“Whether a hotel is ‘eco-friendly’ or not often plays a large part of the decision making process for a traveller, especially business travelers where travel managers play an active role in deciding where to send their employees,” explained Sylvain Ercoli, General Manager of Bulgari Hotel & Residences, London. In an interview with Ercoli, we discussed the design, policy and practices of the hotel as it relates to their environmental and sustainability efforts, of which there are many.
Sylvain Ercoli has managed some of the most prestigious hotels throughout Europe and the world including the Hôtel Ritz in Paris, Hôtel George V Paris, Le Touessrok Hotel, Hôtel Saint-Géran, Hôtel Byblos in Saint-Tropez and the Hôtel Byblos Des Neiges in Courchevel.
Rahim Kanani: As the first new build five-star hotel in London in 40 years, what role did sustainability and ecological design play in the design and construction?
Sylvain Ercoli: Our aim is to convey the excitement of the Bulgari brand, its timeless glamour and its heritage as a magnificent Italian jeweller. We had the opportunity with Bulgari Hotel & Residences, London to show that a new build hotel can be both timeless in its design by blending with its local historical environment such as Knightsbridge but also that the construction and operation of the hotel can be environmentally friendly. From the outset of the project we were mindful of our impact on the environment, removing all waste rubble that was bulldozed from the previous structure and recycling it.
Kanani: Was the decision to push the eco-friendly envelope consumer-driven, or conscious-driven?
Ercoli: A combination of both. Bulgari Hotel & Residences, London is committed to conducting its business in an environmentally-friendly and ethical manner. The luxury travelling consumer is certainly aware as to whether a chosen hotel is acting responsibly in its operation or not. It is not true that by its nature, a luxury hotel cannot be environmentally friendly and being a new build property we have a huge advantage over other luxury hotels in London that occupy older buildings, often dating back more than 100 years, that could simply never put in place some of the environmental features that we have been able to achieve.
Kanani: In that vein, what are some of these environmental features, and what challenges did you have to overcome to put those designs in place?
Ercoli: Often the challenge to overcome with putting in place features such as these is the initial large financial investment that is required. This is of course recouped over the years of operation but when planning this hotel we were fully committed from the outset to give it an environmentally friendly existence. We were able to build into the fabric of the building features such as:
Water Recycling: We harvest all rainwater diverted through the building from the roof of the hotel as grey water that is then recycled into the hotel system and used for public area WCs. All WC’s are low water usage systems, fitted with pressure reducing valves and have dual flush capability.
Combined Heating Power System (CHP): CHP provides a means to substantially reduce the hotel’s fuel, or ‘primary energy’, consumption without compromising the quality and reliability of the energy supply to our guests. The system provides a minimum 10% energy saving, but typically higher and a cost saving of between 15% and 40% over electricity sourced from the grid and heat generated by on-site boilers.
Interlock Switches For Guest Room Fan Coil Units: These switches are linked to the windows to suspend heating and cooling when the window is opened.
Occupancy Sensors: Guest rooms and Guest corridors are fitted with Occupancy sensors to minimize energy usage in these areas by switching off lights when not needed.
LED Lighting: The hotel has been designed to operate with mostly LED lighting throughout, considered extremely energy efficient against traditional lighting. An intelligent lighting system is installed meaning that any energy wastage is minimized.
Geothermal Energy: Geothermal energy, a cost effective, reliable, sustainable and environmentally friendly form of energy generation has been integrated into the hotel building and it is the first of its kind in the UK. Geothermal energy ground source heat pumps offer huge carbon savings and the hotel was the first developer to install them in the diaphragm wall in any UK construction project.
It is the combination of all these things, no matter how small, that add up to savings in the long run, both economically and environmentally. When we look at the projected life of the building, this can really be quite substantial. Another example of small things adding up is that in building one of the largest private swimming pools in London, we wanted this to have as little impact on the environment as possible so we use a very low level of chlorine.
