It is inevitable. Green design is the way of the future and more customers are demanding that their purchases have a lesser impact on the environment than ever before. Not only this, but regulations are being put in place to make sure that hotels are built and operated sustainably.Recently in the revised UK building guidelines new rules were added to insure dwellings have minimum water efficiency requirements. According to Grohe, a manufacturer in bathroom equipment, the bathroom is responsible for 63 per cent of total household water usage and certainly much of hotel’s water usage comes through guest bathrooms.
Bathroom design companies are quickly catching on to the change in attitudes and have begun to release more energy and water efficient products. Grohe said that not only do customers want to buy less products less often but they also want more reliable purchases. Grohe, sales director, Garry Smith said: “There has been a shift in purchasing priorities – with a move towards quality and sustainability. Developers are also focusing on return on investment – so longer product lifecycles play a vital part in sustainability with a ‘buy less, buy better’ attitude.”
Villeroy and Boch, a bathroom manufacturer, agreed that improved environmental products can be combined with smart design to make sure they last a long time and are effective. Villeroy and Boch, UK and Ireland director, Michael Swan said: “By incorporating the latest technology, we have successfully reduced wastewater pollution, CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process and of course water consumption by improving our tap fittings and WC performance.”
Swan continued: “Our customers express genuine enthusiasm for any products in the range with an ecological advantage as we are seeing more and more people seek this out.”
Bathroom companies are not the only businesses to consider smart water-saving design. Hotel groups are more and more likely to put environmental design at the forefront of their minds when creating new hotels.
Rezidor is one of such hotel groups as it ensures showers deliver water at a rate no greater than 12 litres a minute and six litres a minute from basin taps. It also tries to install dual flush toilet cisterns with a five or seven litre capacity where possible.
Radisson Blu Portman, chief engineer, Simon Pearson said: “These activities, amongst others, produced a water reduction of 10K cubic metres in 2009 compared with 2008 at Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, which is one of the criteria that helped us achieve Gold status with the Green Tourism Business Scheme.”
Rezidor, technical development team member, Agnes Logan also said that reponsible business construction and renovation guidelines advise developers on how to build water-efficient bathrooms. He added: “Energy consumption can also be controlled by a building management system and front office staff, according to occupancy in a hotel.”
