Sensible sustainable solutions
16 suggestions for designing better hotels to help fight climate change and make the world a better place.
To my dearest fellow champions of hospitality,
As a custodian of our Mother Earth, I have designed some 200+ hotels over the past 37 years, but the essence of what I have learnt about how to build a better hotel can be summarized in these 16 points. I present these to the world of hospitality as an open source document to be used freely: Sensible Sustainable Solutions.
Hotel Owners
My dream is that hotel owners, like myself, can begin to incorporate some of these sensible sustainable ideas into your hotels as they will save you money. My hope is that all hotels of the future are not just places to sleep but places of purpose that make our world richer. Read on....
Hotel Operators
Currently there are some 15K+ hotels planned to be built worldwide in the same way we have been building for decades. This needs to change, and can change. As an operator of our minuscule Shinta Mani hotel brand I understand some of the environmental, economic, and social challenges of running a hotel company.
For the most part, your building standards ignore environmental and social issues. So why not add these sensible sustainability suggestions to your building standards? Read on...
Hotel Designers
My goal is to share with you, fellow designers, a list of ideas that are meant to spark ideas of your own. My main suggestion to you is to respect and understand Mother Earth, because if you do that, the rest will fall into place. Read on....
Not altogether hopeless,
I remain,
Bill Bensley
Build with a purpose
1. Open the door to new experiences
2. Offer a sense of community
3. Educate both guests and employees
4. Champion environmental issues
Operate Locally
5. Smarter Farming and Landscaping
6. Sourcing Locally
7. Harvesting the Low Hanging Fruit
8. Mandatory Operating Equipment
Create Respectfully
9. Low Impact High Yield
10. Minimal Intervention
11. Let there be Light!
12. Building Orientation
13. Harvest the Sun
14. Reuse, Recycle, Upcycle
15. Build Smart
16. Minimize Energy Consumption
Bill Bensley
