A North Lancashire hotel is enhancing its strong reputation for environmentally friendly practices with the installation of over 300 solar panels to further reduce its carbon footprint.
English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues latest green initiative is the installation of 340 photovoltaic panels at Lancaster house one of the group’s popular 4 star hotels.
The new 250W solar panels are expected to generate 76,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity each year and will reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint by 30,000kg of CO2 per annum. The solar panels have been unobtrusively sited at the rear of the establishment, covering the west facing roof of the hotel’s main bedroom block.
Financial return andCO2 saving
New General Manager at Lancaster House Andy Lemm says: “We wanted to utilise our unused roof space to create an even more environmentally friendly site for our customers to enjoy.
“The installation of the new solar PV system will produce more clean energy for our guests to use, whilst reducing our energy costs and generating a revenue stream via the Feed-in Tarriff. The annual financial return on the panels has been estimated at nearly £15,000 per year, which means the installation has a payback period of less than 6 years.
“In layman’s terms, the CO2 saving is equal to the usage of a 13 watt light bulb continuously lit for 263 years, or the energy use of an average home for 842 days, or the output of an average car engine running non-stop for 48.6 days.”
Gold status for sustainability
Lancaster House is already at the forefront of carbon reduction technology, environmental initiatives and green tourism. It is accredited by the National Green Business Tourism Scheme and has achieved their highest ‘gold’ status.
The hotel is recognised for its strong management of energy, water and waste and many other sustainability projects. It is also the first leisure facility in the region to be powered by a bio-mass boiler using locally sourced wood-chip.
Lancaster House is the ideal venue from which to enjoy the historic city of Lancaster, the Southern Lake District and beautiful Morecambe Bay. The hotel offers excellent food and drink from The Foodworks Restaurant and the elegant atmospheric courtyard of The Sandeman’s Bar, and guests can relax and unwind in the hotel’s Sandpiper Leisure Club.
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