L’Hôtel du Vieux Quebec is committed to reducing its impact on our natural environment. We have launched a series of new initiatives to lighten our ecological footprint, and have several larger-scale projects in the planning phase. Here is our “progress page”, which details what we have achieved to date, and the exciting projects on the horizon. Travel can be environmentally taxing, and we’d like to ensure that your stay is the greenest it can be!

Hôtel du Vieux Québec is pleased to announce that we have become a carbon neutral hotel. Since Earth Day April 22^nd 2009, we have been purchasing Gold Standard carbon credits from Planetair to compensate for all our operations green house gas emissions. Of all the hotels in Québec we believe that we are the first to become carbon neutral.

Actions we have taken:

• 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 a green roof. Our rooftop garden is growing an assortment of organic vegetables, flowers, herbs and other plants. This has helped 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. Les Urbainculteurs
  
• Hôtel du Vieux Québec is pleased to announce that we have 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 keys is:
  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 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.
• Conversion to 100 % recycled toilet paper and tissue in our guestrooms and public bathrooms (Cascades products).
• Conversion to 100% recycled paper throughout the hotel. The hotel uses the back side of used paper for in house printing needs.
• 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.
• Water efficient toilets have been installed in all renovated guestrooms. 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 95% of shower heads are low flow 1.5 G.P.M. This has reduced the hotels water consumption by 40%.
• 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.
• Exclusive use of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood in all renovation and capital projects.
• All new furniture is custom made by local producers using materials that are consistent with the highest standards of LEED building.
• We also purchase used furniture from other local hotels and refinish/rebuild it with products that have a low environmental impact.
• Used furniture and electronics are donated to local charities.
• Exclusive use of certified environmentally friendly cleaning and laundry products.
• 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 2010.

• Installation of vacuum tube solar hot water panels to offset our grid energy consumption.
• Expansion of our rooftop garden to include ‘green walls’.
• 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.
• Producing a short film on the benefits of ‘going green’. This will be filmed
  using stereoscopic (3D) and time-lapse photography cinematography
  techniques which we hope will help spread the good word.

HVQ in the news - click here to read "A Quebec hotel goes carbon neutral", published in the The Globe and Mail.

If you would like more information or have comments about our Green initiatives please let us know.