Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre, Pune, is the only hotel in Pune and in the Marriott chain to be awarded LEED Gold Certification by the Indian Green Building Council. Balan Paravantavida, General Manager, gives a brief account of the eco-friendly initiatives taken by the hotel.
Energy Efficiency
The hotel has a comprehensive Integrated Building Management System to ensure the operation of technical equipment in an efficient manner. Motors, fans and lights are controlled as per the load requirements and ambient temperatures to ensure energy efficiency, we limit the usage of electricity on guest floors when occupancy is low. For servicing rooms, our housekeeping department uses natural daylight by opening the curtains rather than using artificial light. We control the lights in the back of the hotel through motion sensors and those in the public areas through timers. The hotel ensures that the refrigerant used in chillers and other refrigerated equipment is completely CFC free.
Maintaining hygiene standards
While designing the kitchens, there are various construction factors that have to be kept in mind to meet hygiene standards. The flooring should have non-absorbent tiles so as to prevent them from becoming oily and slippery.
Even though most of the products used in kitchen construction are of high grade stainless steel, the placement of equipment should be such that there are no gaps, to prevent pests and bacteria breeding. The cold rooms and walk-in refrigerators should be of high quality in order to maintain the desired temperatures for the storage of different kinds of food.
Waste Treatment
Kitchen waste is segregated from other wastes. The cooking oil is sent for re-use and recycling.
We also send metal and glass scrap for recycling. The hotel’s sewage or gray water is treated entirely by the latest technology of MBR and is in turn used for HVAC applications and guest room cisterns. We also ensure that the Pollution Control Board norms for treated effluents are completely adhered to. The hotel also utilises recycled water to clean outside areas such as the porch and in the WC flush of the guestrooms.
Green Measures
The hotel is designed to receive maximum daylight in most areas, including the lobby. Much of the open place in the hotel is covered with green landscaping. A close watch is also kept on carbon emissions and a constant effort is made to keep them within the limits set by the PCB. The hotel generates awareness on environmental issues amongst the guests through placing tent cards in rooms and inserting signatures about the same in all e-mail communication.
Cleaning chemicals and pesticides are eco friendly. We use Bac-Comber system for the treatment of cooling tower water rather than chemicals. BAC Comber system uses electromagnetism and ionization processes to treat water without the use of any chemicals. This has been applied for treating the HVAC cooling water in order to effectively control bacteria, scale, corrosion, algae and shrine. Even the chemicals involved in cleaning the floors and building maintenance activities are environment-friendly. Most of the cleaning chemicals are Green Seal certified to ensure the environmental standards are met.
Sharmila Chand
