Whitbread to open 10th green Premier Inn hotel
The 65-bedroom green hotel and 210-cover sustainable restaurant will feature an array of environmentally-friendly technologies, following suit from the previous sustainable hotels as part of Whitbread’s bid to cut carbon emissions across the hotel brand by 26 per cent and water consumption by 20 per cent over the next 10 years.
“Cambourne is a clear example of Whitbread using its expertise to lead the UK hospitality industry to become more sustainable,” said Chris George, head of energy and environment for Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants.
“Our intention with the project was to learn from our existing sustainable hotels at Burgess Hill in West Sussex and Tamworth in Staffordshire and design an even more impressive and sustainable product. We have done that and demonstrated, once again, that green hotel design is possible within the mainstream market and does not have to mean ‘boutique’ or ‘expensive’."
One of the major innovations for Premier Inn is the new hotel’s inclusion of 10 kW solar photovoltaic panels mounted on the roof to offset four electric car charging ports at the site – a move that is already being pursued by other major hospitality brands.
The sustainable Premier Inn at Cambourne also incorporates the following energy and water-saving features:
- Earth’s natural energy - ground source heat pumps use the earth’s energy to cool and heat rooms and provide hot water throughout the hotel.
- Grey water – low-flow showerheads have been installed in the guest bathrooms and the toilets are flushed with recycled water from showers and baths to cut down on freshwater use.
- Clever lighting – very low energy LED lighting is used in the hotel reception, bars and restaurant areas.
- Building that breathes – fresh air is delivered to each room, capturing the energy from the air it replaces.
- High levels of insulation
- Timber flooring – sustainable-sourced certified timber used as a replacement for concrete ground floors.
- High-efficiency kitchen equipment – Installed to reduce energy wasted during cooking and refrigeration
George added: “Not only is the hotel a major achievement in its own right but the project will help us to upgrade our existing network of more than 47,000 Premier Inn bedrooms at 600 sites to become more sustainable as we incorporate the best performing technologies from Cambourne into future newbuilds and the retrofit programme of our existing estate.”
Whitbread has invested more than £5.9 million in the Cambourne Premier Inn hotel and restaurant which will employ more than 40 people. All sustainable Premier Inn hotels feature the high Premier Inn standards and are available at the same competitive rates as other hotels on the network.
