ECO FRIENDLY HOTELS IN QUEBEC CITY.
Hôtel du Vieux-Quebec is an officially recognized and award winning leader in the environmental movement. Committed to reducing its impact on our natural environment, this Quebec City hotel has launched a series of initiatives to lighten its ecological footprint. The hotel also has several larger-scale projects in the planning phase. Here is a “progress page”, which details achievements to date, and the exciting projects on the horizon. Travel can be environmentally taxing, ensure that your stay is the greenest it can be!
Award Winning, Ecologically Minded Hotel:
Hôtel du Vieux-Quebec is pleased to announce that on February 15th 2010 it became the first hotel in the province of Quebec to receive an award from the Hotel Association of Canada(a professional industry association representing the lodging industry in Canada). This Quebec city hotel was the recipient of the Hotel Association of Canada’s Award of Excellence for Energy and Environment for the work it has done to lessen its environmental impact. The Energy and Environment Award “recognizes lodging properties that have developed a culture towards integrating environmental management practices that improve everyday operations and the bottom line, while maintaining quality service and meeting guest expectations.”
This Quebec City hotel uses solar power. With the help of energy efficiency experts Groupe Ecosynergie, we have installed photovoltaic panels that are converting sunlight into electricity to help power our top floor and exterior L.E.D. lights. Placed beside our rooftop garden, the panels are also conveniently providing shelter for our beehive. 
We use a heat exchanger to capture and reuse heat from drain water to pre-heat incoming water. This technology reduces our primary energy consumption for water heating.
We are proud to be part of the Miel Urban or ‘Urban Honey’ project. There are several objectives to this project: -The promotion of beehives in areas that are free of insecticides, GMOs and mono cropping. – Public education on the importance of bees and the urgent need to protect them (bees polinate 70% of the food we consume). – Increased pollinating of urban gardens (25-30% increase in fruit and vegetable production when a beehive is present). -The production of local honey) 
Hôtel du Vieux-Québec is a carbon neutral operation. We purchase Gold Standard carbon offsets from ‘Planetair’ (www.planetair.ca) to compensate for all of our operations green house gas emissions. Gold Standard offsets adhere to the most widely accepted quality seal for voluntary offsets currently available. Through Planetair we only support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. All projects must produce demonstrable contributions to the sustainable development of their host communities. 
Hôtel du Vieux Québec has installed two green roofs. Our rooftop gardens grow an assortment of organic vegetables, flowers, herbs and other plants. This helps to keep part of the hotel cool in the summer thereby lowering our energy consumption, sequesters carbon and captures runoff rainwater. This also enables us to provide fresh organic produce for staff and clients. 
Hôtel du Vieux Québec has been awarded 5 Green Keys from the Hotel Association of Canada’s Green Leaf Eco-Rating Program. This is the highest rating given. The rating description by the Hotel Association of Canada for 5 Green Keysis: A hotel that exemplifies the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility throughout all areas of operations. The hotel employs cutting edge technologies, policies, and programs that set the international standard for sustainable hotel operations.
We have converted more than 75% of the hotel lighting to energy efficient lighting. Including: conversion to low mercury compact fluorescent light bulbs wherever possible and the installation of LED lighting systems in our guest rooms, meeting room, hallways and other facility rooms in the hotel. This saves us an average of 66,580 KWH yearly. We insure the conscientious disposal of used bulbs. 
All new furniture is custom made by local Quebecois craftsmen using materials that are consistent with the highest standards of LEED building. We also exclusively use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood in all renovation and capital projects.
Hotel du Vieux-Quebec is please to supply its guests with complimentary filtered and bottled tap water in sterilized glass bottles in the hope of reducing consuption of plastic bottle water. We also encourage our guests to take advantage of our portable metal bottles which are available for loan at the front desk. 
Water consumption has been reduced by 40% since 2009.
- Water efficient toilets have been installed in all renovated guest rooms. All pre-renovation toilets have been installed with toilet tank fill diverters.
- All faucets in bathrooms are low flow or have had water saving 1.5 or 0.5 G.P.M. aerators installed and 80% of shower heads are low flow.
- Installation of a filtered water dispenser in the hotel lounge. Guests are encouraged to refill their portable water bottles at the water dispenser, to reduce guest bottled water consumption.
More Actions We Have Taken
- Exclusive use of certified environmentally friendly cleaning and laundry products.
- Conversion to 100% recycled paper throughout the hotel. The hotel uses the back side of used paper for in house printing needs.
- Conversion to 100 % recycled toilet paper and tissue in our guestrooms and public bathrooms (Cascades products).
- We are an active supporter of local charities.
During regular working hours hotel employees volunteer their time and services towards various environmental projects. - Elimination of wasteful amenities bottles and individual soaps by converting to amenity dispensers, filled with high quality, organic, locally made natural beauty products that are not tested on animals.
Used furniture and electronics are donated to local charities. - Recycling receptacles in all rooms for mixed use recycling.
- Garbage bags in rooms are biodegradable.
- Elimination of disposable cups in guestrooms.
- Glassware and ceramic mugs are provided for water and coffee. Ceramic plates, metal cutlery and cloth napkins are provided in the complimentary breakfast baskets.
- Motion detectors in storage closets.
- We include local organic products in the breakfast baskets when possible. For example, currently we serve local organic maple butter.
- Coffee dispenser is equipped with organic fair trade coffee and sugar, biodegradable coffee cups, renewable bamboo stir sticks.
- Hotel umbrellas are made from recycled and renewable products.
Our Future Plans:
We are currently in the planning stage for these projects for 2013.
- Installation of vacuum tube solar hot water panels to offset our grid energy consumption.
- Install a key card control system installed in every room to control heating, lighting and air-conditioning when room is not in use.
- Install a building management system that will control temperature throughout the building.
- Applying for LEED certification for Existing Buildings.
HVQ in the news:
“A Quebec hotel goes carbon neutral”, published in the The Globe and Mail.
