Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa November/December 2013 | Page 25

The largest water saving
initiative implemented
in the design of the
hotel is the grey water
recycling plant

utilise ground source heat pumps made by 100
holes drilled about 76m into the ground, where
the temperature is a consistent 19 degrees
Centigrade. German supplier, AGO Energy,
will install a complex network of piping and
equipment specifically designed for Hotel Verde
that uses the earth as a heat source in winter and
“heat sink” in summer, boosting efficiency and
dramatically reducing operational costs.
“There is no other hotel in Africa that has
gone to the extent that we are hoping to
achieve,” Delicio says. “But going green is not
just about the building, it’s about every aspect of
the operation; zero waste to landfill for example.
We might never reach that, but with the ideas
we have in mind we will come pretty close.”
Open to the public in August 2013, the hotel
plans to incentivise guests with credit notes
and bar tabs for those who utilise towels more
than once, for example, or don’t use the airconditioning. “It’s about getting customers
involved and making them a part of the whole
green thinking philosophy,” Delicio explains.
Guy Stehlik, founder of BON Hotels, who
will manage and operate Hotel Verde, says

Hotel Verde

that the value of being involved in a project of
this nature, plus its learning in terms of future
hotels, is invaluable. “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. This
is definitely one of the most innovative hotels in
the country and we are thrilled to be involved in
a project of this nature.”
Despite the fact that this is the first of its kind,
the Hotel Verde team doesn’t want it to be a
secret; they want to share their convictions with
anyone who’ll listen. “We might have the slogan
‘Africa’s Greenest Hotel’ right now, but we hope
it won’t be for long,” says Harms. “We want to
show the continent what can be done. We want
to challenge the industry as a whole.”
Enviropedia Water Conservation Award
At Hotel Verde, the utmost is being done
throughout the design and construction phase
as well as with operational policies ,once
running, to save water on every front. The hotel
is pursuing a Gold rating on the LEED green
building rating system for New Buildings and

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