ITC Hotels, the first and largest chain of hotels in the world with maximum LEED Platinum Certified Properties, has been accorded another accolade: Welcomhotel Amritsar becomes Punjab’s first LEED Certified Hotel under the aegis of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Spread across eight acres, Welcomhotel Amritsar has achieved a Platinum rating under LEED 2011 for India NC (New Construction) program within just seven months of its launch.
Platinum rating is the highest category of certification preceded by Gold, Silver and Certified. Welcomhotel Amritsar met the coveted rating for energy efficiency by using 33 percent less energy, reducing the water consumption by 46 percent, developing rain water harvesting capacity of 30 percent of the peak rainfall, and reducing the cooling demand with over 75 percent of roof area covered with high Solar Reflective Index tiles, among many such sustainable initiatives.
In addition, Welcomhotel Amritsar uses 33 percent less energy than ASHRAE 90.1-2007 Baseline building performance, usage of non-ozone depleting gases for refrigeration. In terms of water efficiency, only treated recycled water is used for landscape, cooling tower and miscellaneous cleaning resulting in further reduction of water consumption as well as reduced water demand in cooling towers through automation.
Conforming to Sustainable Site Development, the hotel’s rain water harvesting capacity is 30 percent of the peak rainfall. This helps in reducing water demand and runoff. The project has protected and conserved many trees that existed and many were more than 50 years old and drought-tolerant native species. Over 75 percent of the roof area is covered with high Solar Reflective Index tiles, thereby reducing the cooling demand. Indoor Environment Quality has been enhanced by increased treated fresh air infusion for higher human productivity and better health with CO2 monitoring systems, greater occupant thermal comfort and Green Seal certified Housekeeping chemicals and equipment.
Special emphasis has been given to the Materials and Resources at Welcomhotel Amritsar. More than 50 percent of wooden products used in this project are FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified wood, More than 30 percent of civil and interior materials or products used were extracted, harvested, as well as manufactured, within 400 km of this project site.
Launched in November 2019, the Welcomhotel Amritsar is centered around a colonnaded mansion, which traces its origins to the early 1900s and has been restored. The 101-room hotel is located close to the airport and a short drive from the revered Golden Temple "Darbar Sahib." Historically, also known as Ramdaspur and colloquially as Ambarsar, Amritsar is home to the The Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple. Amritsar has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of the government of India.
ITC Hotels says it has always prided itself for being "future-ready:" Be it ITC Gardenia, the first LEED Platinum-certified hotel in Asia Pacific (2009) or ITC Maurya, the first hotel in the world to be awarded LEED Platinum in the existing building category (2010), or ITC Grand Chola, the largest LEED-certified hotel (2012).
ITC Hotels currently owns and manages 15 hotels under the Welcomhotel brand. There are 16 hotels in the pipeline, adding over 1,600 keys. ITC Hotels also has 18 LEED Platinum Certified Properties, including its corporate office, which was the first corporate building in India to be LEED Platinum-rated, as well as the biggest Platinum-rated green building in the world in 2004.
Related Stories
MGM Resorts’ Delano Las Vegas Set To Open July 1
GBTA: Business Travel Sector Showing Signs of Optimism, Bookings Resume
Kempinski Gets Ready For “New” Way of Hosting Meetings and Events