Matthew Hirsch
Cadet News Agency
WIND turbines, geothermal heat pumps and electricity-generating gym equipment are just some of the things that make Hotel Verde green.
The three-star hotel is located a few hundred metres from Cape Town International Airport and was officially opened yesterday. It boasts 150 rooms, restaurant and conference facilities.
It has a grey-water recycling plant and lifts which generate electricity. The hotel was also built with concrete slabs containing recycled materials.
Instead of a traditional air-conditioning system which uses a lot of energy, the hotel uses geothermal heat pumps attached to 100 boreholes which are drilled up to 70m deep.
German company AGO Energy installed a network of pumps and pipes which use the Earth as a heat source in winter and “heat sink” in summer, boosting efficiency and reducing operational costs.
The only municipal water used is for showers, baths and basins, while recycled water is used for everything else.
The electricity-generating gym experiment and wind turbines were a first for a hotel in South Africa hotel director Mario Delicio said.
“At the end of the day, we are also parents and we have a certain responsibility towards future generations, and this is what inspired us to do something about it,” Delicio said.
The hotel cost about R20 million more than would a conventional hotel of its size, but the owners are confident they will recoup their expenses between 10 and 15 years.
Alan Winde, Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC, who opened the hotel yesterday, said he hoped green buildings would become the norm for the hospitality industry.