Loftier Collections Resort 1

Loftier Collections (LC)

Doris Santana, Isaac Cabrera, Alex Quander and Jade Shepherd

Hospitality Facilities and Environmental Systems

Abstract

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The facility, named Loftier Collections Resort, was built in the town of Bathsheba located on the

east coastline of Barbados where the fishing game is prominent and the location provides

benefits that will help the facility maintain a sustainable business. Keeping the 14 Green

Operating Activities in mind, this ecological resort is a full service facility that consists of an

onsite organic restaurant, sustainable transportation, sustainable pool, and sustainable activities

such as tours, hiking trips, surfing, and fishing. The design of the resort and of the rooms

coincides with the natural resources found within the perimeter of the resort. Not only is Loftier

Collections Resort able to sustain itself through minimum maintenance, it also has a separate

department within the resort known as the Green Team who are responsible in maintaining the

resort as Zero Waste. The resort also provides economic growth that helps the local businesses as

well as the town to prosper into a touristic location. Because the resort is known for its

philanthropy, the management of the facility provides for its employees in addition to providing

opportunities for career growth within the population. With this, one will see how Loftier

Collections Resort is claimed to be an eco-friendly establishment located on such a unique land

with inspiration infused from the culture surrounded by it.

The people of Bathsheba as well as the guests, architects, and engineers of Loftier

Collections Resort are key players during its development, since together they provide the resort

with financial stability, sustainable buildings, and conservative energy plans. With high

expectations on maintaining a solid Green Team, Loftier Collections Resort, is certified by

LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which “recognizes best-in-class

building strategies and practices” (LEED). The level of certification that Loftier Collections

Resort aims to maintain is LEED Platinum which gives over 80 points for meeting the high

standards of having an efficient sustainable facility. Loftier Collections Resort is mentioned in

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the LEED manual as one of the hospitality participants that is known to be a worldwide leader

such as InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Being amongst the best in the industry the resort has high standards to make sure guests and staff

are assured comfort for all the major operating systems of the facility.

The Environmental Committee at Loftier Collections Resort is responsible in developing

an Environmental Green Plan for energy, water, and solid waste use. This Environmental

Committee is known to the community as the Green Team. Through sophisticated monitoring

systems the Green Team records the monthly and annually reports of all the electric, gas, water,

and waste usage. The Green Team is assisted by Schneider Electrics who installed the

W.A.G.E.S Utility Monitoring System in the resort. Their site mentions how this system

“delivers a precisely engineered solution for monitoring all electrical and piped utilities.” The

system monitors energy use in real time, logs peaked demand, and calculates true energy

consumption. Every week, the Green Team hosts meetings to discuss the environmental issues

occurring. These meetings are opened to everyone who is interested in learning about addressing

environmental issues and how to prevent any harm to the environment.

Barbados, the location of Loftier Collections Resort, is an island in the Caribbean that is

completely surrounded by a large body of water known as the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic

Ocean is known to provide cooler air than land during the day and warmer at night. As stated in

Eco-Resorts Planning and Design for the Tropics, “air cooled by the body of water moves low

over the land during the day creating a cooling effect…water also moderates extreme

temperature variations raising winter minimums and lowering summer heat peaks.” During the

construction of the resort, trees were planted strategically around the chattel house units as well

as the land within and around the resort in order to allow effective cross-ventilation of air

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movement. In addition to the tress, the vegetation influence amongst the resort also stabilizes

temperatures. This is because the vegetation is a natural absorbent of heat, light, and sound. With

the winds from the Atlantic Ocean, the trees strategically placed throughout the resort, and the

vegetation around the resort provides a cooling system to the island which helps lower the

HVAC energy usage.

