There is no question that bamboo is a renewable resource, it’s a grass and grows very fast. Click here to expand and read more.
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Where oak takes 120 years to grow to maturity, bamboo can be harvested in three. It’s documented as a green material under LEED and as they said in Environmental Building News, “Environmentally, it’s hard to argue with a wood substitute that matures in three years, regenerates without the need for replanting, and requires nominal fertilization or pesticides.” You will find Bamboo Flooring throughout the first floor of Hotel Floyd.
Environmentally, it’s hard to argue with a wood alternate that matures in three years, In fact, the bigger species of bamboo have been used in building for thousands of years. In modern Asian cities it’s not unusual to see a large concrete building being built using bamboo scaffolding. To make bamboo flooring, the hollow round shoots are sliced into strips, which are boiled to remove the starch. The strips are dried and laminated into solid boards, which are then milled into standard strip flooring profiles. Bamboo is extremely fast-growing compared to hardwoods. On average, bamboo is capable of reaching maturity, at heights well over 50 feet, and is ready to harvest in five years. Additionally, since it is a grass, it is harvested again and again from the same plant. Compare that to an individual hardwood tree taking anywhere from three decades to more than a hundred years to mature, depending on the species.
Botanically, bamboo is not a wood at all, but rather a grass. Because bamboo is a grass rather than a tree, its finished appearance is very distinctive. Most distinctive is the eye-catching pattern of slightly darker bands produced by its nodes – a feature that clearly sets it apart from wood. Bamboo’s other aesthetic features include the tightness of its grain and the uniformity of its color. Bamboo is striking as a construction material because it is very rigid, tough, and dimensionally firm. Amazing as it may seem, this hollow, grass-family plant is actually stronger than most hardwoods. Some species of bamboo have obtained Janka hardness ratings higher than maple and nearly double that of red oak – the benchmark of hardwoods.
Bamboo is also very resilient and can take a greater impact than most hardwoods without denting. Hardness and resilience: a dynamic duo for durability. Other outstanding properties of bamboo are its dimensional stability and moisture resistance. Because bamboo flooring is a laminated product, the likeliness of gapping, cupping, or warping is greatly reduced.
Another factor that makes bamboo less likely to warp is that it grows in tropical regions. Therefore, it is naturally resistive to moisture. This makes it suitable for use in areas like bathrooms and kitchens where hardwood flooring is usually not recommended. Of course, being resistive to moisture means bamboo is also resistive to spills, and thus resistive to stains – certainly a desirable feature for any elegant floor.
From a social perspective, 6 million people in China work in bamboo and 600 million people worldwide rely on income from it. Nearly all bamboo flooring sold in North America is produced in the southern Chinese province of Hunan, in an area known as (the bamboo sea) for its massive bamboo forests. These forests are owned by the government, and individuals or companies can obtain contracts to harvest from them.
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With homeowners becoming increasingly aware about indoor air quality, it's good to know that Hotel Floyd applies the GreenSure designation to its environmentally preferred products. Click here to expand and read more.
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Going further than most third-party certifications, the GreenSure designation takes into consideration product performance and other criteria that impact the environment.
Only those products that offer maximum performance, long-term durability and have the highest indoor air quality ratings for low VOC and low odor and meet or exceed the GS-11 criteria for coatings used in Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certified buildings earn the GreenSure designation. (LEED certification means that certain green building standards are met, such as energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.)
We believe the optimal green coating should do two things: minimize the impact on air quality and deliver maximum performance. So we've developed the GreenSure symbol to help you identify the products that meet our highest green coating standards. Going further than most third-party certifications, the GreenSure designation takes into consideration product performance and other criteria that impact the environment.
- Products that offer maximum performance and long-term durability
- Have the highest indoor air quality ratings for low VOC and low odor
- Meet or exceed the GS-11 criteria for coatings used in LEED-certified buildings (LEED certification means that certain "green building" standards are met, such as energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.
