to fill the openings from floor to ceiling creating the option for a multitude of room configurations. They can be hung from ceilings for easier and faster installations and renovations.

Space-saving sliding doors reminiscent of Japanese screens can be specified with low VOC finishes. Photo courtesy of The Sliding Door Company

Sliding doors can be mounted in tandem or stacked to slide into a pocket or align with other panels. Manufacturers are also providing sliding door walls and windows that can be plugged into almost any opening or room configuration with a minimum of changes to existing openings.

Hospitality designers are incorporating sliding doors in numerous finishes and configurations to create flexible space in hotel lobbies, conference rooms and spas as well as for hospitality suites. Derived from the Japanese practice of sliding screens to divide rooms, sliding door engineering is far different from the sliding closet doors so popular in the fifties. New hardware options include doors that are pre-hung on overhead tracks with rollers and locking systems that assure that they stay on track. These systems maximize the speed and flexibility of installations for new and renovated hotel properties.

According to Barbara Knecht, the director of The Institute of Human Centered Design, accessibility is the law but universal design is a movement.⁶ Universal design principles and practices are important to an industry that houses everyone, from children to seniors and those with differing abilities. According to the ADA Standards for Accessible Design, accessible doors can be either sliding or swinging. A sliding door requires similar approach distances from the front or side as does any other door opening but by using a sliding door, the designer does not have to accommodate the area of the door swing. Swinging doors need more clear floor area than sliding doors. For example, in a bathroom, more clearance to fixtures and furniture is required to accommodate the swing of a door.

 

Roofing: Green Roofs-Cool Roofs

Returning to ways in which hotels can save energy by exterior applications, providing views to the outdoors is helpful as long as the view is not one of mechanical equipment on the top of the adjacent roof below. Planted roofs can make once undesirable room choices some of the best views in the hotel complex. Green roofs protect water quality, save energy by added insulation, and provide a visual demonstration of a commitment to nature.

For stormwater management a new green roof system captures a portion of water in small plastic cups as part of the roof vegetation system. The water that is not used as part of the roof irrigation system is collected into cisterns and can be redirected back onto the roof or onto other landscape areas that need irrigation. The USGBC "Practical Strategies in Green Building- Hotels"⁸ lists the installation of a green roof as an example of a means to improve stormwater runoff and to reduce energy use as a credit for Heat Island Reduction-Roof: SSc7.2.

Cool roofs provide protection from solar heat and radiation and can prevent early degradation of roof surfaces. Conference centers and banquet halls have some of the largest roof surfaces in a hotel's portfolio. Like green roofs, cool roofs can add to the life expectancy of these roof surfaces. Highly reflective coatings can be chosen to reduce heat gain particularly in urban heat islands. These coatings can be chosen in a variety of colors - white, aluminum or numerous pigment choices. There are also products that can be applied like paint to attic interior surfaces that can also provide cool roof protection.

Cool roofs can reduce building maintenance expenses and lower HVAC energy consumption. Cool roof applications can also qualify for rebates from utility companies or government sponsored energy programs. DSIRE⁹ is a Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency and is a resource that can be consulted for additional savings for renovations and new construction. Sponsored by North Carolina State University, this database provides lists of incentives by state of available grants and tax rebates. The Cool Roof Ratings Council provides data on products with qualifying solar reflectivity and thermal emittance of cool roof surfaces.

 

Conclusion: Guidelines for Going Green

The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) published a list of minimum actions that properties of any size should take to be able to claim themselves as an eco-friendly or green hotel. The list includes links to online resources to educate their member hotels on additional practices and principles. Some of these top practices can impact the design of a hotel property and include the development of an environmental plan for energy, water and solid waste as well as monitoring a hotel's environmental performance on both a monthly and annual basis.

