CASE STUDY
Making a Titanic
effort to be green?
Can visitors to spas automatically expect them to be green? Lucia Cockcroft argues that
eco credentials are not necessarily a given in such establishments.
C
an a spa - by its nature energy private water bore hole providing pure, “Just about every environmentally sound
and water intensive - really be untreated drinking water and water for the move we have made, operationally, has made
environmentally friendly? showers and swimming pool. the business more profitable. For example, we
a growing mass of Electricity is supplied by photovoltaic roof paid to have our two water fountains plugged
marketing literature would have you believe so tiles, while heat for the building is produced into our bore hole. It was an up-front cost but
as the number of spas trumpeting themselves by a solar panels and a biomass generator meant that we didn’t have to pay for lorries to
as sustainable continue to spring up across the that burns chippings from industrial waste. drive the water in on an ongoing basis.”
globe. no industry is immune from the need Laundry is washed on cold, using “minimal” Burton estimates the energy-saving
to be environmentally aware; and evidence chemicals, and there are recycling bins on devices, such as the biomass generator, save
suggests the spa sector is realising this, albeit a site for the spa and its guest apartments. a Titanic Spa around £250 a month. He does
little late in the day. statement from the spa says glass, card, paper admit, however that there’s a fine line to draw
a 2007 forecast by SpaFinder noted that and plastic will be re-used. between preserving the environment and
spas’ mantra of body, mind, spirit is now a CO2 management company measures keeping the punters happy.
extending past the ‘self’ to include the planet CO2 levels and displays them on a live board “It’s still a commercial spa and we provide
at large. Increasingly, consumers are becoming in the reception area for the apartments, a great service. But when new technologies
demanding and are seeking out spas that do measuring the carbon savings for the day and come around it’s a question of not offending
more than just recycle and offer organic food the production of electricity through the roof the customer experience - for example still
- already ‘givens’. tiles. offering towels and selling coffee. It’s about
all spas believing in the green agenda According to Warrick Burton, Titanic’s spa compromise - indulgence with a conscience.”
should pass a check-list, the report continues: director, owners David Wilkinson Yet while Titanic’s structural eco-
including offering organic products for sale; and Eileen Harrison of Property credentials are sound, first-hand
making good use of natural light; recycling as Renaissance initially planned experience of the spa would suggest
much as possible and showing respect for the to sell off the ground floor to a there’s plenty more the business could
natural environment. leisure consortium before the be doing to warrant its claims of
additional watch-points are working with venture evolved to become sustainability.
local charities; the use of energy-efficient a spa. The spa’s spacious guest apartments
lighting, low-flow toilets and using alternative Burton is reassuringly certain are slickly kitted out with mezzanine
energy sources such as solar and wind power. that the building’s eco credentials floors and contemporary
Holding the flag for the fledgling eco spa enjoy tangible business kitchens - but I found
movement in the UK is Titanic Spa, near advantages. “There is any real evidence
Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. Relatively a strong business of environmental
remote and flanked by moorland, it’s a fitting case”, he commitment
location for a product that claims to be the says. decidedly thin
UK’s first ‘eco spa’. on the ground.
On paper, its pedigree is impressive. The There are
beautifully restored textile mill, built in
1911 when the doomed vessel was
commissioned, boasts a plethora of
structural sustainable features
that have cost a cool
£1.5m to install.
These include
a 100m
deep
SuStainabLe SoLutionS December/January 2009
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