Additional Resources: SherwinWilliams
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GeoThermal Technology uses the earth's renewable energy, just below the surface, to heat or cool a building, and to help provide hot water. Click here to expand and read more.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said they are, "the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available today." Hotel Floyd’s Geothermal Energy System burns no fossil fuel to produce heat; it generates far less green-house gas emissions than a conventional furnace, and completely eliminates a potential source of poisonous carbon monoxide within our building.
Guest of Hotel Floyd can relax and enjoy high-quality heating and cooling year after year and sleep comfortably knowing that they are leaving minimal footprints on our environment. Geo Exchange systems work on a different principle than an ordinary furnace/air conditioning system, and they require little maintenance or attention from us. Furnaces must create heat by burning a fuel--typically natural gas, propane, or fuel oil. With Geo Exchange systems, there’s no need to create heat, hence no need for chemical combustion. Instead, the Earth’s natural heat is collected in winter through a series of pipes, called a loop, installed below the surface of the ground or submersed in a pond or lake.
Fluid circulating in the loop carries this heat to Hotel Floyd. An indoor Geo Exchange system then uses electrically-driven compressors and heat exchangers in a vapor compression cycle (the same principle employed in a refrigerator) to concentrate the Earth’s energy and release it inside Hotel Floyd at a higher temperature. In typical systems, duct fans distribute the heat to various rooms.
In summer, the process is reversed in order to cool Hotel Floyd. Excess heat is drawn from the inn, expelled to the loop, and absorbed by the Earth. Geo Exchange systems provide cooling in the same way that a refrigerator keeps its contents cool, by drawing heat from the interior, not by injecting cold air.
Additional Resources: geoexchange.org , igshpa.okstate.edu , eerr,energy.gov
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Smart energy management can be key to conserve on electricity. Click here to expand and read more.
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Onity energy management solutions provide eco friendly power through energy savings and operational efficiencies, while improving guest comfort. Onity's energy management products merge digital temperature control with passive infrared occupancy sensing and temperature setback strategies, to create the latest energy-management technology in the industry today.
As the world's leading provider of electronic locks, in-room safes and energy management solutions, Onity offers a full spectrum of advanced facility management technology. With an integrated range of products and a vast global support network, they provide the power of 'innovative thinking' to maximize the efficiency of our operations today and into the future. It is with this information at had that Hotel Floyd decided to use their products.
ENERGY STAR is more than a label awarded for energy efficiency. It is a partnership among government, business, and consumers, united in the pursuit of a common goal—to protect our environment for future generations. Read more about ENERGYSTAR
“Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the rollout of the SensorStat® DDC with Senerlink™ is that it signals the beginning of a new era in in-room systems monitoring and data-retrieval,” Metivier said. “In the past, wireless energy management systems have only been available through infrared. This revolutionary new Senerlink™ wireless system based on RF technology will serve as the platform upon which all guestroom devices will be linked. The result will be a cost-saving, quick-return-on-investment, in-room system that will set the standard for the hotel industry.”
Additional Resources: OnitySecurity Company , HotelManagement Network
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No Hotel or company is truly "sustainable" yet. Click here to expand and read more.
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Sustainability cannot be reached by concentrating on just one or two of the three elements that are necessary to label one as SUSTAINABLE. The three elements are; economic, social and environmental. It takes all three to reach sustainability. That is why so many corporations and individuals are still searching. We, as humans, are quickly depleting the Earth's natural resources and need to drastically cut back if we expect industry to continue in the twenty-first century. We do tremendous damage every day to our local environment by sending huge amounts of waste to the landfill, in turn, damaging air, land and water.
Hotel Floyd is committed to reducing this waste and that is why we chose to buy our fabrics from Interface. Interface is a recognized leader in the commercial interiors market, offering floor coverings and fabrics. Interface is committed to the goal of sustainability and doing business in ways that minimize the impact on the environment. Today, Interface is promoting sustainable business practices-within the global community and in the products they make. At Hotel Floyd all of our upholstered furniture and window coverings were made from fabrics developed from Interface. It's our contribution to companies like Interface that are driven to become truly SUSTAINABLE.
Additional Resources: Guilfordof Maine , Interface Fabrics INC.
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