The water in the Rossneckar canal flows fast, so fast that it would be dangerous to fall in. Hotel manager Thomas Puchan therefore has to warn some guests not to lean too far over the railing of the hotel terrace. But precisely because of its high flow rate, the canal, which kept flowing reliably through its narrow bed and driving the turbines even during the continuous frost of recent weeks, is the pride of the house. “Where else does a hotel have its own power plant and can feed two thirds of the electricity it generates into the grid?” says an enthusiastic Puchan. He is a hotel business economist and has managed the “Ecoinn” in Esslingen for five years.
Awarded gold
The hotel’s own power plant generated 457,854 kilowatt hours in 2016. Only a third of the electricity was needed by the 59-room hotel itself; the rest was fed into the public grid. This made it easy for the “Ecoinn” to be awarded gold in the environmental assessment of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA). It is not only a climate-neutral hotel but probably the most effective “plus-energy hotel” in the world, the association said in recognition of the establishment’s unparalleled sustainability performance.
The environmental check assesses energy and water consumption, the amount of waste and whether the food offered is regional, organic or fair trade. The hotel meets all these criteria with ease. Average consumption there is only seven kilowatt hours of energy per overnight guest – almost 40 kilowatt hours would still be permitted for the gold label. The low CO2 figure of 400 grams is also exceptional – 13 kilograms are permitted for the gold award.
Even though the “Ecoinn” is not classified as an organic hotel – “that would make us too expensive for our guests,” says Puchan – products with an organic seal or from regional production are preferred for all purchases. The bread rolls come from the local organic baker and the honey from a beekeeper in the neighbourhood. Small portion packs are avoided in favour of bowls and dishes to prevent mountains of waste. The hotel manager has also done away with vacuum cleaners in the building – easy-to-clean linoleum flooring has been laid throughout. And the soft furnishings come from local businesses. Only when Puchan dropped orange juice and switched to local grape juice did the guests go on strike.
Minimal carbon footprint
Guests are actively informed about the special features of the hotel. Display boards show the performance data of the in-house power plant, and a model in the breakfast room demonstrates what the turbines in the basement look like. All guests think it is good to stay in a climate-neutral hotel and leave only a minimal carbon footprint. But Puchan estimates that only ten per cent of guests come specifically because of these features. The others – a mix of business travellers and tourists – appreciate the proximity to the airport, the trade fair or the Wasen and the special atmosphere.
The building, a former mill in the heart of Esslingen’s old town, has witnessed several centuries of the town’s history, until it was converted at great expense into today’s hotel eleven years ago. “We actually wanted to go to Tübingen,” explains Puchan. There, however, the available projects did not match the ideas of the Stuttgart operating company GJB, which is dedicated to youth social work and the promotion of education.
The “Ecoinn” is also a kind of social enterprise. Behind the historic façade work 22 employees, some with disabilities or from countries whose high unemployment rates offer no chance of a training place or job. “Even if, because of language problems, we couldn’t let our trainees loose on guests for quite a while,” says Puchan, they are a highly motivated team with whom working together is fun and works well. “This also solves our own problems,” says the hotel manager, referring to the difficulty of finding enough good trainees.
Guests increasingly environmentally minded
Puchan regrets that the “Ecoinn” has so far found hardly any imitators. Of course, not every hotel has its own power source, but solar energy and energy-saving measures can also help to improve a hotel’s energy balance. In any case, it is worth it. “Guests are becoming more and more environmentally minded,” he observes. But his fellow hoteliers are often too conservative for ecological investments, which would quickly pay for themselves in the medium and long term. Delegations from China, Japan and even North Korea, on the other hand, have travelled to Esslingen specifically to find out about the most energy-efficient hotel in the world.