The idea of having guest control their energy consumption was kept in mind when

developing the units themselves. The engineers and the Green Team of Loftier Collections

Resort implemented an Energy Management System that triggers the switch of the HVAC

system and lights to turn on when the guest places their room key into the system. This reduces

the energy consumption, especially when the guest is not present in the unit. Apart from the

Energy Management System, the engineers and the Green Team implemented in each of the

units a digital thermostat. The digital thermostat, SilverSTAT7, is a touchscreen programmable

thermostat that not only controls the HVAC system, but also communicates with smart home

meters, outlets, and switches. The SilverSTAT7 helps the guest manage the energy consumption

in their rooms.

Throughout the resort there are LED lights and CFLs, also known as lighting emitting

diodes and compact fluorescent lamps respectively. Because the average life span of a LED light

is 50,000 hours, the LED lights are placed throughout the public spaces within the resort that

way there is not someone who has to constantly change the bulbs. On the other hand, CFLs are

placed in all of the rooms of the resort since the lights in the rooms are not always being used.

The problem with the CFLs is that the material that holds the mercury—a chemical toxic to one’s

health and the environment—is not durable which can result with the mercury spilling. In the

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end compared to the incandescent light bulb, both the LED lights and CFLs will save the resort a

lot of money.

Loftier Collections Resort is made from the products bought and delivered by the Green

Building Supply. These products consist of insulation, flooring, paints and coating, cabinets and

countertops, and cleaners. Green Building Supply promises non-toxic and safe material that is

renewable and recyclable. This company is so energy-efficient that it is an Energy Star

compliant. The resort will contain a total of 100. Of these units, there are six chattel house style

bungalows and the rest of the rooms are within the main building. The half of the rooms inside

the main building have a size of 675 square feet and the other half will be our large units with a

square foot of 875. Each room is able to accommodate up to four guests and have easy access to

the natural surroundings.

Outside there is a pool that is lighted by LED lights saving 80% of energy. Leisure

Design who is considered to be, “the forefront of sustainable swimming pool construction”,

designed the pool. The pool also consists of recycled glass as a filter medium, which saves the

facility up to 25% of water required to back wash filters. Insulation will be installed and worked

in conjunction with the pool to lower the heating cost of the swimming pool.

Loftier Collections Resort also implements a towel and linen exchange program that

helps guest be involved in the green initiative by deciding whether or not to reuse their towels.

The washer and dryer system within the resort recycles wasted heat from clothes dryer vents also

known as heat reclamation. Dryers use a lot of energy for heating and this heat will be saved to

warm up guest unit water for the shower and the pool as well.

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Recycling will come from SBRC, Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre, Inc., which

was formed in early 2008. As stated on the SBRC’s website their principal objective is to divert

waste from the Sanitary Landfills, such as our Zero Waste goal this partnership will fit perfectly.

Since about three-fourths of Barbados’ land is arable, Loftier Collections Resort uses the

land they purchase to grow vegetation such as natural herbs and vegetables to use in the on-site

organic restaurant. This vegetation will be managed by a local farm owner to provide business to

surrounding businesses that help support the local community. Fishing has always been part of

the island’s basic economy, and the government has supported the industry with modernization

programs, with this in mind the fishing companies will be able to sell fresh fish to the restaurant

and the resort’s green culture can be spread amongst all our distributors in the community in

efforts to support environmental programs for the community.

Loftier Collections Resort supports local tours and activities which consist of Andromeda

Botanical Garden, Harrisons Cave, Barclays Park, Bathsheba Park and plenty more. The

transportation provided is brought from Thomas Built Buses who sells the Transit Liner C2 that

is fueled by propane, a safe and environmentally-friendly fuel that is widely available and is used

by millions of people in their home, on the road, on farms and work. This is just another way that

the resort ensures its social responsibility.

It is no secret that the hotel and resort industry can have a major impact on the

surrounding community. Water, electricity, and even waste can leave both positive and negative

effects on the local community. To leave a beneficial impact on the surrounding community

Loftier Collections Resort includes several amenities that help conserve energy in ways that

keeps the community functioning. Energy conservation, Zero Waste, and recycling are a major

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part of the resort. These key factors does not only keep the resort eco-friendly but it keeps the

community from suffering from pollution and wasting resources.

