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The Orchid ECOTEL: Best Environmental Practices list Categories in this list:
Environmental Commitment and Community Involvement The Orchid's commitment to environmental excellence is evident everywhere in the hotel. The property's mantra is "Deluxe need not disturb, Comfort need not compromise and Entertainment need not be insensitive." The Orchid is the first major corporation to start the ALM (Advanced Locality Management) program anywhere in Mumbai. This is a program established in conjunction with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). Under this program, business or residents sponsor cleanups by contributing Re. 1/- per day. The Orchid's organized the resources of 5 neighboring hotels, a number of local office buildings, 20 taxi owners and 2 shop owners in this groundbreaking program. Since the Orchid set the example, there are now over Corporate 600 ALMs in Mumbai. In another project with the MCGM, the Orchid participated in a major plastic cleanup effort during the summer of 2000. The hotel created a competition to collect the most plastic, and found 43 schools wishing to compete. Over 78,000 students collected a total 2.25 million plastic bags in under 50 days of the drive. The students enjoyed making headline news in Mumbai with their efforts. The Orchid opens their doors to students to teach them the methods of environmental responsibility as well. Since 1996, over 10,000 students from the age of 5 and up representing 73 school and colleges have visited The Orchid as part of their environmental studies. Another method that the Orchid has employed to share their knowledge is through a CD-ROM developed during the GOOD EARTHKEEPING Seminar (when was this). This CD-ROM was given to all the delegates who participated in this seminar. This CD-ROM of Internet resources is a tool especially developed for this occasion and is a first of its kind in the hospitality industry, which will serve as a jump-start towards taking individuals towards a better environment. The Orchid also distributes this CD-ROM to various educational institutions and environment organizations. The Orchid even took part in cracking down on pollution-spewing motor vehicles by setting up a PUC checkpoint to catch motorists without the proper inspection licenses on their vehicles. The checkpoint was set up in association with 2 leading non-governmental organizations - the CLEAN Air Dignity Foundation, and the Transport Commissionerate of Maharashtra. The effort nabbed 40 to 50 cars daily, collected fines of over 40,000 Rs. Every day during the month long campaign. In addition to all that has been mentioned before, The Orchid furthers its commitment to the environment and the community through active participation with a total of 12 Non-Government Organizations. Among them are Vasundhara which aims at environmental building awareness, and the Slum Rehabilitation Programme. Employee Environmental Education The staff at the Orchid is so interested in the environment that they named their cafeteria the "Ecoteria". The Green Team periodically issues pop-eco-quizzes to test staff's environmental knowledge. Cash awards are given out to the Employee who contributes most to the environmental program - the prize is 1001 Rs., in accordance with Indian beliefs that round numbers are unlucky. The Orchid has made efforts to educate their industry colleagues as well. To date, approximately 40 hoteliers from a dozen hotels have trained under the Orchid's Green Team in the study of environmental responsibility. Director of the Orchid, Mr. Param Kannampilly, has been very active in sharing his experiences as well. He has recently spoken at a number of seminars, some of which are listed below:
The Orchid has also gone global in spreading concern for environment and education in the field of Environment. The Orchid has sponsored the Environmental Teaching Resource Pack for Hospitality Educational Centers which is being published jointly by The International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and International Association of Hotel School Directors (EUHOFA). The Orchid's solid waste management efforts are exceptional. The staff is always working toward the goal of 'zero-garbage', employing every idea that they can think of to help eliminate or reduce wastes. The hotel has been very pro-active in working with suppliers to encourage them to help decrease the wastes brought into the hotel. The hotel has a meeting for all their suppliers on Earth Day. This past year, management asked the suppliers to help reduce waste by another 30%. Since beginning this effort, waste had decreased greatly, including cardboard waste which is lower by 38%. The hotel handles almost 300 kg of organic waste each day using their array of 9 vermiculture pits. These pits produce rich fertilizer that the hotel sells for a profit. Even old rice bags are used to pack and store the finished product. Even the building itself wins points for the hotel's solid waste management effort. PPC (Portland Pozzalana Cement) containing 15-20% recycled fly ash, bricks made from fertilizer wastes known as QED blocks, and case goods and furniture made from MDF manufactured using only discarded cotton stocks, were all used in the construction and furnishing of the hotel. Wood furnishings in guestrooms are made of recycled cotton stocks. Exterior walls are made of ACC, which is manufactured using 60% recycled fly-ash. This brick substitute has better thermal insulation and sound absorption than normal bricks. The staff is so dedicated to solid waste management that they recently ousted a supplier who could not provide adequate proof that his products were actually made from recycled materials. The Green Team remembers that when they began their work in 1996, there were very few local suppliers dealing in environmentally responsible products. But after 4 years of work, the Orchid has a list of over 500 companies that supply them with these products. To keep their relationships with these green-supply companies strong, the Orchid organizes events to help them network among themselves. During these events, Director Param Kannampilly asks everyone in attendance to further help the hotel by coming up with new ways to bring less waste into the hotel. The staff makes a concerted effort to collect and reuse keycards from guests that check out of the hotel. The effort is very successful, as over a period of 181,000 check-ins, only 14,000 new cards were ordered. This means that the average keycard is used 7.7 times! Guests