Environment & Sustainability

Working with sustainability and the environment is important to us at KUST Hotel & Spa, and in the transition to a sustainable society, we as a company have a very important role to play.

 

At KUST Hotel & Spa, we continuously work to try to reduce our environmental and climate footprint, both in small and large ways.

Part of our sustainability efforts is closely tied to consumption and resources, such as food and drink, energy, water, and chemicals. Streamlining and reducing resource use not only provides better environmental performance but also lower costs.

Since the hotel was built in 2016, these points have been our prioritized issues:

• Optimized heating/cooling
• Reduced energy consumption
• Reduced water consumption
• Building materials
• Sustainable furnishings
• Sustainable products
• Reduced use of consumables
• Reduced food waste
• Locally produced food and vegetarian options as much as possible
• Handling of hazardous waste and recycling
• Continuous maintenance of the property
• Pleasant work environment for staff

 

Energy Consumption

When we built the hotel, we chose to drill as many as 53 geothermal wells. Each well is 300 meters deep and has a total volume of nearly 1.6 miles. The wells provide the entire building with so-called geo-energy, which covers all of our heating needs in winter and free cooling in summer.

We also have:

• Lighting in public areas and staff areas is controlled by motion sensors
• Lighting in hotel rooms is turned off when guests leave the room and take their key card with them
• Lighting in the hotel, spa, and restaurant is energy-efficient LED or low-energy fixtures
• Presence-controlled ventilation in all rooms
• “Stay Cleaning” means we do not wash bed linen and towels every day, unless the guest wishes otherwise. In this way, we reduce the consumption of both water, electricity, and chemicals
• Motion sensors on all washbasin faucets to avoid unnecessary water use
• Water-saving toilets

Building Materials & Furnishings

We have an ambition to use recycled materials both when constructing and furnishing our hotel to give used products new life. We also want the hotel’s furnishings to last a long time. Therefore, we choose quality that withstands the test of time, to avoid “use and throw away”.

Examples of this are:

• The carpets in the hotel are made from recycled fishing nets collected from the sea and instead given new life through reuse
• During the construction of the hotel, all fixed furnishings were built on site by a local carpentry shop
• The concrete in KUST’s facade contains titanium dioxide, which eats pollutants and thus helps improve outdoor air quality and reduces the levels of nitrogen oxides from our surrounding street traffic. Our concrete facade (Tiomix) “eats” nitrogen oxides from the surrounding air and acts as an air purifier; one could say that the concrete facade corresponds to the carbon dioxide absorption of a couple of thousand trees in the city center
• Our purchases are guided by the principle of “sustainability and quality over time”
• Whenever possible, furniture that needs replacing is reused
• Furnishings and materials receive ongoing maintenance to avoid new purchases

The concrete facade at KUST contains titanium dioxide (TiOmix), which has photocatalytic properties. When the facade is exposed to sunlight, the titanium dioxide can help break down nitrogen oxides and other air pollutants. In this way, the facade can contribute to better air quality in the surrounding urban environment.

The facade is an example of how we chose materials with environmental properties right from the construction phase as part of the hotel’s sustainability efforts. Among other things, for the investment in the facade, KUST Hotel & Spa was awarded the Environmental Prize of the Year at the Concrete Gala in 2017.

Food Waste

As a restaurant business, our ambition is to actively contribute to reducing food waste, something we have done by:

• Having smaller plate sizes in the breakfast service
• Breakfast and conference meals served buffet-style are refilled more often and in smaller quantities to reduce the risk of throwing away food that has been left out

Recycling

We are meticulous about recycling both at the hotel, restaurant, and spa.

Recycling is clearly organized and easily accessible for all staff to facilitate handling.