To maximize the resort’s efficiency, management emphasizes on keeping the electricity

usage as low as possible. To do this, Loftier Collections Resort has steps to prevent guests and

employees from overusing electricity. Televisions will be operated with a remote that is scanned

by the room key. This prevents guests from leaving the television on for several hours while not

in the room. The showers and sinks are motion censored. If a guest is not standing in front of the

sink or in the shower, the water does not turn on. This prevents guests from wasting water. To

conserve water and detergent use in the resort, each guestroom has a checklist to choose which

items to be washed. Instead of washing and changing all sheets and towels each day, it would

conserve much more energy to have guests select what they would like to have replaced and

washed. This will conserve water, detergent, and electricity. To encourage the guests to cut back

on overusing electricity and water, the resort has rewards. These rewards include discounted

food and beverage and complementary rides around the town of Bathsheba. A cost system was

implemented to measure the consumption of water, electricity, and power consumed by the

guest. The staff of the resort are responsible to explain to each guest that if they pass a certain

amount of consumption they will be charged extra.

The resort also closely monitors the waste production. Since the resort offers many

services, waste management is a crucial factor in keeping the resort eco-friendly. Blue recycling

cans of all sizes are placed throughout the resort so all plastic, glass, and paper waste will be

properly recycled. Having proper recycling cans in a tropical resort is a necessity, since many

guests will be enjoying beverages in plastic or glass cups. Other solid waste is reused whenever

possible such as food scraps. Food scraps are sent to local farms as either fertilizer or food for

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animals. This supplies farm crops and animals, and allow the resort to keep purchasing meat and

vegetables from local farms in Barbados. Leftover products from guestrooms are donated to the

community. Items such as lotion, shampoo, conditioner, soap, and detergent are given to

residents surrounding the resort. Leftovers from the food and beverage outlets are sent to local

schools. Loftier Recollections Resort closely monitors pollution in all areas of the resort. To

prevent beach pollution, the resort does not allow guests to bring any items that pollute the

ocean. The resort staff monitors harmful items such as thin plastics and broken bottles. These

items can pose a serious threat to marine life and the surrounding plants. Guests that are found

littering are given warnings.

Since the resort is located in an area of Barbados that is surrounded by a residential

community, we work closely with the local residents. The resort will include programs to work

with the local community to help keep Bathsheba pollution free. To ensure that our resort is

keeping the community green, Loftier Collections Resort offers classes for to the local residents

and guests. These classes will be environmental and sustainability classes that are offered at a

low cost. Our hotel guest can include the small fee to their room charge or pay up front. Local

residents of the town of Bathsheba are encouraged to take this short and easy class to get a better

understanding of the environment and how to keep it sustainable. The classes will be held each

day for only minutes and will include refreshments. After fully attending three sessions of the

class, each student will receive a certificate. This certificate can be used as a gift card or as points

used for a guest’s returning visit to the resort. This course encourages locals to be more involved

in the sustainability efforts of the resort and to into their everyday lives. Loftier Collections

Resort also features a small casino. This casino will be open 24 hours of the day and will be open

to guests and to some local residents. Local residents who have taken at least three sessions of

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our sustainability class are able to use there certificate gift card as chips to gamble. Since the

casino is opened for 24 hours, all electricity used will come from solar energy. Lights, screens,

and gaming machines use all its power from solar panels. Unlike most casinos, the resorts

casinos include large windows to allow sunlight and the guests get to enjoy the view of the

resort. All of the profits from the casino are used to maintain the resort’s Zero Waste program.

Making these efforts to connect Loftier Collections Resort to the local community will only help

both parties. Since the resort is located close to the local community, Loftier Collections Resort

finds it very important to involve each resident with the goals and visions to keep the resort and

all of Barbados an environmentally sustainable island.

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