A Visit to the "Greenest" Hotel in America

Today, our Principles and Elements of Design class traveled to Greensboro to tour the “greenest” hotel in America.  Our tour of the Proximity Hotel was not only a fun diversion from our regular classroom setting, but we were able to see firsthand the sustainable design principles that we’ve studied this year as they were put into practice.  The trip also served as an introduction for our upcoming commercial design project.  We began the afternoon with a delicious meal at the Print Works Bistro followed by a personal tour of the hotel and restaurant.  It is hard to imagine that such a beautiful facility  could also be so good for the environment.  The one important fact that I carried away from our trip today is that conservation doesn’t have to mean deprivation!

The Proximity Hotel and Print Works Bistro are named for two Greensboro cotton mills, the Proximity Cotton Mill and the Proximity Print Works.  These cut and sew factories were part of Cone Mills, with more than a century of history in the textile industry.  Cone Mills was known as the world’s largest manufacturer of denim fabric and the United States’ largest printer of home-furnishing fabrics.  The design of the hotel was modeled after these cut and sew factories that were a central part of Greensboro's economy until the early 1970s.  I really appreciated the industrial architectural detailing such as the exposed ceilings and concrete walls, which were softened with lots of luxurious textiles in the form of draperies, carpet, and upholstery fabrics.  I especially liked the sleek, contemporary furnishings and artwork seen throughout the hotel.  The furniture was manufactured by a local furniture company, and local artist, Chip Holton, was commissioned to compose all of the artwork.

At first glance, the hotel may appear to be like any other luxurious, four-diamond hotel that you may have seen, but as you tour the facility you quickly learn that there was a great amount of thought that went into every detail of constructing this exceptional hotel.  The president of the hotel, Dennis Quaintance, says that we should filter every design decision by asking ourselves two questions, “How might this decision affect the physical world?” and “How might this decision affect the social world?”  His team applied those filters to every detail of this building.  Using the guidelines of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, the Proximity was awarded the LEED Platinum award which is the highest rating given by the environmental group.

The following are just a few of the over 70 sustainable practices that we were able to observe at the Proximity Hotel:

.  The building uses 41% less energy than a conventional hotel/restaurant by using ultra efficient materials and the latest construction technology.

.  The sun’s energy heats hot water with 100 solar panels covering the 4,000 square feet of rooftop (enough hot water for a hundred homes).  This heats around 60% of the water for both the hotel and restaurant.

.  Abundant natural lighting, including large energy-efficient “operable” windows, connects guests to the outdoors by achieving a direct line of sight to the outdoor environment for more than 97% of all regularly occupied spaces.

.  Water usage has been reduced by 33% by installing high-efficiency Kohler plumbing fixtures, saving two million gallons of water the first year.

.  Low-emitting volatile organic compound (VOC) paints, adhesives, carpets, etc reduces indoor air contamination.

.  Bicycles are available for guests to ride on the nearby five-mile greenway.

The ultimate goal of the hotel is that none of the sustainable practices will cause any sacrifice in comfort for the guests.  According to the hotel’s brochure, the Proximity aims to “Make the world a better place to live by providing our guests with the highest quality food, drink, and accommodations at a good value”.   After touring the hotel today, it appears that they are having no problem meeting that goal.  In fact, I wouldn't mind if my next visit to the Proximity finds me among those lucky guests!