Overnight heaven

Premier Inn plans for future with ‘green hotel’ pilot

‘Green flagship’ might not be a term you’d associate with a budget hotel. But the Whitbread-owned chain Premier Inn has just opened one in Tamworth, Staffordshire, that’s designed to consume 80% less energy than usual – using an impressive array of technologies, carbon-cutting features and sustainably sourced materials.

For heating/cooling and hot water, the heaviest hitters in a hotel’s energy bills, they’ve put in a combination of ground source heat pumps and roof-mounted solar panels. The water footprint is being held down as far as possible by harvesting rainwater and flushing all the toilets with grey water. There’s low-energy LED lighting, already a feature in Whitbread buildings elsewhere, complemented by movement sensors to turn off lights in empty rooms and corridors. The timber is FSC-certified, sheep’s wool is the insulation material of choice – and the whole thing is built on foundations of recycled aggregate.

Dominic Burbridge of the Carbon Trust, who heads its work in the hospitality sector, says he’s excited about “a low-end, budget hotel that is actually going to reduce environmental impacts without compromising on comfort”. Now the company is looking to its Tamworth pilot project for some hard-nosed lessons for future new-builds and retrofits. The high sustainability spec pushed the building and fitting costs up by 20-25%, says Alex Flack, construction director at Whitbread. “We need to establish what works and what doesn’t, and what the maintenance costs will be – otherwise we won’t have an operating hotel.”

There’s a lot to play for. Premier Inn is already the UK’s largest operator, and has a growth target of 55,000 bedrooms within five years. And, in the current climate, Whitbread is keen to direct its green investment where it is most cost-effective. As Burbridge sees it, as the cost of carbon rises, and economies of sale pull down the price of technology, “Premier Inn will be one step ahead; they are trying to future proof themselves.” – Roz Curzon

8 January 2009

Roz Curzon