< PreviousJULY 201920More and more hotels and resorts are adopting a linen reuse program for guests staying more than one night. That’s a green strategy guests recognize — they may even think it’s the only one in place — but it turns out there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes as hotels and resorts “go green” and turn to the construction industry for help getting there. Written by Margaret Patricia EatonAsking guests to indicate their willingness to reuse sheets and towels for a second night and explaining how it’s part of the hotel’s overall plan to reduce carbon emissions by reducing the amount of daily laundry is an easy first step for management. It’s one which benefits the environment while at the same time benefiting the hotel by reducing laundry costs by as much as five percent, according to the Green Hotels Association, formed in 1993 and based in Houston, Texas.With the exception of the one-time cost to purchase printed cards explaining the policy, and towel racks, which the asso-ciation is supplying to hotels ranging from major chains to independent B&B’s across the continent, there’s no addition-al cost to implement. Moreover, it’s good PR, as more and more people, alarmed about the effects of climate change, are making lifestyle changes. Some travellers purposefully seek hotel and resort accommodation in facilities where owners and managers take eco-friendliness seriously. In fact, according to Booking.com, 68 percent of tourists prefer to book an eco-friendly accom-modation, meaning that it makes good business sense for the hospital-ity industry. And it’s not all about eco-lodges in exotic or wilderness locales; it’s about business travellers and conference organizers searching for urban hotels where management is proactive in the quest to reduce their carbon footprint and impact the environment positively in other ways as well. 21CONSTRUCTION IN FOCUS Some hotels, for example, are now installing charging stations for electric and/or hybrid cars as well as keycard master switches or occupancy sensors in guest rooms to control lights, electronics, blinds and temperature settings – and those savings can be passed on to the consumer through lower rates. While some of those changes are now almost standard, other hotels are taking truly innovative ecological approaches, such as the Fairmont chain, which has introduced a honey-bee program into several of its hotels. It began in 2010 at the five-star Fairmont San Francisco, out of concern for the dwin-dling bee population worldwide, a result of Colony Collapse Disorder. First, a 1,000 square foot culinary garden filled with herbs – rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, chives, cilantro and lavender – was estab-lished on the rooftop of the lobby level and then, in partnership with Marshal Farms, nine hives, home to 20,000 bees, were installed. The hotel was recognized The Fairmont San Francisco Hoteljejim / Shutterstock.comJULY 201922with the Green Leader Gold Award from Trip Advisor and the 2016 Green Key Eco-Rating Program Level 4 Status. Green Key, with headquarters in Ottawa, founded over 20 years ago, is recog-nized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), “for its graduated rating system designed to recognize hotels, motels, and resorts that are committed to improving both their environmen-tal and fiscal performance. It supplies members with a guide on how to unlock opportunities to reduce energy con-sumption, waste, emissions, and operat-ing costs,” according to its website. Another Fairmont hotel, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Lodge in Alberta, located inside Banff National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) has twice received the highest possible rating from Green Key, in 2005 and again in 2016, as well as recognition from the 26th Annual Emerald Awards, which recognized its outstanding environmental achieve-ments relating to sustainability. What did the Fairmont Chateau do? It implemented a “No Net Negative Environmental Impact” incentive, pur-chases half of its total energy from wood biomass-generated green power, and uses energy-efficient heating sources. 80 percent of the hotel operations use ener-gy-efficient lighting, holiday decorations use LED lighting, free parking is awarded to guests driving hybrid vehicles and every year to celebrate Earth Hour, all the lights on the property are switched off for one hour. Our research led us to a number of helpful websites, including Green Lodging News, edited by Glenn Hasek who enjoys sharing all the good news about the greening of the industry. In the most recent posting, for example, he writes about The Agrarian, a LEED-Certified boutique hotel that opened this past June in Arroyo Grande, CA. Hasek also provides a list of over 80 hotels with strong green programs, including most of the major chains. It ranges Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Resort“Opportunities abound across all sectors in the industry for improving, renovating, and retrofitting existing buildings.” 23CONSTRUCTION IN FOCUS from Accor, with 4,800 addresses in 100 countries dedicated to sustainability, to Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which has a truly impressive list of ‘firsts.’ Perhaps most significant is that it was the first hospital-ity company in the U.S. (and the eighth in the world) to commit to an absolute reduction target in greenhouse gas emis-sions through a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the Centre for Energy & Climate Solutions. It’s now at the halfway point of meeting its goals. It was also the first to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification. For hotels, motels and B&Bs needing to get up to speed, there are many resourc-es offering suggestions for going green. There’s the site Hasek edits, Green Lodging News; there’s Global Stewards; the Green Hotels Association; Green Hotelier; and Green Biz, and together they offer a plethora of ideas on how to accomplish a green strategy. Obviously, every construction company would like to win a bid on a brand new, ground-up LEED certified hotel complex for a major chain – and some do of course. But opportunities abound across all sectors in the industry for improving, reno-vating, and retrofitting existing buildings. There are opportunities for landscap-ers, for example, to substitute natural ground cover in place of lawns that are expensive to maintain, require irriga-tion, and can even harm the environ-ment if they require pesticides. They can resurface parking lots with permeable surfaces that will allow water runoff to drain, can plant shade trees and culinary gardens, and can install green roofs. “Construction professionals can work with owners to get buildings or operations certified through LEED.”JULY 201924Construction professionals can work with owners to get buildings or opera-tions certified through LEED (LEED oper-ations and maintenance); they can install a renewable energy system or switch to a certified renewable energy provider; they can replace the existing HVAC system. Increasingly, owners are turning to heat pumps, geothermal technolo-gies, waste heat recovery, cooling towers and/or variable speed ventilation fans. And there are energy management and/or building management systems avail-able that can tie in air handling units, HVAC and lighting to prevent use in spaces when it’s not necessary. To reduce water use, buildings can be fitted with a rainwater harvester or grey-water system for needs such as irrigation, toilet flushing or fire suppression systems. Low-flow showerheads, sink aerators, an ozone laundry system and low-flow or dual-flush toilets can be installed. In terms of building structure modifica-tion, recommendations from the green experts include using recommended levels of insulation on roofs or, in hot sunny climates, radiant barriers, if not switching over to a green roof. They also recommend installing window film to lower heating and cooling loads and reduce glare in guest rooms, and adding overhangs on south-facing walls to further reduce energy used for heating and cooling. The green hotel movement is truly a triple win. It’s a win for the hospitality industry, because of the long-term savings in operational costs which it can re-invest in guest amenities; it’s a win for the con-struction industry because it’s providing employment opportunities, especially in times when new construction slows down; and it’s a win for planet Earth. 25CONSTRUCTION IN FOCUS 26 JULY 2019The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is on a mission to transform buildings and communities. Through LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the world’s most widely used green building rating system, the organization has been helping architects, building owners, developers and more meet their sustainability goals since the 1990s.Written by Samita SarkarOf course, construction, design, and operating standards of buildings have changed remark-ably since then, and as USGBC says, LEED’s hallmark is “continuous improvement.” USGBC has recently updated its LEED rating system with the help of technical advisory groups that contribute a wealth of expertise and knowledge from the market. The newest version of LEED is than ever before, with solutions to address unique markets and a data-driven path to measure performance. So far, the new version has received very positive reception in the market. At the moment, the LEED rating system can be applied to almost all space types includ-ing new construction, existing buildings, interior spaces, residential and even entire cities and communities.“For the first time, we’ve added a metric that is truly focused on greenhouse gas emissions. People are excited about what is in the rating system, as it really address-es the needs of the time,” says Melissa Baker, Senior Vice President of USGBC.LEED v4.1 has already been tested among some users who have under-gone the latest certification, coordi-nated through GBCI and supported by USGBC’s network staff. USGBC looks forward to having more custom-ers pursue certification and provide feedback to ensure its continued rele-vance and accessibility to a global mar-ketplace. After all, LEED is used in 175 countries around the world.Projects currently pursuing certification under LEED v4 are welcome to substi-tute version 4.1 credits on their project – a low-risk way to test the waters of the new requirements using new measure-ment software. In addition to encouraging private planners and developers to certify projects under LEED’s new 4.1 version, USGBC also encourages owners of current LEED buildings to recertify them-selves to protect their asset and maintain their sustainability investment. As USGBC announced in late 2018, all LEED projects are eligible for “You can’t manage what you aren’t mea-suring. We know how critical it is to make sure that projects that achieve recognition for new construction or existing build-ings certification under LEED continue to perform as they were designed, and are well operated so that those owners can see the benefits, whether it is the savings or production of renewable energy,” Melissa Baker explains.When USGBC set up the recertification system, the same categories such as energy, water, waste, transportation—as well as the larger human experience, which covers air quality amongst other things—continued to be measured. However, USGBC strived for a way to allow projects to use data to track and understand their performance. Today, USGBC is powering its LEED cer-tifications and re-certifications through platform that allows buildings to input their data to benchmark themselves and improve performance. Both LEED certified buildings and projects that are taking steps toward certification can use the software to input performance data and streamline the documenta-tion process. “People are excited about what is in the rating system, as it really does meet the needs of the time.”27CONSTRUCTION IN FOCUS “Project teams are able to track data, whether its energy use, for example, or renewable energy produced. They can also reach out and survey tenants to track occupant satisfaction,” Melissa Baker describes. Metrics ranging from tenant modes of transportation, to indoor air quality, all the way up to annual greenhouse gas emissions can be measured and compared with other high-performance buildings around the world. The user-friendly tool is not only valuable to green businesses by showing them exactly where and how they can improve their facilities, but it is also appreciated by their investors, who value the transparency that only cold, hard data can provide.