Aussie hotel saves planet from roof

by Tom Johansmeyer on

One flip of the switch changed the Crowne Plaza Alice Springs and upped the ante for hotels around the world. The Australia hotel now uses the largest building-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) system in the Southern Hemisphere. This $3.3 million installation will cut the property’s energy consumption by 40 percent to 80 percent (depending on the time of year), and a broader energy efficiency program could trim the energy the hotel uses by an additional 18 percent.

The hotel’s new green initiative involves the installation of “Energy Eye,” new technology that manages temperatures in guest rooms and minimizes consumption when a room is empty. Further, the Crowne Plaza Alice Springs is replacing more than 3,000 light bulbs with energy efficient alternatives. Jemflo showerheads are expected to save 11,580 kiloliters of water every year. Translation: that’s enough to fill more than 30 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The Crowne Plaza Alice Springs’ energy program includes the use of live data from the rooftop solar panels to show guests how much hotel is saving at any particular point in the day … on their in-room televisions.

Travel greener with the new Travelocity green directory

by Scott Carmichael on

Green travel is in -as it should be. Many hotels, airlines and other travel related companies are making simple changes to their products and services to reduce their impact on the environment.

While some may be taking it slow, and making only minor changes, others are trying to make a much larger statement by going as far as they can in their green concepts.

Travelocity has gathered the best of the best in environmentally friendly hotels and destinations, and published them in their new Travel Green directory.

The guide only covers about 150 properties out of the thousands listed on their site, but many hotel descriptions clearly outline the green advantages, and how the property has reduced their environmental impact. The guide also describes the criteria for including a hotel.

So, next time you book a hotel, and feel the need to do so a little “greener”, check to see whether Travelocity has accommodations listed for your destination.

Star Island won’t make you change

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It seems like every effort to “go green” requires a change of behavior. Hotels let you choose to use towels or sheets twice. Your parents instructed you to turn the lights off when leaving a room. These measures can affect change, but they usually don’t. Despite the clear benefits, people just won’t change. But, what if you could find a way to protect the environment without having to change any part of your life? This is the elusive goal of most eco-minded designers, builders and activists, but few have discovered the secret handshake.

David Sklar, it seems, has found the answer.

Star Island, located in Eleuthera, Bahamas, is designed to be carbon-neutral, even if you forget to turn the television off when you slip out to the beach. A unique combination of embedded power sources that harness natural forces and savvy architecture allow you to save the planet by doing nothing. Sklar’s project, which includes both resort and residential properties, is your ticket to guilt-free luxury.

The property is currently under construction in the Bahamas. Sklar, the president and lead designer, and his team at Dalu Design Group, envisioned a resort built around pragmatic environmentalism. Buildings account for about 70 percent of the factors that lead to global warming, he says, particularly around the consumption of energy. So, Sklar realized that a better design could have a pronounced impact on the environment. The key, however, is to affect conservation without thought. People won’t change, but you can change everything around them.

See artist renderings of Star Island, including an EXCLUSIVE shot of the pavilion.

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Here’s where the essential tension lies. We all love fast cars, big rooms and oversized televisions. We like big and convenient and immediate. When traveling, we’re even worse. At home, my sheets are fine for a full week, but on the road, I can’t imagine using the same set two nights in a row. I have the same attitude toward towels. Conservatism doesn’t work unless I can have fresh sheets every night without damaging the planet. We all love big rooms, oversized television screens and fast cars. Even if we privately lament what we’re doing to the environment, we can’t let go of what makes us happy.

Fortunately, this is what Sklar has in mind. He believes you shouldn’t have to make these tough choices. A carefully considered engineering effort can deliver the lifestyle you crave without impairing the world around you.

Star Island does not tap the power grid to fuel the washing machines, lights and kitchens. The resort generates its own power. Don’t expect to see any wind farms or endless rows of solar panels on the 35-acre resort. The tools are built into the structures, with photo voltaic energy-generating roof panels, and water is gathered through a rain water collection system.

Once open, the resort will offer guilt-free villas, bungalows and homes, where visitors (or residents) can live guilt-free. The Star Island villas range from one to three bedrooms and include custom gourmet kitchens. And, they aren’t small, some reaching 2,000 sqft in size (much, much larger than my apartment). Restaurants and recreation (such as snorkeling) are available on site, a nice touch since you probably won’t want to leave anyway.

