October 27th, 2009
By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in conjunction with the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and The Hospitality Industry Network (NEWH) asked interior designers to submit their plans for an eco-friendly guest room in their first-ever Sustainable Suite Design Competition.
(Photo: USGBC)
With the hospitality industry being a large consumer of water and energy use, this competition was aimed to inspire green design throughout the industry.
“The purpose of the competition was to bring greater awareness about green building to the hospitality industry. Hotels are 24-hour a day businesses, and are among the highest consumers of water, energy and other natural resources. By joining with ASID and NEWH, hopefully the hospitality industry will hear the call and bring hotels – newly built and existing – to a higher level of performance by incorporating sustainability into their practices,” said Marie Coleman, a spokeswoman for the USGBC.
More than 65 sustainable designs were submitted. Each one uniquely highlighted the importance of different environmental aspects, exhibiting a promising future for greener design among newly built and existing hotels.
Designs were judged on three categories:
- Design Elements: water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality
- Education: guest room attributes and guest practices
- Overall Design: integrated design approach, originality and innovation, general aesthetic and financial feasibility
WATG, a destination design firm, submitted the winning design in conjunction with IDEO. Their suite, Haptik, a Greek term meaning to experience interactions based on sense of touch, created a combination of sustainability and luxury. Haptik will be featured at the 2010 Hospitality Design Expo & Conference in Las Vegas this May.
Among the innovative winning design were many eco-features such as:
- An “all-off ” switch to ensure lights are automatically turned-off based on passive infrared sensors (PIS)
- room conditioning equipped by a four-pipe horizontal fan-coil system
- pressure-lite technology for the toilets
- a Trombe wall in the shower that captures solar heat to warm the shower water
- a low flow shower head
- a graywater irrigation system that filters and recycles shower water to outdoor gardens and landscaping
- recycling bins in the room
“It was great to see the level of interest in the competition – not just in the number of submissions we received, but the level of design and innovation these firms and young professionals put into their submissions,” Coleman said.
“Designers are an important part of making green technologies sophisticated and accessible to anyone working in or staying at a hotel, showing that environmental responsibility can be easily attained.”
Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media
