Cebu City hotel cited for best green practices

A CEBU City hotel was recently added to the roster of Zero Carbon Resorts (ZCR) of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) yesterday.

The ZCR, an initiative funded by the European Union to encourage tourism stakeholders to help reduce energy and resource use, cited West Gorordo Hotel (WGH) for using light emitting diode (LED) bulbs and fixtures.

“Our hotel doesn’t look like a conventional hotel but there is a way to live in a sustainable manner and therefore be able to contribute to change,” said Joel Lee of WGH.

Aside from launching the hotel’s official membership in ZCR, hotel officials also gave a presentation on greening which they hoped would be practiced in the community.

WGH Chief Stewarding Officer Edna Lee said they started greening about five years ago.

“There are ways to do what you want but still meet your finances,” she said.

Edna said some of their eco-practices that can also be done at home include using reclaimed wood in their counters and partitions in the first and second floor.

The wood came from seven to eight year-old dry wood from a demolished building.

As a 100 percent LED lighted hotel, Edna said they saved on costs by buying fewer LED lights (see photo on Page 3).

“You don’t need to light up every single corner of your house so we first did an audit of our lights and see where we need our lights and then we reduced the number of lights by 60 percent. You only light where it is needed,” Edna said.

Edna said if fluorescent lights are replaced, the energy bill can go down to 20 to 40 percent depending on consumption.

Edna said the hotel also has its own garden filled with medicinal herbs.

She said they have a rainwater receiving station in the driveway which wasn’t cemented to allow rainwater to flow freely.

The hotel also has air wells which help circulate the air throughout the building.

“In your homes, look for places where the air can circulate. That hole is going to cover the hole in your pocket every time the electric bill comes,” Edna said.

“In nature, things have multiple purposes. For people and hotels to live in a sustainable manner, we have to think differently and change the way we do things (to help protect our environment),” the hotel officer added. /Kristine Ann M. Fernandez, Silliman University Intern