The Copenhagen Crowne Plaza hotel is filled with the traditional luxuries that one might expect of a four-star home away from home, except with a decidedly green twist. If you’ve been searching for seriously planet-friendly accommodations, look no further than the $156 million dollar, 232 foot high, steel and concrete skyscraper located in Denmark’s capital which uses 90% less energy compared to mainstream designs.
Amid a city filled with more bicycles than cars, Copenhagen is striving to become emission free within 15 years, so their ground-breaking eco-entry in the hotel scene (which costs roughly 5% more to run than conventional, energy-hungry versions) certainly demonstrates that they’re not messing around. Here’s a run-down of its most squeaky green features:
- The entire exterior of the hotel is clad with 1,500 solar panels which produce enough energy to keep 55 households fired up (=170,000 kilowatts of electricity).
- A geothermal well in the basement accommodates all the hotel’s heating and cooling requirements.
- Organic food is served on the premises.
- All organic waste is ground up and transported to a biogas facility.
- Chemical-free furniture, wall coverings and carpets are made with recycled materials .
- Power saving computer screens are found throughout the hotel.
- All rooms are fitted with water saving faucets and energy saving light bulbs.
- Biodegradable personal care accessories are supplied in all rooms.
- Low-energy hand dryers are installed in public bathrooms.
Even more notable is the fact that guests can pedal their hearts out on stationary bikes (with all electricity watt-hours stored in a battery to help offset the hotel’s energy consumption) and earn free ‘electricity production’ meal vouchers depending on the length of their exercise commitment. Imagine being a righteous eco-citizen by pedaling on behalf of Mother Nature, squeezing in a body-benefiting workout in the process and indulging in tasty organic eats as a freebie bonus – I for one hope this business model catches on around the globe!
Via Google