The amenities that Sklar promises are exactly what you’d expect to find at an upscale resort. You can dip into a private plunge pool at one of Star Island’s bungalows or refresh yourself in an outdoor shower. Of course, you’re never far from the beach, not to mention snorkeling and other on- (or under-) water activities. None of it happens with the help of oil, coal or split atoms.

What possesses a man to pursue green recreation and living with such zeal?

Sklar was not kidnapped by Greenpeace, and he didn’t have a mountain-top epiphany that changed his view of the world. Instead, he took his cues from his life. The experienced architect, who was “raised on fossil fuels,” as he puts it, realized when he looked at his son that the Earth would continue to be here well into the future. Even though he may not be around to suffer the most severe consequences of environmental mayhem, he understood that his actions would shape the world his son inherits.

Star Island began with this altruistic motivation … and a sense of defiance. Sklar sought to prove that he could create from scratch a top-tier resort that could operate without the support of a substantial, global energy industry. He plans to resist the convenient pull of traditional energy source and create an example to his peers, one that can be replicated. Sklar believes that Star Island can serve as a model to real estate developers and architects everywhere. If a trend emerges, he will have started a revolution in building design and construction.

But, we need to take this one step at a time. Star Island is still under construction. Houses have yet to be sold, and guestrooms need to be filled. Sklar doesn’t expect the warm, fuzzy feelings of environmentalists to get his business humming, though he certainly welcomes them. The call of luxury, he expects, will bring people to his resort, and their experiences will bring them back. Star Island is a business, after all, it just happens to be doing something great in the process.

Learn a bit more about Star Island in the NY Times.

Bush goes green by creating blue sanctuaries

by Brenda Yun on

Yesterday afternoon marked an unprecedented day for marine lovers around the world. Bush announced the creation of three marine monuments that are protected under the Antiquities Act, which was created a century ago to safeguard areas of public interest. In this case, this new treaty places important restrictions on oil and gas exploration as well as commercial fishing for an area that covers close to 200,000 square miles in the Pacific Ocean.

Here’s a breakdown of the three major areas that have been declared as protected marine sanctuaries by Bush’s newest water treaty:

  • The northern Marianas Islands and the Mariana Trench (the deepest point in the world)
  • The Rose Atoll near American Samoa
  • Several remote islands in the middle of the Pacific, including Wake Island

These monuments make up a 50-nautical mile radius of protected islands and waters around the Mariana Trench and are full of marine life including sharks and coral, which are most crucial to a healthy ecosystem, as well as unique creatures found only in this part of the world such as the coconut crab and a bird whose eggs incubate by way of volcanic heat. The protected marine area will therefore inevitably become a bird sanctuary as well. In addition, it will

Back in 2006, Bush established a near 140,000 square-mile marine reserve (one of the largest in the world) near the Hawaiian islands, so this is his second good ocean deed in one term. Collectively, this is the most ocean a single person has protected. That’s a pretty admirable feat for a President who hasn’t been particularly green. Certainly, ocean lovers like myself fully appreciate Bush’s final environmental gesture. It’s something we will be thankful for for years to come.

[via the Washington Post and Time Magazine]

How do you poop on Mt. Everest?

by Jerry Guo on

The days of poop-behind-a-rock be gone – a Nepali climber has recently started promoting the use of a packable toilet for hikers up the world’s tallest mountain. Tired of the 965 kilos of waste he picked up during an expedition in May (including a corpse dating back to 1972! wtf!), Dawa Steven Sherpa is determined to make Mt. Everest a cleaner place.

His solution is the Luggable Loo – a portable bucket-cum-toilet that stores waste in a gas-impervious bag. This way, hikers will have a potty to sit on (plus!) but poop to haul out (not so much plus). The bags do their job to keep unwanted aromas from reaching expeditionists while they hike.

Still, if hauling your own waste out seems like too much trouble, what the hell are you doing climbing Mt. Everest anyway? Any good hiker knows that the first rule of messing with Mother Nature is to leave her exactly as you found her. That includes poop, too.

The loo retails from Cabela’s Outfitters for $15 – not too shabby – and 6 of the “Doodie Bags” (as they are so named) will cost you $12.99. If I were Mr. Sherpa, I’d be handing these things out at the base camp. Who wants to clean up someone else’s 20-year-old, iced-over poo anyway?