The first-ever Sustainable Suite Design Competition – a competition to showcase the best hospitality design strategies that boast environmental responsibility while enhancing the guest experience – selected Haptik as the winning suite. The Haptik team (WATG, in conjunction with IDEO) will build and showcase a full-scale mock-up of the winning suite design at the 2010 Hospitality Design Expo & Conference in Las Vegas from on May 19.
The winning suite created a juxtaposition between sustainability and luxury by redefining the guest experience without sacrificing either ideal. The nuanced subtleties of the design were choreographed around individual moments that engage the senses, allowing guests to discover how environmental responsibility can be achieved personally and collectively.
Among the innovative winning strategies were the many energy-reducing features, such as an “all-off” switch to ensure that lights are automatically turned off based on passive infrared sensors (PISs) and room conditioning equipped by a four-pipe horizontal fan-coil system. Additionally, water use was also key in reducing environmental impact; the Haptik suite includes a Trombe wall in the shower that captures solar heat to warm the shower water and a graywater irrigation system that filters and recycles shower water to outdoor gardens and landscaping.
Aimed at motivating sustainable practices industry-wide among newly built and existing hotels, the U.S. Green Building Council, in conjunction with the American Society of Interior Designers and the Network of the Hospitality Industry, sponsored the competition.
