The Adrift Hotel invests in a Solar Hot Water system.
The Adrift Hotel, an 80 room reclaimed architecture hotel and spa on Washington’s coast, is the first hotel in the Long Beach Peninsula area to reduce its daily operating costs with solar hot water.
Hotels are a natural fit for solar thermal. Every day, hotel guests and staff use thousands of gallons of hot water for showers, linen washing, sanitation, food preparation, and pool and recreation facilities.
The Adrift Hotel’s $48K project added solar water heating, as well as rainwater catchment. Six solar hot water collectors were installed on the south side of the hotel’s two buildings, and a 2500 gallon holding tank was added for recycling rainwater. Initially, the rainwater will be used for laundry, but will eventually be diverted for flushing guestroom toilets.
The state of Washington has minimal solar thermal incentives of only $500 to $600, however owners Brady and Tiffany Turner should benefit from the federal government’s 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit and modified accelerated depreciation incentives.
The Adrift Hotel is described as a “hip reclamation” of the former Edgewater Hotel. “Reclaimed” or “sustainable” architecture is designed to reduce the waste and cost of construction and demolition by incorporating recycled and second hand materials. By forgoing new resources, reclaimed construction reduces the energy that might have been used to produce new raw materials and manufactured products.
The Adrift Hotel Lobby with exposed pipes and reclaimed architecture accents.
Rather than demolition, the former Edgewater was stripped down to its exposed pipes and conduit, and then concrete floors were poured. The hotel was then furnished with recycled products, such as cranberry crates for nightstands and vanity shelving. Old pipes were used as decorative accents and for bunk bed ladders in family suites.
Sustainability is a constant goal for the hotel and its restaurant, the Pickled Fish, which invests in local farms through Community Supported Agriculture. In addition, each room has its own recycling center, complimentary guest bicycles, and other sustainable features.
Adrift’s king bedroom with reclaimed furnishings.
“We are by no means the only residents who act with conservation and community resilience in mind,” said owner Tiffany Turner, a cranberry farmer’s daughter. “We want to do now what’s best for the future, as we live a little dream in our corner of the world.”
If you’re a hotel owner or architect interested in sustainability and reducing hotel operating costs with solar thermal technologies, contact Free Hot Water for a free consultation.
