New York’s First Eco Hotel to Open in 2008
by Mairi Beautyman, Berlin, Germany on 05. 1.07
Eco travel in New York just got easier. Starting in Spring 2008, you can wrap yourself in a certified organic towel, lay your head down on a certified organic mattress, breathe in the results of a geothermal heating and cooling system, and sip an organic cocktail from an environmentally-friendly roof garden, all from the city's first green boutique hotel.
The brainchild of developers Jack Ancona and Flatiron Real Estate Advisors, Greenhouse 26 is designed by Arpad Baksa of Arpad Baksa Architect to earn a LEED Gold from the U.S. Green Building Council, through conservation of energy, electricity, water, materials, and waste. The 19-story facility is the first hotel in New York to use a geothermal heating and cooling system and the first hotel in the U.S. to use thermal breaks on room terraces as insulation from hot and cold air.
Other green features include occupancy sensors which give a visual cue to staff when rooms are empty (for cleaning); a 500-square-foot, first-floor roof garden; and a bar/cafe with exclusively organic fair. In addition to mattresses and towels, soaps and robes are also certified organic.
“Going green is about reducing environmental impact during development and investing upfront to conserve in the future, without sacrificing the luxuries we associate with hospitality,” says Steve Ancona, president of Flatiron Real Estate Advisors. “In many cases the hotel experience will be improved by sustainable design.” Read more at ::Interiordesign.net ::GlobeSt.com ::GreenBuildingsNYC
"without sacrificing the luxuries we associate with hospitality" call me cynical, but I'm reading this as Yet Another Way for Rich People to Be Green.
yeah, economy, environment, equity ... which is missing?
wow. how cool is that? i know where i'll be staying the next time i'm in NYC! can we get one of those in LA too? so i can stay there when i'm down in Hollywood pitching my screenplays?
why does my intuition tell me my comment got censored.
i want one in miami so i can stay there when i fly down with my private jet to check out the organic fashion shows! or in the middle of the pristine jungles of the amazon ... mmmm
Great comments, as always. Obviously rich people should be discouraged from any kind of green practice or consciousness.
I will call you cynical. People, People, People
This is an improvement. Would you prefer a hotel that is NOT LEED certified. Dont argue more parks either. NYC rivals other metropolis' per square foot of green space avail and will have more. Who told you that it will cater to the rich? If you have to visit NYC then you can expect (on a good day) to spend b/t 300-400/night. Lets continue to find the positive until we see otherwise ..then perhaps revolt..until that time arrives see the goodness in what they are doing..theres plenty of it.
Personally I don't doubt the motives of the people who are building this hotel. I'm sure they have good intentions, so cynicism isn't really a factor.
I guess I could see this as a well-meaning, if somewhat overblown, attempt to help.
If we ever hope to build a sustainable society, eventually it will have to be affordable. I've bought organic food for years, but I can't afford Nau's $45 organic t-shirt. It's a rip-off.
I guess since the rich do most of the environmental damage it's good that they're working on that. I'd just rather see them working on the social damage they cause, too.
Well someone has to foot the bill until this stuff is affordable
I'm sorry y'all, for being such a pain. I'm just so frustrated to have done so much over the years, and to watch myself getting priced out of the movement. I've always wanted to do my part. I'm in a CSA, get my energy green, I've had two bikes stolen and may soon go for a third. And now it seems like I just can't afford to do my part anymore. That hurts. I go on a site like Nau and see that they don't need my kind to help, and it hurts.
I want to make people see, you don't have to buy a brand-new shirt to save the world, you can go to Goodwill. Sometimes it seems this site laughs at stuff like that, the heartiest, most basic, rough-around-the-edges solutions are dismissed as unmarketable or something. Fact is I'm just as much of a yuppie as I could accuse anyone else of being. (My cocktail: amaro, on the rocks.) But I believe in the other side of it too, the cruncy, smelly, hairy hippy stuff. I guess I just got mad. Sorry.
Isn't it always easier to go "green" when you are rich? Another way for these damn arrogant New Yorkers to say, hey, we are the best in everything! While their energy use is way higher than anyone else!
I think it's great that people can make a profit out of being environmentally friendly. After all, like it or not, if something is profitable people will do it. It's great that this hotel will be Gold LEED certified. Hopefully this will signal the industry that there is a demand for environmentally friendly hotels and encourage the creation of similar projects. I know next time I need a hotel in NYC where I'll be looking
Does anyone know how to get more info about this hotel? I would like to stay there.
thanks