Sustainable Interior Design – How to upgrade your hotel for COP26 and beyond
In November this year, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), comes to Glasgow in what will be arguably one of the most important events to which the city has ever played host. It’s an amazing opportunity for venues in Glasgow, with delegates and world leaders from across the globe in attendance, Glasgow will be centre stage, leading the charge on sustainability and climate change, and pushing businesses and consumers alike to become more sustainable.
The city has been selected for COP because of our ambitious carbon neutrality targets (2030), the Sustainable Glasgow campaign – aiming to be one of the greenest cities in Europe, and because of our place as 4th in the world in the Global Destination Sustainability Index. But what does all of this mean for venues in Glasgow, and what should you be thinking about to get your space up to scratch for the international guests gracing our doorstep later this year? Here we explore what it actually means to build sustainability into interior design and what you can do to make sure you’re leading the charge and meeting the expectations of guests of the future.
What sustainability means to us
So, sustainability, where do we start?
We wanted to start by acknowledging that for commercial spaces (hotels and hospitality), building codes, fire regulations, and ultimately guest safety needs to come at the forefront of any decisions being made in design.
So for us, sustainability is about making the right choices, always pushing for a more environmentally friendly option, making informed decisions about the suppliers we use, the features we recommend, and always challenging ourselves to do more while the industry catches up with the times.
We know the industry as a whole is working hard to meet green targets set at group level, but the impact of the pandemic is making this a huge challenge. The investment required in the short term to hit long-term targets is difficult to secure when many businesses are simply working to recover. To really achieve successful sustainability – the industry might need some support.
How to sustainably update your venue ready for the global stage of COP26?
We’re not going to sit here and tell you that the first step to preparing for COP26 is to rip out your interiors and start on a full refurb – that would defeat the purpose. In the spirit of true sustainability, there’s no getting around the fact that the most sustainable design is the one that’s already in place.
But if your venue is in need of an upgrade or a refresh after a year of turbulent times and a bit of neglect, or if there are elements in your venue that have naturally reached the end of their life (let’s face it – not everything from the 70s was built to last!), we hope these tips will be a helpful guide to how your venue can put its best foot forward, without the blowback of having created more waste.
Step one – avoid gimmicks and stay local
As sustainability becomes a focus in the public eye, we’re starting to see more and more options around recycled furniture or repurposed waste build into fixtures and furnishings. But it’s worth bearing in mind that recycled doesn’t always mean sustainable – a lot of these products might have intense manufacturing processes or require collection or international shipping which can contribute to the item’s carbon footprint.
At current growth rates, shipping could represent some 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, so sourcing your materials from local suppliers and manufacturers can go a long way to reducing your carbon footprint.
Aside from the environmental impact, using local suppliers helps stimulate the economy, provides support to small businesses, and creates an authenticity in your interior design that keeps it locally relevant. Some of our recent work in Glasgow has really championed the history and culture of the area, like our recent project with Hilton Glasgow – read more about it here. Working with a local interior design firm with suppliers and contractor connections in the local area is a great way to avoid adding to your carbon footprint.
Step two – research the supply chain
It’s all very well picking local or UK based suppliers, but if the production of their materials involves shipping parts from across the globe, then you’ve not really hit your goal. Make sure to research your suppliers and contractors and push them to make their own supply chain more sustainable.
Supporting your suppliers in changing their supply chain is important, and avoiding doing so could be short-sighted. According to GlobalData’s Q3 2019 Consumer Survey, 49% of Millennials actively choose products that are environmentally friendly. Travelers, guests, customers – they shop with their feet, and as consumer trends move towards a push for sustainability you don’t want to be left behind.
Step three – keep what you can, and be innovative with your waste
In any refurbishment project, we start by reviewing what can be kept and reused in our new designs. Some items might be good as they are, others needing a bit of a touch-up, and some naturally at the end of their life or no longer fit for purpose.
This is where guest safety comes back in. In a residential setting, you have multiple options for upcycling and reusing key pieces, but the standards are different for commercial use. Fire safety is a really important one, when you’re designing in a commercial setting and renovating at scale, you might want to reuse or refresh some of the furniture you have. If, on inspection, the pieces no longer meet the current fire safety certifications – these are no longer safe to use in a commercial setting.
But that doesn’t need to be the end of the conversation. While the items are no longer of use to you, there might be an alternative way to repurpose them without sending them to landfill. In our current refurbishment project, any unused furnishings are being donated to the British Heart Foundation, the charity will have their pick of the spoils to use in whatever way they see fit.
Step four – make sustainable choices in the items you want to change
Tale as long as time, LED light fittings, paper straws, reduction in towel washing – these options for sustainability are well known by brands and consumers alike. But quite frankly, these changes simply aren’t enough anymore. We need to, as an industry, start exploring options where we can make a more… sustainable… change.
One option we know is a good opportunity for the hotel industry is water consumption. Looking at options like sensor taps with low flow rates can also reduce the wastage without impacting negatively on guest experiences.
Another option is the reduction of one-use items like toiletries across the hotel. Ask your interior designer to explore refill systems that don’t compromise on quality or aesthetic.
Step five – become sustainable over time
As we touched on earlier, it’s so important to be making informed choices and not getting swept up in the gimmicks. It’s important to consider the long-term impact of the choice you made as that’s really the point of sustainability. While selecting what appears to be a more “environmentally friendly” option in the short term, the longevity of your choices plays an important role. While we might recommend a paint choice that might not appear the best option, the choice we’ve made is down to the fact it lasts over time. Regularly repainting isn’t required because the choice is hard wearing and easily cleaned. It’s easy wipe, so toxic cleaning chemicals aren’t required. It’s the same with furnishings, especially in the light of Covid, suppliers are looking to apply antimicrobial layers to lacquers, paints and fabrics to reduce surface bacteria – keeping us safe and minimising the cleaning and maintenance chemicals required.
As we said, the aim of this blog is not to encourage the mass exodus of all non-sustainable items from years gone by. The purpose is to start to make these changes going forward so we become part of the solution.