Pulse Legacy Archive March / April 2013 | Seite 32

Greening the Spa
At Boston’s G20 Spa & Salon, the green
mission begins with the facility itself.
While repurposing two brownstones on
Newbury Street in 2009 and 2010, the
luxury day spa incorporated many ecofriendly details into the design, aiming
for LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) certification, an
internationally recognized green building
certification system.
“Since the building interiors had to
be completely demolished and rebuilt
practically from ‘scratch,’ I decided this
was the opportunity I dreamed of—to
build a ‘green’ spa which did not sacrifice luxury,” says Joyce Hampers, G20
Spa & Salon owner and CEO.
Today, the 14,000-square-foot spa is
equipped with a geothermal heating and
cooling system that utilizes groundwa-

ter, rather than fossil fuels, and compact
fluorescent and LED lights for lowenergy consumption. The spa’s
construction also used low VOC paint,
low flow plumbing fixtures and incorporated recycled materials. Other
eco-conscience highlights include waterefficient landscaping, a bike rack to
encourage alternative transportation for
employees and a roof designed to reduce
the “heat island” effect. G20 also
employs green practices in everyday
operations, such as utilizing biodegradable cups or glasses for serving water,
using “green” cleaning supplies, and
insisting on earth-friendly packaging
from vendors.
“The economic return on these sustainability investments has been
tremendous. Our energy bills, gas and
electricity, are 40 percent less than they

were at our old location where we occupied 3,000 square feet less space,”
Hampers says. “It is the same with the
water bill. The federal government gave
us a large rebate for installing the geothermal system, as did the local electric
company.”
Marking its 15-year anniversary last
February, Kaffee’s Garden Spa in West
Palm Beach, Florida also ties in sustainability where it can. Since its inception,
it has used Jurlique products, which are
biodynamically grown in Australia, and
the hair styling department works with
the Organic Salon System, an organic
hair color system. Sustainability is also
part of the spa décor, which includes
cork flooring and recycled carpeting.
Since 2011, Kaffee’s Garden Spa has also
given back to the environment as a
partner to the Arthur R. Marshall Fund

Guests at the 14,000-square-foot G2O Spa & Salon enjoy
luxury without the guilt. The "green spa" is built with a
geothermal heating and cooling system, compact
flourescent and LED lights, and a water-efficient
landscaping, among other sustainability features.

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March/April 2013