The Oterra, a 5-star hotel in Bengaluru, India, is an exemplary model in the hospitality industry for its commitment to sustainability and its efforts toward achieving a net-zero carbon footprint.
Leading Way to Sustainability: The Oterra Bengaluru's Journey to A Net Zero 5-Star Hotel
This case study explores the hotel’s initiatives in reducing its carbon emissions and its transition to using 100% renewable energy.
Overview
The Oterra, a 5-star hotel in Bengaluru, India, is an exemplary model in the hospitality industry for its commitment to sustainability and its efforts toward achieving a net-zero carbon footprint. This case study explores the hotel’s initiatives in reducing its carbon emissions and its transition to using 100% renewable energy.
Understanding Net Zero
"Net Zero" refers to the process of reducing carbon emissions to a minimal level, where any residual emissions are absorbed and stored by natural processes or other carbon dioxide removal methods, effectively leaving zero emissions in the atmosphere. Common renewable energy sources used to achieve this include wind and solar energy.
Energy Consumption in a 5-Star Hotel
Operating a 5-star hotel involves substantial energy use. With over 100 guest rooms and an average occupancy rate of 70%, a hotel like The Oterra accommodates approximately 25,200 guests annually. This high level of occupancy results in significant energy consumption across multiple areas, including:
- Guest Rooms: Air conditioning and other electrical appliances used by guests.
- Lobby and Public Areas: Lighting, elevator operation, and electronic devices.
- Kitchen: Fossil-fuelled cooking ranges, refrigerators, ovens, and other electrical equipment. Traditional tandoor ovens also pose a challenge for controlling carbon emissions.
- Exterior Maintenance: Outdoor lighting, watering plants, and lawn maintenance using mowers.
- Laundry Operations: The hotel’s extensive laundry services consume large amounts of energy, as do Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) and Sewage Treatment Plants (STP). These operations, combined with other day-to-day activities, lead to substantial carbon emissions, highlighting the need for energy-efficient solutions.
- Water Consumption: Given the same occupancy rate, water consumption is another major area of resource use in a hotel. Water is utilized across various areas, including guest rooms, kitchens, restaurants, staff areas, and gardens. The equipment and appliances involved in these processes also contribute to energy usage.
- Paper Usage: The Oterra’s administrative and communication needs generate significant paper use, which affects biodiversity and carbon absorption capacity due to the demand for plant-based materials.
Now let’s know the Initiatives of The Oterra Bengaluru towards Net Zero
The Oterra has implemented a range of sustainable practices to achieve its net-zero goals:
- 100% Renewable Energy Usage: The hotel sources all its energy needs from renewable sources through Greenko Group. The distributor mobilizes energy from various renewable resources, ensuring that the hotel operates on clean energy throughout the year.
- Energy Monitoring and Efficiency: Energy meters are installed throughout the property to monitor and regulate consumption effectively.
The hotel uses 100% LED lighting, energy-efficient HVAC systems, and heat pumps.
Minibars are unplugged unless items are requested by guests, and power supply in rooms is controlled by key cards to minimize unnecessary energy usage. - Sustainable Cooking Practices: All LPG equipment in the kitchen has been replaced with electric alternatives.
Tandoor ovens use coconut shell charcoal, which emits less carbon than traditional wood charcoal. - Water Management: The hotel utilizes a combination of tanker and groundwater sources, complemented by rainwater harvesting.
The Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) enables 100% water recycling, with recycled water reused on-site and excess supplied to neighbouring tech parks for gardening.
An in-house water bottling plant eliminates the need for plastic bottles. - Waste Management: The hotel adheres to local ELCITA guidelines, ensuring 100% on-site garbage segregation. None of the waste collected is sent to landfills.
Room amenities are provided only on request, and bathroom products are offered in wall-mounted dispensers to minimize single-use plastics. - Sustainable Guest Amenities: All printing and stationery are made from recycled materials, and most administrative work is conducted electronically.
A linen reuse program encourages guests to opt out of daily linen changes to support water conservation efforts. - Electric Vehicle Transportation: The Oterra provides 100% electric vehicles for guest transportation and extends this service to neighbouring companies, reducing overall carbon emissions in the area.
- Carbon Emission Monitoring and Offsetting: An independent certified auditor calculates the hotel’s carbon emissions monthly. Based on these calculations, the hotel purchases renewable energy certificates to offset any remaining emissions. Importantly the hotel has a green area spreading over 1000 square meter, having excellent biodiversity which helps in absorbing the carbon emissions.
Conclusion
The Oterra Bengaluru serves as a benchmark for other hotels in the region and beyond, demonstrating that luxury hospitality can align with environmental sustainability by implementing innovative energy appliances, water, and waste management solutions and having good biodiversity within the premises. The Oterra continues to lead the way toward a net-zero future in the hospitality industry at present.
The case story of the hotel “The Oterra” Bengaluru in discussion with its General Manager.
Dr Jagat Mangaraj
Jagatmangaraj.in