| Environmental Good Practice in Guestline Hotel : India | India | 1992-96 | Full scale |
HOTEL AND RESTAURANTS # 5
Background:
The Hotel Guestline Days in Tirupati, India, is owned and managed by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., in affiliation with Days Inn Inc., USA. It has 141 rooms, two restaurants, a health club, a conference room and a business center.
Tirupati lies at the foot of the Tirumala hills in Chittar District, Andhra Pradesh. It is a pilgrim center which receives an average of 30,000 visitors a day thus bringing in a large clientele for the hotel all year round.
Corporate environmental commitment is pat of the mission statement of Guestline Days: "To construct and manage our properties in a manner that preserves and enhances the environment and serves the public interest". In realising this mission, the hotel has implemented a number of CP measures.
Cleaner Production Principle:
Process Modification; Recovery, reuse and recycle; Material Substitution; Housekeeping.
Cleaner Production Application:
Design related measures include:
| The hotel is designed in a Y shape to optimize the use of natural light; |
| The ceiling on the top floor is lined with a 75mm thick layer of expanded polystyrene which acts as a heat insulator, keeps the indoor temperature at a lower level and brings down air-conditioning costs; |
| Instead of traditional hardwoods such as teak and mahogany (protected species), treated rubber wood has been used for guest room furniture; |
| Reed curtains are used in areas where complete privacy is not needed. |
Water conservation is being practiced through:
| Collection and use of rain water for many purposes. In an untreated form it is used for toilet flushing. Water which has been filtered, chlorinated and passed through an ultra-violet filter is used for cooking and drinking. |
| A hydro-pneumatic ring system has been introduced to regulate flushing water which operates through control valves in each WC. |
| Showers are installed instead of baths; |
| "Water shame" notices in all guest rooms remind guests: "The way some people waste water! They wouldn't if they knew a few water facts. Brushing teeth with an open tap uses 33 liters, a closed tap uses 1 liter. A shower bath uses 100 liters of water, a bucket bath uses 18 liters." |
| Waste water, from flushing and bathing and from the kitchen and laundry is collected in grit chambers where grease is separated. The heavy particles which sink to the bottom of the chamber are removed at regular intervals. The water then flows to an aeration tank where bleaching powder, ferric chloride and copper sulfate are added. It then passes through a multi-layer filter before it is stored and used in the hotel garden and fountains. Excess grey water is used on local agricultural land. |
In an attempt to minimise energy consumption the following measures have been taken:
| All guest rooms have a master switch which guests are requested to turn off when leaving; |
| Condensation from the air conditioning unit and the laundry and health club is fed back into the main boiler. As this water is already heated, the boiler operates at lower capacity and consumes less fuel. |
| Sun control films have been added to all windows in public areas with direct sunlight, reducing air conditioning load and related costs. Energy saving light bulbs are complemented with dimmers in all public areas. |
Other initiatives taken by the hotel in ensuring eco-friendly practices include:
| Plastic plates and cups have been replaced by disposable containers made with biodegradable leaf and plant sheaths. |
| All wet garbage (mainly food waste from the kitchen) is composted and used as fertilizer. Excess compost is sold to local farmers, some of whom supply the hotel with fruits and vegetables. Revenue form this practice is estimated at Rs. 1,369 (US$39) per month. |
| Air-conditioning units use reusable filters; |
| Stationery and promotional materials use recycled paper. Old envelopes are reused for internal correspondence; |
| Leftover juices and wines are used to make vinegar which is used as a cleaning agent; |
| Wooden crates, used for packaging when the hotel was built in 1991, were reused to build barriers around saplings planted along the road leading to the hotel; |
| Newspapers, bottles, crates and cans that are not taken away by suppliers are sold to scrap dealers for recycling; |
| Old linen is converted into cleaning cloths. |
| Guestline Days makes a conscious effort to use suppliers who buy back their packing for reuse and recycling. Preference is given to local products. Efforts are made to reduce items that require long distance transportation which causes pollution. All wine and spirits served are made in India. |
| The boiler is serviced and maintained to ensure that carbon dioxide emissions are below 3.5% and oxygen is above 13%. |
| The air-conditioning unit uses lithium bromide as a refrigerant, a more environmentally friendly alternative to chlorofloro carbon (CFC) which causes ozone depletion. |
| Traditional halon fire extinguishers have replaced with halon 1211, a more environmentally friendly alternative. |
| On-going environmental initiatives among staff include an awareness Program on vehicle emissions which has encouraged the staff to car-pool and use bicycles. Guests can also hire bicycles from the hotel. |
| A letter inviting guests to "Save the Planet" is included in the general information pack in all rooms. It outlines the Guestline Days environment policy and asks guests to cooperate through actions such as using less water and turning-off the power supply master switch when leaving the room. Visitors have commended the hotel for its environmental efforts through the guest questionnaire. |
Environmental and Economic Benefits:
As a result of the introduction of the hydro-pneumatic ring system to regulate flushing, the quantity of water per flush has been reduced from 12 to 8 liters. A savings of 365,000 liters of water each year equates to Rs.1,369 (US$ 39).
There are 150,000 liters of water recycled per day, which equates to Rs. 152 per day and Rs.55,480 (US$1,585) per year in water costs.
The hotel estimates that the energy saving measures collectively save about 2,815 kw per year which equates to Rs.84,315 (US$ 2,409).
The newspapers, bottles, crates and cans sold to scrap dealers for recycling generates Rs.1,500 (US$ 43) per month.
Constraints:
None mentioned
Contacts:
Review Status:
This case study was taken from the joint UNEP/International Hotel & Restaurant Association (HRA) publication "Environmental Good Practice in Hotels: Case Studies from the IHRA Environmental Award." Each case study was judged in 1995 by UNEP IE prior to inclusion in the publication. It was edited for the ICPIC diskette in June 1997.
Subsequently the case study has been technically reviewed in September 1996 by Dr. Prasad Modak, Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India. For more information contact UNEPIE.