“We’re also leveraging this benchmark-ing tool as a documentation pathway for the LEED Zero program. We’re providing streamlined ways for data to really speak for LEED certification and LEED Zero as part of our digital strategy,” adds Emma Hughes, LEED Project Manager at USGBC. is a complement to LEED cer-tification that recognizes buildings with a net zero resource balance over the span of a year. For instance, LEED Zero Carbon facilities produce a net zero of CO2 emis-sions, LEED Zero Water facilities achieve a potable water use balance of zero, and LEED Zero Waste facilities achieve at least a 90 percent overall diversion rate for solid waste. The LEED Zero Program was launched in late 2018. Brazilian engi-neering and green building consulting firm Petinelli certified the first project in 2019 achieving LEED Zero Energy for its headquarters in Curitiba, Brazil.In order to meet these rigorous goals – which USGBC is working to ensure are the new normal – Emma Hughes tells us that it is critical that building owners get onboard early in the project, and that the goals are agreed upon by multiple project stakeholders. In this way, design-ers and builders can ensure that efficient building systems are in place, including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems. These systems must not only be eco-logically responsible, but also deliver high-quality air, water, and electric-ity to the occupants to maintain a truly healthy and sustainable environment. This boosts occupant wellbeing beyond status quo market expectations.Next, teams must consider the sources of the resources the building needs to run. USGBC promotes onsite renewable energy, given its positive impacts on resil-iency and the surrounding community in a world that struggles with the negative health repercussions of pollution. In terms of managing Earth’s most essential and precious resource – water – a mindset shift is needed so that it is used to its full potential within building systems. “We haven’t seen any LEED Zero Water projects that are certified yet, but we are seeing candidate projects that are interested in understanding the strategy. They are going onsite, harvesting and treating rain water, and using that as potable water. Another strategy that we are seeing is teams treating their graywa-ter and reusing it onsite for appropriate end uses, such as toilet flushing and irri-gation,” Emma Hughes informs us.Hughes points out that another creative strategy would be for project teams to look critically at their landscapes and the area surrounding their buildings and consider ways to better manage water onsite that mimic the natural water systems. “That might mean turning a previously existing parking lot into something like a constructed wetland, for example,” she suggests. “Our mission as an organization is green buildings for all within a generation.”JULY 201928According to the “LEED Zero represents a new level of achieve-ment in green building that is not just attainable but is the goal of LEED certi-fied projects around the world.”So how can developers get to this stage, where we are not just saving energy, but using net zero amounts of it – or even generating it so that we are giving more than we receive? “Our mission as an organization is green buildings for all within a generation,” says Melissa Baker. “And we know we are not going to be able to get there without public-private adoption at all levels to see LEED certi-fication impact not just Class A offices, but buildings across the world and now cities and communities as well.” USGBC’s intent has always been for voluntary adoption of the LEED rating system, especially for those that want to 1 https://new.usgbc.org/leed-v412 https://www.usgbc.org/articles/usgbc-announces-all-leed-certified-green-buildings-eligible-leed-recertification3 https://arcskoru.com4 https://new.usgbc.org/leed-zero5 https://new.usgbc.org/leed-zerobe able to continue to show leadership and designate their property or their portfolio of properties as very high per-forming. LEED provides that distinguish-ing mark of third-party certification that shows that they have those methods in place to stand out amongst their peers. “That intention has not changed, and we see that whether it is public sector adoption for their properties, public sector incentives for the private sector to use LEED, or the adoption of LEED by Fortune 500 and even Fortune 100 com-panies,” Baker continues. USGBC will continue to increase volun-tary adoption of global, regional and local LEED goals as a standard applicable to all. This allows even large multination-al companies to be able to adopt and implement LEED standards across their worldwide portfolio.“We will continue scaling up our programs and offerings to ensure we are having the maximum impact towards the goal of realizing our mission of green buildings for all,” says Emma Hughes.LEED v4.1 is certainly a step toward that mission, and USGBC welcomes feedback on its new version. Now with the imple-mentation of a new data-driven bench-marking platform, there has never been a better time for those interested in taking their sustainability goals to the next level to see if LEED certification is right for them. 29Next >