To celebrate World Green Building Week this year, the Radisson RED Hotel Johannesburg Rosebank invited industry guests to a tour of the hotel, to experience the environmentally friendly advancements made at the luxury property.  

The hotel received its ‘5-Star Green Star – Custom: Hotel Design’ certification plaque from the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) at the event.

Manager of Sustainability, City Resilience and Stakeholder Relations at GBCSA, Mthobisi Masinga, highlighted some of the key features that warrant the certification. 

These include the hotel’s proximity to a walkable pedestrian network, the sub-metering of major energy consuming systems, and a comprehensive environmental management plan.

The hotel’s rooms have sensors that pick up movement to ensure that lights are turned off when the space is not occupied; the bathrooms are shower-only to reduce water usage; and a reuse programme is in place for towels and linen. The television and mini bar in the rooms are rated at least ‘A+’ by the European Energy Rating labelling system, or have an ‘Energy Star’ rating for energy efficiency. The hotel has also limited the amount of printed materials it provides by instead displaying the information on the televisions.

Single-use plastic waste has been reduced throughout by using glass water bottles and glasses to provide water for guests, and rubbish from the guest rooms and meeting space is recycled. 

All six meeting studios are carbon neutral, and recyclable pencils are provided instead of pens. 

Carly de Jong, the hotel’s Curator, pointed out that assessments had found the facility to be 60% more energy efficient than others. De Jong also noted that much of the material used for construction was recycled and locally sourced.