The eco-friendly hotel

Within the next 20 years, our planet could reach our peak in regards to oil consumption. What’s more worrying is that the demand for oil continues to grow year upon year as the global production of oil appears to decrease.

This ever-growing problem will impact the way hotels will be constructed in the future, and how eco-friendly strategies can beneficial to hotels in terms of their cost-efficiencies.

When constructing new hotels, most if the machinery, not all are powered by fossil fuels and crude oils. The reason for this, is that without them, the construction process would not be able to function in its current form. This is however, having a detrimental impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Within the UK, 50% of carbon emissions are accounted for by the construction industry and machinery within the production process.  

In the light of this, as major cities become more urbanised, attitudes are beginning to change. Eco-friendly practices within the construction and have been growing because of this, and although in the US this market has estimated revenues of $245bn, UK firms could also be taking advantage of these environmentally friendly practices.

Providers of 8 yard skip hire and waste management solutions for recyclable materials, Reconomy explain further on how eco-friendly practices can be implemented, within the construction of hotels and after they’re built, to help tackle climate change.

Building an eco-friendly hotel

The core principles that need to be taken during the construction of a hotel so that it is benefitting the external environment are:

1. What needs to be established, is whether energy is being wasted during construction. During the production process machines can more than often be overused. This leads to energy that is wasted that can never be used again. So that a motor isn’t overworked, electric vehicles or machines with hybrid-engines should be used so that when a motor is overworked – electric engines can help power and support the overall load.
2. Once the building of the hotel is complete, what energy is being generated within it, and is it being wasted?
3. Furthermore, assess whether materials for the construction of the hotel have been locally sourced – if they haven’t, a decision has to be made on whether they can be recycled in the future.

For the roofing of the hotel, recycled paper can be used instead of new insulation that has been produced and purchased for the roof. By using cheap and practical alternatives – insulation that is produced for individual roofs will be more cost effective when using pre-existing materials. By using timbers that are sourced from sustainably managed forests within the local areas, this avoids when to chop down trees that will not be replanted.

Environmental hotel structures

Based on making the most of the hotel structure, these eco-friendly techniques can help to save costs, and be energy-efficient within the hotel design.

• Drainage systems and water filtration. When biological waste is treated safely, water can be re-used within a hotel. Rainwater can also be utilised and collected into specific drains that recycle it, so it can be used instead of water from the tap and used in outdoor spaces such as gardens and courtyard spaces for plants
• Low-energy lighting. Low energy lighting can last twice as long as regular lightbulbs, which accounts for an energy saving of 100%
• Solar energy panels. Solar energy is fast becoming a cheaper alternative as opposed to other forms of commercial power. When using them within a hotel’s power supply, this can account for a significant saving in energy costs. A hotel also covers a large surface area, which means that many solar panels can be used, maximising the amount of electricity that can be generated in this energy efficient way.  

Benefitting from environmentally friendly construction
The day-to-day running of hotel can account for 80% of hotel’s overall cost, which can be expensive. Reducing the total running costs of a hotel by one third, green initiatives can help reduce these costs to 53.3% of overall costs.

When it comes to the hotel’s architectural design, daylight should always be considered. This is because daylight helps to save on artificial lighting costs. Furthermore, it is considered by many that the ‘indoor environment quality’ of a hotel can be improved when natural light is abundant – this is because it creates the illusion of more space within a more natural feeling environment, benefitting the health of occupants that are present within the building.

Once the construction part of hotel has become, long-lasting materials that can be recycle should always be considered. This means that fewer new materials will be used during construction, helping to reduce the overall cost of the build – and less energy is consumed in order to produce the new structure.

To tackle climate change, construction firms will have to use these materials and techniques within their construction processes. By producing homes that are greener, more environmentally efficient and conceptualised with the long-term future of the planet in mind, this will ensure that buildings are constructed in a sustainable way for generations to come.