Their members are encouraged to buy ENERGY STAR appliances and use highly efficient toilet fixtures, faucets and showerheads as well as materials beneficial to the environment. This association directs their members to a green guru who can answer questions about facilities and provide consulting services that include facilities evaluation, recommendations of eco-friendly products and procedures, energy audits, the review of an organization's carbon footprint as well as many other opportunities for cost savings.¹⁰

Third-party Certifications

Numerous third-party certification programs provide guidance to the designers of buildings for the travel and tourist industry. EarthCheck, Green Key, The Rainforest Alliance, The Sustainable Tourism Eco-certification Program, the Green Tourism Business Scheme, and the Certification for Sustainable Tourism are just a few that complement numerous other rating systems such as the U.S. Green Building Council.

Among these certification programs is The Global Green Hospitality Consortium (GGHC). GGHC is a non-profit organization founded to provide guidelines that will continuously improve the ability of businesses, building owners and management in the hospitality industry to increase and make positive impact on "our shared environment through the reduction of energy, water, materials and other resources while creating positive business results."¹¹ This organization provides third-party certification to hospitality properties worldwide. Property certification includes the attainment of a bronze, gold or silver certification among other elements based on a review of energy audits, EPA benchmarks, ENERGY STAR labeling and LEED certification. This organization provides assistance in leveraging available rebates. They provide product certification, validation of return on investment, performance testing and review of technical specifications. They also provide educational programs focused on sustainability and the hospitality industry.

In October 2008, The Global Sustainable World Conservation Congress presented a set of 37 voluntary standards representing the minimum that any tourism business should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world's natural and cultural resources while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for poverty alleviation. The Global Sustainable Tourist Criteria was developed by the Global Sustainable Tourist Council (GSTC) as part of an initiative led by Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Foundation, and the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Over 40 of the world's leading public, private, non-profit, and academic institutions joined together to analyze thousands of worldwide standards and engage the global community in a broad-based stakeholder consultation process.¹² GSTC is a global coalition of public and private sector members comprised of UN bodies, research and academic institutions, social and environmental non-governmental organizations, certification programs, and sustainable travel providers. The mission of the Council is to foster increased knowledge and understanding of sustainable tourism practices and the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles. These 37 standards encourage:

• Effective Sustainable Management Practices-including the design and construction of sustainable buildings
• Maximization of Social and Economic Community Benefits
• Maximization of Benefits to Cultural Heritage
• Protection of natural resources-including the conservation of energy and water

Clearly, sustainability is a growing movement that has a global influence on the hospitality industry and its construction practices.

Hotel owners are listening and responding to this movement. As an example, in 2010, the Marriott Hotel Corporation announced that it had renovated its Bethesda headquarters to win LEED Gold status pledging that 300 of its 3000 hotels worldwide will receive LEED Certification. By April of 2010, over 63 hotels, conference centers and lodges had received LEED certification and over 1,000 hotel projects were in the pipeline for certification. According to the USGBC, "in the United States alone, hotels represent more than 5 billion square feet of space, nearly 5 million guest rooms, and close to $4 billion in annual energy use. Business travel in the United States constitutes a $250 billion industry, and Americans make more than 400 million long-distance business trips each year."¹³ With these statistics, it is evident that the hospitality industry can have a significant impact on the environment.

These doors are manufactured complete with hardware and mounting equipment to facilitate easy installations. Photo courtesy of The Sliding Door Company

 

The USGBC provides a "Green Venue Selection Guide" for information directed toward meeting planners and associations for event planning. This guide contains a checklist that meeting organizers can use when selecting a location for conventions and conferences. The checklist helps organizers identify operations that have reduced their environmental impacts.¹⁴ When used with other green meeting guides such as those provided by the Green Meeting Industry Council, organizers can choose meeting locations that provide environmental benefits to attendees. From hotel rooms to meeting rooms, there are numerous opportunities to choose healthy environments with good views, access to fresh air and daylight to travelers. Some of these environmental initiatives are obvious to hotel customers like the new green hotel rooms. Some of these initiatives are only apparent to the owners who are learning that being green has an impact on their bottom line. For now, the market is driving a movement that benefits everyone by providing healthier places for the vacationing tourist and business traveler, as well as energy savings for building owners.

Architect Celeste Allen Novak AIA, LEED AP specializes in sustainable design and planning in Ann Arbor, Michigan.