The recently launched BON Hotels group is developing what is expected to be the greenest hotel in Africa. Opening in August of this year, Hotel Verde will be located outside of Cape Town.
In order to bypass the need for standard air-conditioning systems, Hotel Verde will use ground source heat pumps-which are made by 100 holes drilled about 250 feet into the ground-where the temperature is a consistent 66 degrees. A network of piping and equipment will use the earth as a heat source in winter and a “heat sink” in summer. Double-glazed windows with spectrally selective glass will filter out hot rays. Solar panels are also positioned to provide shade as well as power.
To reduce concrete, recycled plastic balls were placed strategically within the concrete slabs for the floors. They displace the concrete-saving approximately 1284 tons while maintaining the structural integrity.
Hotel Verde also features a gray water recycling plant-which will reduce potable water use by 37 percent-as well as a rainwater filtering and capture system to provide water for the car wash and for irrigation. The elevators will run on a regenerative drive- allowing for about 30 percent of the input energy to be recaptured and fed back into the building.
“The three cornerstones of BON Hotels are good people. Good thinking. Good feeling. Hotel Verde and the philosophy behind it is where the good thinking lies,” says Guy Stehlik, founder of BON hotels.
