INSPIRA | ECO-TOURISM Green with Envy A stylish new Lisbon hotel is leading the way in environmental sustainability. Paul Bernhardt reports O
ne of Lisbon’s newest hotels is also its greenest. Inspira Santa Marta, a
contemporary-styled four-star property located in Rua de Santa Marta, is currently the only hotel in the city with Green Globe Certification.
Green Globe is recognised as the premier international environmental benchmarking and certification programme. Te certificate is bestowed upon travel and tourism businesses that successfully meet a range of environmental sustainability criteria set by the organization. Recipients must also be seen to actively promote environmentally sustainable development through management and operations.
Former Inspira Group CEO Daniel Frey and Nicolas Roucos, who is the hotel’s general
manager, spearheaded the hotel’s start-up. (Frey, who defined much of the corporate and environmental strategy, has since leſt to develop new projects.)
During its construction the hotel’s developers used building materials, products and equipment chosen for their minimal impact on the environment. Energy and resource efficiency were two important considerations. So, too, was waste management.
Achieving a healthier and more comfortable environment for both guests and employees was paramount. Designers and managers worked together to draw up blueprints that integrated eco-friendly design elements with low cost performance. Te proposals embraced the principles of Feng Shui – the ancient
Chinese system of aesthetics – to achieve a greater sense of balance and harmony.
Te result is a modern and efficient city centre hotel – a so-called ‘Urban Retreat’ – whose core values address some of the most urgent environmental challenges of the 21st century.
Minimising the carbon footprint is the new lifestyle, believes Roucos. “Reduce, reuse, recycle and respect. Tese are the hotel’s themes.”
Some of the eco-initiatives are deceptively subtle. Te shampoo, gel and soap placed in bathrooms are biodegradable and come in recycled containers – a fact lost on most guests. “But this has encouraged a greener supply chain,” says Roucos, “and other hotels have begun using the same products.”
www.portugal-life.net | Summer 2011 | 60
Inspira’s lobby makes excellent use of natural wood
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