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GOING GREEN

A HOTEL THAT SETS NEW STANDARDS in energy efficiency has opened at Tamworth in Staffordshire. By using radically different approaches to heating, cooling, lighting and ventilation, the 20-room Premier Inn claims to have reduced energy consumption by 80 per cent compared to a conventional hotel.

Among the energy saving features are ground-source heat pumps; toilets fl ushed with recycled water from showers and baths; low-energy LED lighting; and solar panels to heat bath water. Staff are being trained to understand the technologies behind the design.

"This hotel is truly ground-breaking in that this combination of technologies has never been used before in any hotel in the UK, let alone a budget one," says Alan Parker, CEO of Premier Inns' parent company, Whitbread. "We chose from a range of technologies that we believe deliver the most positive social and environmental impact on future hotel buildings."

Rates at the new hotel are from £53 per night.