Fairmont St Andrews becomes the only five star resort in fife to achieve a gold rating from green tourism

Tweet

Fairmont St Andrews is delighted to announce it has achieved a Gold rating from Green Tourism, the highest possible accreditation from the organisation developed by Visit Scotland and Green Business UK.

The aim of the Green Tourism Award is to reduce carbon footprint and also utility, water and waste bills. Fairmont St Andrews was assessed by a qualified grading advisor against a set of criteria, covering a range of areas, including energy and water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity, community involvement and more. Below are some of the ways Fairmont St Andrews achieved its Gold rating:

Energy Facts – A variety of strategic energy reduction tactics throughout the resort such as:

• An incentivised Collaborative Asset Performance Programme (CAPP) where the focus is to reduce energy consumption, providing an energy optimisation solution.

• Through the implementation of high efficiency equipment such as LED lighting, motion sensors to ensure lights switch off when not needed, retrofitted chilling units with new energy efficient models and modifications to the building management system, Fairmont St Andrews saw a total kilowatt hour reduction of 912,944kwh. By properly utilizing more efficient energy systems and through the optimization of existing systems the five-star hotel reduced energy costs to see a saving of £86,449 in just one year.

Waste reduction – Zero-waste to landfill status as a five-star luxury hotel:

• In January 2017, Fairmont St Andrews joined the Clean the World initiative committing to recycle all unused bathroom soaps and hygiene products. The hotel recycles circa 250kg of products per month, which are then donated to various humanitarian organisations around the world.

• Additionally, the resort has reached a ‘zero-waste to landfill’ status by strategically utilizing contractors and bespoke waste services such as Clean the World to ensure any non-recyclable by-products are reused sustainably.

• All single use plastics in the staff canteen have been replaced with reusable china, saving £5,000 per year, as well as reducing waste. Water cooler stations are available in all staff areas, and recyclable glass bottled water is offered in conference areas for guests.

• By strategically utilizing local contractors and bespoke waste-removal services to ensure that any non-recyclable by-products are reused, waste removal costs dropped from £82,181 in 2017 to £36,612 in 2018 contributing to our zero waste to landfill status.

Eco-friendly coffee pods:

• Fairmont St Andrews partnered with Eden Project to provide plastic free fully compostable biodegradable coffee capsules, sharing information about the fully biodegradable capsules in each room which has attracted a lot of positive feedback from guests.

John Keating, the General Manager of Fairmont St. Andrews said of the achievement: “Fairmont St Andrews is proud of our long-term intentional commitment to sustainability and dedication to ensuring our five-star resort has the smallest possible impact on the environment.  Through our conscious commitment to protecting our planet we hope to be an example to all luxury resorts, taking intentional steps to have a deliberate positive impact on our world. Not only are we taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint, but we are also making the effort to educate our guests and the local community on how we all can contribute in small ways to the betterment of the planet.”

Nightly rates at Fairmont St Andrews start from £179 per room per night, based on two sharing on a bed & breakfast basis.

www.fairmont.com/st-andrews-scotland/