Designed by Delhi-based architect Rajinder Kumar, the hotel’s exterior uses beige Indian sandstone from Gwalior
and Malaysian red bricks interspersed with panels of specially treated smoked oak and strips of matt copper. The later material was used on the roof, while the floor is clad in blonde Italian marble. The hotel’s interiors have been created by UK-based designer Francesca Basu, with constant references to nature and the gardenia flower. Green features within the hotel include natural ventilation, a vertical hanging garden which is irrigated with recycled
water, rainwater harvesting, energy efficient lighting and a waste recycling programme. Rao adds that ITC is pursuing a green approach for the long-term economic benefits: “The initial investment that
goes into a green building, and all its green technology, is made with a view to a very handsome return in the long term. For instance, the Gardenia’s built-up space consumes approximately 35 percent less energy than a similar luxury hotel which is not green. You have to spend to save, so the initial investment is really necessary. “The amount of non-air conditioned space in the hotel translates to a direct saving of electricity every day. Now the
energy standard in India, for a large luxury hotel that practises energy conservation, is about 750 kilocalories per square foot. Our hotel achieved an incredible 550 kilocalories per square feet, a month after we opened.” Yet Rao believes that energy consumption can be brought down even further, to around 500 kilocalories per square
foot. He explains: “We have just opened so not all of the facilities have fallen into place. In a year we should be operating at peak efficiency.”
ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES
Rao outlines the various challenges that the team encountered along the way. He says: “I think the biggest challenge was getting the design of the hotel right from the inception. You can’t create a hotel and then decide it’s going to be a green building – you’ve first got to decide it’s going to be a green and then get your architects and interior designers, and everybody else associated with the project, to turn the concept into a green building. We had to conform to the most exacting standards of the US Green Building Council and the Indian Green Building Council.” First of all, the team had to overcome an environmental issue posed by the site itself. Rao adds: “The hotel has
a wonderful location but there were a lot of old trees in the construction area, and one of the first decisions was to conserve these trees. Based on the directive of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, we took the trees and transplanted them in a new location, which was a gargantuan task in itself.” Needless to say, the execution of the project presented numerous obstacles, namely the successful delivery of a
naturally ventilated lobby. Rao explains: “When you enter the hotel you’re not stepping into a normal air-conditioned lobby – it’s naturally cooled by wind blowing through. This posed a few challenges before we opened. Firstly we had to make sure that when it rains, the water does not enter the lobby through the ventilation openings. When the lobby was three quarters complete we discovered that it may be a problem, so the architect devised measures to combat the issue.
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The initial investment that goes into a green building, and all its green technology, is made with a view to a very handsome return in the long term
apr-may 2010
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