Lake District spa hotel receives gold Greengage ECOsmart award

Low Wood Bay Resort and Spa in the Lake District has received the nationally recognised Greengage ECOsmart gold award for its progress in environmental performance and use of renewable energy. 

A certification system for hotels, hospitality and meeting venues, ECOsmart integrates UN sustainable development goals into its benchmarking processes and is recognised as a marque that organisations can display to “demonstrate their commitment to environmental sustainability and achievement of recognised standards”.

Low Wood Bay also recently became the first spa in the north west to attain the Good Spa Guide’s highest ‘Five Bubble Luxury’ rating. 

Around 12% of the venue’s annual electricity is now self-generated on-site by a hydropower water turbine fed from a fellside stream behind the hotel.

The spa hotel also runs a combined heat and power (CHP) plant which generates electricity and heating, as well as six EV charging points in situ for guests.

The Lake District hotel has also undergone a conservation project, which saw the planting of over 2,500 new trees by English Lakes Hotels Resorts and Venues. 

The hotel group’s ECOsmart certification also includes its sister venues Wild Boar Estate, which has a biomass woodchip burner, solar panels and its own private borehole water supply, and Lancaster House Hotel which features solar panels and EV charging points.

Mark Needham, general manager of Low Wood Bay Resort and Spa, said: “Sustainable approaches to regenerative tourism and renewable energy adoption are crucial aspects in our thinking. We are continually looking at ways to reduce our environmental impact, our carbon footprint and our operating costs too.

“As well as helping us to measure our carbon output more accurately, ECOsmart gives us a pathway to best practices and new ideas and validates our commitment to sustainability.”