Sustainable Hotel
Certification LEED Gold
VP Plaza España Design have been thought as a project based to create a sustainable tourism. We have been convert in a sustainable hotel thanks to the prestigious certification LEED Gold (Leadship in Energy & Environmental Design) given by the US Green Building Council, being one of the first hotel in spain to recieve it.
The goal of the VP Group was to design a 5 * hotel that becomes an icon of design, art and architecture in Madrid. The philosophy "Design" has art as its main protagonist and allows to VP Hoteles, to differ from other companies, to develop his own concept of accommodation, accompanied by his commitment to sustainability, incorporating good practices in the categories of location, water , energy, materials, indoor environmental quality and innovation.
Sustainable sites
The location of the hotel have made the different in the moment of develop a sustaniable hotel, because to be in crowly area, with pedestrian access and a lot of service and well comunicated by public transportation, its reduce the necesity of use of private vehicle to acces to the hotel.
In addition, the minimum number of parking spaces, required by regulations, are located below ground level (to reduce the harmful heat island effect) and a significant number of them are reserved for electric vehicles (installing charging points) and shared vehicles.
Water Efficiency
To enhance water efficiency, The hotel installed high-efficiency fixtures and fittings, including water closets, dual flush toilets, and low-flow showers that reduce water consumption in the hotel. This doesn’t means for a luxury service the loss of quality because the design team found the best fixtures and fittings available in market with the best quality and design.
By implementing these water saving strategies, a reduction of about 33% of potable water was achieved compared to conventional hotels.
Illumination
The hotel had implement a Lighting control and energy management system that provides total light Management by tying the most complete line of lighting controls, motorized blinds digital ballasts and LED drivers, and sensors, together under one software.
The system has Sensors to reduce lighting electricity. Occupancy/vacancy sensors use innovative XCTTM sensing technology to detect fine motion. Sensors turn lights on when a space is occupied and off or dim them when it is vacant.
Thermal solar energy
The hotel as part of its emission reduction policy has opted for the implementation of a solar thermal energy system. This renewable energy system uses the heat provided by the sun to heat, free of charge, the water that passes through the inside of the panels. It is clean, silent, and the generation costs are, in general, low.
The integration of renewable energy into the hotel's energy mix achieves a reduction in the dependence on energy supplies as well as limiting the establishment's CO2 emissions, being key to the hotel's energy efficiency policy.
Materials and Resources
The hotel examined and chose a range of green strategies related to materials and resources, including materials reuse, use of recycled content, regional materials, and green furniture or products. Each of these strategies can reduce considerable waste in construction by using green building materials that have minimal environmental, social, and health impacts during extraction, processing, transportation, use, and disposal.
A example of this strategy is the use in the closets of rooms, of wood with the certification FSC Control Wood and the decision of the project team to chose building materials with recycled content that includes reinforcing steel with 90% post consumer recycled content, gypsum wall board with 100% recycled content, asphalt with 25% recycled content, and staircase steel with 50% recycled content.
Ecological strategies
As part of the Ecological Strategies of the company, The VP Plaza España Design also used building materials, art work (185 pieces of art), and furniture from regional vendors, artists, and furniture makers to reduce transportation and packing and to promote growth of the local economic .
This also reduced the fuel use, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions associated with transporting these products. In addition to the environmental benefits of avoiding long-distance transportation, the company avoided both the costs and logistical challenges associated with importing products.