What was once an old abandoned building is now the greenest hotel in North America. The Planet Traveler is the brainchild of Anthony Aarts and Tom Rand, who recently wrote and released the book, Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: Ten Clean Technologies to Save Our World. An incredible example of adaptive reuse, the Planet Traveler is their vision of a low-carbon hotel, able to cut standard building emissions by as much as three-quarters.
The 114-room hostel, which is set to open in about one month, hosts an eco-friendly retrofit highlighted by renewable energy technology including geothermal temperature control, solar and photo voltaic panels, water reclamation facilities and motion sensor LED lights.
Speaking of their creation, Rand noted that the hotel surpasses the requirements needed to meet the LEED Platinum certification – the highest rank achievable. Describing the Planet Traveler as a ‘test lab’ for renewable energy, Rand told the press, “It’s a myth that we need fossil fuels. What we need are massive investments in clean infrastructure. And we need to link economic competitiveness with energy efficiency.”
“Climate change is both the biggest problem and the biggest opportunity our society has faced. I believe we can lower our carbon emissions by 75 per cent over the short term, and to near zero over the long term. Countries that figure it out fast will be selling solutions to the rest of the world.”
If you’re worried that the hotel has sacrificed energy efficiency for comfort, you can rest assured. In addition to the state of the art renewable energy system, the hotel has a rooftop bar, stylishly designed rooms and fantastic views of the city. And for a bit of eco-trivia: the hotel’s LED lights use less energy than a four-slice toaster. Cool, eh?
+ Tom Rand
via CleanBreak
Images from Blogto.com