are asked if they would like a newspaper at check-in. results show that only 50% actually want a paper, thus the effort reduces waste. Guest messages are delivered to guests via phones and through a special system on the television - never by paper. Paper coasters are collected and reused whenever possible. Citrus rinds left over after fruits are removed are reused to make sour lime chutney for the Indian restaurant and EcoTeria. After careful consideration, the kitchen and wait staff decided to garnish drinks and plates with lemon slices rather than wedges, concluding that more slices can be cut from each single lemon, hence the slice is a better use of the hotel's lemon resources. Rubber wood products are used throughout the Orchid. Rubber wood is a by product of the rubber sap industry, as the trees are cut after the sap is drawn, and typically discarded (rubber wood is soft). In this process, the wood processed, vacuumed, and kiln seasoned to make it usable dimensional stability. Coat hangers in guestrooms are made from pressed sawdust rather than new wood. Newspapers are delivered in re-usable thatched bags rather than plastic. All waste bags used in the hotel are made from post consumer recycled plastic. Stewarding uses electric chaffing dishes to eliminate the need for canister fuels. Paints used on the exterior of the hotel are water based with negligible VOC content of 0.0125%. All interior paints are rated at 0% VOC content, for environmental protection, and for the protection of the guests' health. While using such paints is much more expensive than conventional paints, the decision is consistent with the hotel's commitment to environmental initiatives. Potted plants cultivated on a nursery off site are used in public areas and guestrooms to eliminate the waste that cut flowers produce. Left over shampoo is combined and later used to make cleaning detergent for floor areas. Toilet rolls too small for guestrooms are re-used back of house. The most evident aspect of the Orchid's energy efficiency effort is the Eco-Button. Conceived by Mr. Kannampilly, this function on the guestroom control panel allows guests to participate in the environmental program by slowly decreasing their use of cooling in the guestrooms. Results show that 30% of the guests at the Orchid use the button. Energy efficiency is built right into the Orchid. The hotel's number one tool for controlling energy consumption is the sophisticated Building Management System, or BMS. This automated system allows the hotel to conserve energy in the following ways:
The Orchid uses a thermal storage plant to decrease their needs for energy during peak periods, lessening pressure on their utility company to use older and less pollution-friendly equipment to generate power. All of the Orchid's energy efficiency efforts do pay off. The hotel consumes less than half the average energy consumed per occupied room than other hotels of comparable size, service level, and climate. All vehicles owned by the hotel and cars hired out at the travel desk are outfitted to operate only on lead free fuel, which helps reduce air pollution. Additionally, the hotel owns a Cadillac which is specially designed to run on compressed natural gas, which is far cleaner burning than diesel or gasoline. The Orchid is working on a ground-breaking program with the World Bank and the Ministry of Environment, Government of India to help other hotels phase out CFC refrigerants used in cooling equipment. The proposal will enable hotels to replace their existing equipment with environmentally responsible new units for no cost to the hotel. The Orchid will act as the operations unit in the program, encouraging hotels to participate, delivering, and helping to install the equipment. All windows at the Orchid are triple-glazed. These types of windows reduce solar thermal heat gain, prevent fabric and furniture colors from fading, and cutting down noise pollution. Energy efficient PL lamps are used to consume substantially less energy. All refrigerants have been converted to R22 instead of CFC refrigerants. Efficient mono-screw chillers are used. Heat recovery is utilized to preheat water for guestrooms, laundry, and kitchens. Air Scrubbers have been installed on boiler stacks to reduce CO2 emissions. The scrubbers are water spray type, and the water used is gray water from the hotel's sewage treatment plant. These scrubbers lower the fume gas temp from 250 C to 50 C. The Orchid uses a technology developed after 5 years of in house R&D called Ozonetek. The process produces ozone by controlled high excitation to split molecules and recombine them into ozone, which is very unstable & reduces to oxygen in 60 minutes in air and 20 minutes in water. The hotel uses the process for:
Water Conservation & Preservation The cornerstone of the Orchid's water conservation program is the hotel's own sewage treatment plant. Such equipment is rare in India, due to the heavy investment a hotelier must make to have such a facility built. Water is treated thoroughly enough that the product can be used to irrigate the gardens on the grounds of the hotel. Thus the STP not only preserves the quality of fresh water resources, it reduces the amount of water used by the hotel. Because the hotel has built their own sewage treatment plant, the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai has cut the Orchid's water and sewer costs to half of what they would be without the equipment in place. The Orchid is hoping the Municipal Corporation will make this discount part of their bylaws to incentivize other developers to build their own STPs. Every shower and applicable faucet in the hotel is equipment with a water conserving flow control device. Timers are installed on taps used in back of house areas. Toilets at the Orchid are Geberit Concealed Cistern type, which flush using only 6 liters of water per. An extensive drip irrigation system allows the Orchid to use less water. This is necessary in Mumbai's hot climate despite the fact that the hotel uses its own gray water for irrigation. The drip system reduces irrigation needs by half, allowing the Orchid to maintain lush gardens without breaking their code of environmental conduct. The Orchid also uses STOCKOSORB SUPER ABSORBENT POLYMERS STOCKOSORB are white crystalline granules, which upon contact with water swell absorbing the water and expanding, forming a gel like substance. This gel is insoluble and capable of storing water up to 200 times its own weight. Using STOCKOSORB the amount and frequency of watering the plants / trees is reduced. |
