Destination DC has mapped out a Sustainability District in the nation’s capital devoted to community, climate and clean energy. It is less a geographic region than it is a demonstration of best practices in venues. I recently visited and came up with these strategies for finding responsible partners.
Purpose Driven
My tour started with Eaton Workshop, the brand’s flagship property on K Street (the sister property Eaton HK is in Hong Kong, the birthplace of founder Katerine Lo) that opened to great acclaim in 2018. The former bus terminal and printing house was designed with a nod to golden-era newsrooms and historic and current countercultural movements. The union hotel operates based on a triple bottom line to benefit people, planet (LEED Gold-certified) and profit.
Read More: Sustainable Event Planning- Action Steps to Lasting Strategy
The building walks lightly by catching and recycling rainwater, employing an aerobic digester for food waste, managing an organic rooftop garden and using energy-efficient lighting, heating and cooling, and water flow technologies. Eaton Workshop’s 209 guest rooms have an earthy, residential feel with record players and framed photos from hotel “fellows,” the preferred name for employees.
The property also elevates culture with a DJ radio booth, art galleries, community center/coworking space and local programming in the 56-seat cinema (also available for group rental as part of 12,000 sq. ft. of total event space). Each of the modern spaces reflect natural light off the concrete floors and exposed bright to demonstrate the ethos that, “Gatherings inspire, nourish and motivate us.”
Most enlightening was a sun-drenched wellness area custom-designed for yoga, meditation and group classes. Spa treatments and infrared saunas are available as well. “Our mission is to help us heal personally while building energy around generating a positive impact in our communities, both locally and globally,” reads the description of the company’s wellness pillar.
Because you can’t build community on an empty stomach, the rooftop space pairs a less-than-subtle Zoe Charlton mural with music, cocktails and tacos.
As an official member of the Regenerative Travel movement, improving ecosystems is the true bottom line.
Sustainable Luxury
Warm hospitality surrounds guests from the first step inside the gold, black and marble lobby of Four Star Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown. Area Director of Public Relations Diana Bulger calls it the “art of togetherness” and after a recent renovation, the buzzy Colonnade ballroom that has long served as a favorite for corporate and social gatherings is greener than ever.
Read More: Sustainable Hotel Certification, Explained
The Energy Star-certified property features LED lighting, even in the elegant chandeliers. Used cooking oil and grease from Juniper restaurant are turned into biodiesel.
Rooftop beehives help with the problem of disappearing habitat and feed the lobby lounge bee-tini program.
In the 20 unique, soundproof venues, including the ballroom space and tiered theater, the latest audiovisual technology gets an A+ for energy efficiency and functionality.
The 413 guest rooms feature refined details such as crown molding and nods to the central location. You can upgrade VIPs with Fairmont Gold lounge access for an exclusive hotel-within-a-hotel feel.
While the property boasts 33 suites, one has been designed to pay homage to Nathan “Nearest” Green, a formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniels his whiskey-making secrets and was the first distiller for the now-famous company. The story of the influential African-American is told in the guest room as a collaboration with Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, which is featured in the 1,500-square-foot room. A portion of each stay will be donated to the Nearest Green Legacy Scholarship for first-time college scholarships to his direct descendants.
Steeped in Best Environmental Practices
Across the street from Fairmont, Four Star Park Hyatt Washington DC features an herb garden in addition to apiaries. The thoughtful culinary program for award-winning Blue Duck Tavern and the catering team starts in the tea cellar, where rare and vintage options are curated and served in the style of the biodynamic and fine wines served in the restaurant.
Read More: Better Than Sustainable—Regenerative Travel
Director of Culinary and F&B Operations Jean-Claude Plihon spilled the details in a back-of-house tour that included an examination of color-coded garbage bins where the team from Maryland’s Compost Crew takes in some 600 pounds a week in scraps from the kitchen and what comes back from service and returns compost for the rooftop garden. Less than 50% of waste goes to a landfill.
Plihon named off the local farms that supply the steaks, eggs and produce for the massive open-concept kitchen following Hyatt’s philosophy of “food thoughtfully sourced and carefully served.” Plant-based and plant-forward menus are available in and out of the restaurant.
Conservation measures also extend to the 12,000 sq. ft. of dramatic meeting space where the LED lighting is on sensors to manage lighting and temperature. Performance is tracked using Hyatt EcoTrack. Water stations help everyone stay hydrated without disposable plastics. Even the Le Labo amenities in the 220 guest rooms are vegan and cruelty-free.
“It is the right thing to do,” he said.
A Local Connection
Location is everything when trying to conserve greenhouse gas emissions from transportation of people and product. Embassy Suites by Hilton Washington DC Convention Center is both conveniently located to where groups need to be and recently renovated to shrink its environmental footprint while making a grand impression.
General Manager David Kasprzyk, who is on the board of the Sustainability District, proudly points to the property’s 40% reduction of food waste and conversion to LED lighting along with the installation of filtration stations. Plastic has been eliminated from the break room and the emphasis is on locally sourced food in the popular breakfast buffet, again reducing the need for long-haul transportation.
Read More: What to Ask Your Hotel About Sustainable Dining
The decor in the wood and marbled lobby and the 388 guest rooms celebrate the vibrant Shaw neighborhood and its musical roots, doubling down on the local connection while enhancing a sense of place beyond its government connection.
More than 8,000 sq. ft. of meeting space is on one dedicated floor with a central access point so no one has to walk too far and two groups can have their own space. “We are very creative in how we accommodate and set up groups so everyone feels special,” Kasprzyk said.
AGU Earth-Friendly Benchmarks
The environmental measures convention hotels in the city have taken are impressive and a big help to planners looking to leverage those steps in their programming. You could say they had one of the best role models for walking lightly on the earth in their backyard.
When the American Geophysical Union (AGU) rebuilt its 1994 headquarters on Florida Avenue in 2015, it was as if the designers said, “hold my filtered, recycled rainwater” and then set the bar for what is possible.
Matthew Boyd, NetZero building operations director, led a tour of the LEED Platinum-certified building, which actually produces the same or more energy through 700 photovoltaic solar panels than it consumes through its low voltage lights and workstations each year. Any extra energy generated is contributed to the city’s power grid.
That generated power is enough to power the building due to some innovative reduction, reclamation and absorption systems included in its renovation. A radiant hydroponic cooling system circulates chilled water through pipes in building, a more efficient alternative to traditional air-blown heating and cooling.
Pre-conditioned air from inside the building is circulated through the root systems of the living wall that spans the height of the building when possible, saving as much as 30% of building energy needs. A linked dedicated outdoor air system offers ventilation and humidity control. Heat is borrowed from the city’s municipal wastewater system as it flows through the building, the first application of a Huber sewer heat exchanger in North America.
Rainwater irrigates the green roof and walls and is used in toilets. More than 11,000 sq. ft. of windows feature SageGlass Lightzone, a triple-pane smartglass that controls daylight, heat and glare by adjusting the tint based on outside conditions. Bonus, they connect to interior lights to maximize bulb efficiency. The three panes also act as acoustic barriers, blocking nose from the surrounding streets.
AGU reports on how the systems perform each year and acts as a resource to others looking to incorporate similar measures as part of an education mandate. AGU also rents meeting space for groups who want to experience the building during their programs. While I was there, a reception was staging in the interactive education area and I could see it would be a natural place to start conversations about a better future with a drink in hand.
