Becker + Becker
Marcel drone toward harbor
Marcel drone toward harbor
Marcel drone toward harbor
Marcel drone toward harbor
Marcel drone toward harbor

Green Sleep

May 19, 2022
New hotel aiming to be the first net-zero-energy lodging property in the U.S. could be a welcome mat for more sustainable construction in the industry.

Energy-efficient building design could be marking an important progress milestone with the recent opening of a potentially groundbreaking property.

The Hotel Marcel New Haven, in New Haven, Conn., was set to welcome its first guests the week of May 15, two years after work began to transform an existing building into a showcase for sustainability in an industry that has been slow to join the green building movement.

The new hotel, in a 52-year-old building listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its origins in modernist design, counts on-site solar energy sources; battery energy storage; electric vehicle (EV) charging; and low-voltage Power-over-Ethernet (PoE)  lighting among features that will contribute to making it function as an all-electric, energy-sipping, net-zero-energy (NZE) structure.

According to a news a release from Hilton Hotels & Resorts, which has a stake in the property through its Tapestry Collection brand, the building is believed to be the first NZE-designed hotel in the U.S. and one of only a handful of hotels in the country built to energy-saving LEED Platinum standards. As with all NZE buildings it will take about a year for certification body New Buildings Institute to analyze building energy usage to confirm zero-carbon-emission status.

More than 1,000 solar panels mounted on the roof and parking canopies will provide power for the hotel, and a 500kW  battery system will store energy for emergency backup power and possibly load shifting, according to an article on the project in Green Lodging News. Bruce Becker, head of Westport, Conn.-based design firm Becker + Becker, whose purchase of the iconic building sparked the development, was quoted as saying the 110,00-sq-ft building’s solar panels, which he purchased, are projected to supply about 700,000kWh per year of electricity, 20% of what a comparably sized hotel now uses annually.

On the energy demand side, the structure is built to minimize electricity usage due to the structure of its envelope as well as POE provided by Transition Network Switching; and DC power distribution over Class 2 wiring provided by Voltserver Digital Electricity to power lighting, room shades, sensors, and other devices. LED lighting and lighting controls throughout the structure will also contribute to energy savings.

Because it represents a first in the lodging sector and features a building designed by architectural legend Marcel Breuer, the project drew a who’s who of sustainable building construction. In addition to Becker + Becker, which has had a hand in developing other sustainable properties including the historic Sinclair Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas, other green building design and construction specialists participated, including Consigli Construction, Milford, Mass.; LN Consulting, Burlington, Vt.; and Sinclair Digital, Seattle.

The new hotel could mark the beginning of a turn toward more sustainable design and construction in the lodging industry, which has lagged in that area due to its fundamental structure that prioritizes comfort, stymies innovation, and yields many “one-off” projects. Highlighting the Hotel Marcel, a recent article in National Geographic lays out a case for more green construction in the lodging industry, citing an Urban Land Institute study that “hotels use more energy than offices, retail, multifamily housing, and industrial manufacturing,” and speculating that “the travel industry’s increasing focus on climate means more net-zero hotels are coming.”

While the future of travel remains somewhat clouded because of its retrenchment during the pandemic and growing concerns about its impact on climate, it’s likely that demand for lodging will grow along with the market for innovation that reflects growing concern with sustainability.

Tom Zind is a freelance writer based in Lees Summit, Mo. He can be reached at [email protected].  

About the Author

Tom Zind | Freelance Writer

Zind is a freelance writer based in Lee’s Summit, Mo. He can be reached at [email protected].

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