| Environmental Good Practice in Hotels : United Kingdom | United Kingdom | 1994 | Full scale |
HOTEL AND RESTAURANTS # 13
Background:
The Derwentwater is a country hotel near Keswick, in the English Lake District of the United Kingdom. It is set on the north western shore of Lake Derwentwater on 16 acres of conservation grounds. The hotel incorporates the main building - a three-storey 19th century stone structure; the Derwentwater Tower - a former country house of the same age and construction and a large conservatory, overlooking the lake.
The hotel has been undergoing refurbishment since 1993. It currently has 52 bedrooms (including 5 suites) and 18 self-catering apartments. Rooms will be reduced to 42, and apartments will be increased to 22 in February 1997. The hotel's only conference room will be lost during refurbishment. During the refurbishment process a number of CP measures were implemented to make the hotel more eco-friendly.
In the hotel grounds, several programs are underway to encourage wildlife. The hotel is working with English Nature to develop a comprehensive conservation and management plan for the grounds.
Cleaner Production Principle:
Process modification; Material substitution; Recovery, reuse and recycle.
Cleaner Production Application:
During refurbishment, all baths are replaced by showers and flow-reducers are used in all outlets. Low flush toilets have been installed in the refurbished bathrooms. In the older toilets, used plastic mineral water bottles are filled and placed in cisterns to reduce flush flow.
Individual combination boilers have been introduced in the self-catering apartments. They provide heating and hot water on demand, and avoid hot water storage to consume less energy.
The hotel has gas-fired boilers each serving its own zone, so zones can be closed down at times of low occupancy. They also provide more flexibility for maintenance and reduce the impact of boiler plant repair.
The main hotel is heated through low-pressure hot water radiators served by gas-fired boilers. An appraisal of the heating system showed that certain boilers were being used under capacity. Therefore radiators replaced electric heaters in the conservatory.
Energy saving measures include:
| Insulation of the loft with 200mm of fiberglass and of hot water pipes |
| Low energy lighting |
| Double glazing in the self-catering apartments. |
| Ionizers on all gas equipment |
| Overrider thermostats on the central boilers to delay ignition of the boilers |
| Better use of existing time clocks on gas boilers and electric heaters. |
Ionizers have been placed on the beer lines in the hotel cellar. The beer lines now need to be cleaned only once every 4 weeks instead of once a week.
Only plastic pump action aerosols are used. Individual toiletries in the guest rooms have been replaced by recyclable and refillable dispensers.
The use of individual packs of cereal, butter, jam and yoghurt has been stopped at the breakfast buffet. Items are purchased in bulk and displayed on the buffet in bowls to eliminate waste.
Staff are informed about the Environmental Program from the interview stage. Environmental information is included in the induction Program and the staff handbook.
The Derwentwater hotel's environment statement is displayed prominently in the reception area. Comments on the environmental Program are received regularly through the guest satisfaction questionnaire.
"Going Greener" leaflet is put in all guest rooms listing the hotel's environmental actions and "Did you know?" environmental information such as:
| The energy from recycling one aluminum can operate your television for 3 hours |
| If your fridge is 10% colder than necessary, your energy bill will be 25% higher |
| By recycling one glass bottle, you can save enough energy to light a 60w bulb for 4 hours. |
Environmental and Economic Benefits:
In the refurbished rooms, water consumption has been reduced by 11 liters per day per room. In 1995 this represented a savings of 154,497 liters of water, which equates to £197 (US£ 303). The bottles in the cisterns alone save 30,000 liters of water per year or £37 (US$ 57).
Despite regular and routine readings of gas and electricity meters, precise calculations of economic and environmental benefits are not possible due to the ongoing refurbishment. However, the hotel estimates that since 1994, combined energy saving efforts bring over 20% savings in energy costs which equates to £5,400 (US$ 8,308) per year.
The ionizers have reduced effluent by over 54 liters a week which includes 50 liters of waste beer. The reduction in waste beer and cleaning materials bring weekly savings of £134 (US$ 206), while the reduction in labor costs is £1,170 (US$ 1,800 per annum.
Reducing bedroom toiletries resulted in savings of £7,800 (US$ 12,000) a year.
Constraints:
None mentioned
Contacts:
Review Status:
This case study was taken from the joint UNEP/International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) publication "Environmental Good Practice in Hotels: Case Studies from the IHRA Environmental Award." Each case study was judged in 1995 by UNEP-IE prior to inclusion in the publication. It was edited for the ICPIC diskette in June 1997. A technical review was conducted in September 1998 by Dr. Prasad Modak, Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India. For more information contact UNEPIE.