Der Feldberger Hof – als 1. klimaneutrales Hotel Deutschlands, auch in Sachen Umweltfreundlichkeit einfach spitze!
The Feldberger Hof – Germany’s first carbon-neutral hotel: Top when it comes to the environment too!
The Feldberger Hof is not only a top class family hotel, it is also a pioneer when it comes to environmental protection. Its responsibility stems from its location: The Feldberger Hof is located in Baden-Württemberg’s largest nature reserve at an altitude of 1,300 meters. No wonder then that the hotel has been committed to environmental and climate protection for years. In cooperation with ClimatePartner, a strategy consultant for voluntary climate protection, Germany’s highest four-start hotel has now become carbon-neutral across the board.
As part of this integrated commitment, the focus was on extensive renovation efforts which helped to avoid the greenhouse gas CO2 being emitted in the first place or substantially reducing it. For instance, the Feldberger Hof’s previous oil heating was replaced with a modern co-generation power plant fuelled by wood chips and extended to include smart building control technology. These measures led to savings of over 600 tonnes of CO2 as well as 300,000 litres of heating oil.
The wide-ranging climate protection package is rounded out by the hotel’s excellent connections to local transport, the trains and buses are free for our guests, as well as other more minor measures.
Since 1 July 2007, all additional and unavoidable CO2 emissions produced during the operation of the Feldberger Hof have been calculated by ClimatePartner and offset with environmentally valuable emission reduction certificates from recognised and certified climate protection projects.
„In order to become Germany’s first carbon-neutral hotel, we are offsetting around 800 tonnes of CO2 in the coming months,“ explains Thomas Banhardt, Managing Directior of the Feldberger Hof. He continues „Our commitment to climate protection is intended not only to be thought provoking, but also to raise awareness among visiting families and hopefully encourage others to follow in our footsteps.“
The Feldberger Hof as first carbon-neutral hotel in Germany
We have been committed to environmental and climate protection for years. We follow a guideline of prevention, reduction and compensation.
What does it mean to be carbon-neutral?
Companies, products and services are carbon neutral, if their carbon footprint was calculated and offset with emission reduction certificates.
What does climate protection mean for us and how do we participate?
The aim of climate protection is the reduced emission of greenhouse gases such as CO2 and thus limit the greenhouse effect. In the beginning of all climate change activities stands the calculation of the current CO2 emissions, which are caused by a company, product or service. The aim is then to reduce and prevent these emissions. We can then offset unavoidable emissions by investments into internationally recognized climate protection programs worldwide.
What are recognized, worldwide climate protection projects?
Climate protection programs save CO2 emissions, for instance, by building a wind power plant instead of a coal-fired power plant. These savings are tradable – in the form of emission reduction certificates. This mechanism enables the support of sustainable development and prevention of CO2 emissions worldwide. To do so, different types of climate protection projects are implemented – for example: hydroelectric power plants, biomass systems and wind parks, as well as projects for reforestation and forest conservation.
Which specific measures did the Familotel Feldberger Hof take in the last years to reduce their CO2 mmissions?
In the last years, extensive renovations were carried out to update the entire complex of the Feldberger Hof to the newest technical and environment-friendly standards. The power consumption thus decreased considerably with the help of smart building control technologies and other saving measures such as the use of energy-saving lamps throughout the hotel. Additionally, the Feldberger Hof purchases its electricity from the Energie Netze AG, which offer very climate‑friendly electricity compared to other German providers. They gain about 61 % of their power from sustainable energy sources, while conventional electricity providers commonly gain only about 11 % from renewable energies.
Further measures included
- Installation of a modern cogeneration plant powered by wood chips
- smart computer-based building control technologies
- Free public transport for guests
- Use of regionally sourced products
- 70 % of our employees live nearby the hotel
- Electricity from renewable energy sources (water and sun)
- Thermal insulation at the glass front – 30 % of the heat can thus be retained within the hotel apartments
- Installation of time switches in the personnel area and throughout all warehouses
- District heat connection to all buildings
- Conversion of the lighting systems to EVG-lamps with presence detectors in kitchen and basement areas, hotel hallways and hotel rooms– energy savings of up to 60 %
- Conversion of light-switches to radio systems in all rooms
- Updating all general lighting with saver light sources by Osram – energy savings of 30 - 40 %
- Water boiler with heat recovery
- Water-free urinals
- Connection of tumble dryers to the preheating system
- Water used for cleaning the pool filters is reused as waste water for the public toilets
How much CO2 is currently still emitted by the hotel?
Thanks to the use of green electricity provided by Naturenergie, the hotel’s power consumption currently emits 0 tonnes of CO2. The consumption per night including guests amounts to roughly 6 kg. Usually, 30 to 60 kg of CO2 emissions are caused per guest. The Feldberger Hof neutralizes the “small” remaining but unavoidable emissions of about 700 tonnes by investments into high-quality climate protection projects.