Proximity Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Proximity Hotel , located in Greensboro, North Carolina
, is the first Platinum LEED
certified green hotel
in the United States
. Opened in 2007, This 147-room luxury boutique hotel has over 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) of meeting and event space as well as a full-service restaurant. The hotel utilized more than 70 sustainable practices during construction and is a model for green hotel construction.
. Quaintance-Weaver opened their first hotel, O.Henry Hotel, four blocks west in 1998.
Proximity Hotel and Print Works Bistro, are named for two cotton mill
s in Greensboro. These mills were part of Cone Mills, with more than a century of history in the textile industry. Cone Mills was known as the world's largest manufacturer of denim
fabric and the United States' largest printer of home-furnishings fabrics.
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
, is the first Platinum LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
certified green hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Opened in 2007, This 147-room luxury boutique hotel has over 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) of meeting and event space as well as a full-service restaurant. The hotel utilized more than 70 sustainable practices during construction and is a model for green hotel construction.
History
Built and operated by Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels, the Proximity Hotel opened in November 2007. In October 2008, the hotel and the adjacent Print Works Bistro restaurant became the first in the hospitality industry to be awarded LEED Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council. The design and construction of the hotel were led by Dennis Quaintance, CEO of Quaintance-Weaver. Proximity Hotel is located near the University of North Carolina at GreensboroUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...
. Quaintance-Weaver opened their first hotel, O.Henry Hotel, four blocks west in 1998.
Proximity Hotel and Print Works Bistro, are named for two cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
s in Greensboro. These mills were part of Cone Mills, with more than a century of history in the textile industry. Cone Mills was known as the world's largest manufacturer of denim
Denim
Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...
fabric and the United States' largest printer of home-furnishings fabrics.
Sustainable Practices
This hotel uses 41% less energy than a conventional hotel/restaurant by using ultra efficient materials and the latest construction technology.- 100 solar panelsSolar hot waterSolar water heating or solar hot water systems comprise several innovations and many mature renewable energy technologies that have been well established for many years...
covering the 4000 square feet (371.6 m²) of rooftop heats 60% of the water for both the hotel and restaurant. - 700 linear feet of stream was restored.
- The bistro bar is made of salvaged, solid walnutWalnutJuglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
trees that came down through sickness or storm and room service trays made of Plyboo (bambooBambooBamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
plywoodPlywoodPlywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
). - Newly engineered variable-speed hoods in the restaurant uses a series of sensors to set the power according to the kitchen's needs and adjusts to a lower level of operation (typically 25% of their full capacity).
- Geothermal energy is used for the restaurant’s refrigeration equipment, instead of a standard water-cooled system.
- North America's first RegenerativeRegenerative DesignRegenerative design is a process-oriented systems theory based approach to design. The term "regenerative" describes processes that restore, renew or revitalize their own sources of energy and materials, creating sustainable systems that integrate the needs of society with the integrity of nature...
Drive model of the OtisOtis Elevator CompanyThe Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today, principally focusing on elevators and escalators...
' Gen2 elevator reduces net energy usage by capturing the system’s energy and feeds it back into the building’s internal electrical grid. - A direct line of sight to the outdoor environment for more than 97% of all regularly occupied spaces.
- Building materials with recycled content include reinforced steelSteelSteel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
with 90% post consumerPost-consumer wastePost-consumer waste is a waste type produced by the end consumer of a material stream; that is, where the waste-producing use did not involve the production of another product....
recycled content, sheetrock 100%, asphalt 25% and staircase steel 50%. Concrete contains 4% fly ashFly ashFly ash is one of the residues generated in combustion, and comprises the fine particles that rise with the flue gases. Ash which does not rise is termed bottom ash. In an industrial context, fly ash usually refers to ash produced during combustion of coal...
(224,000 pounds), the mineral residue left after the combustionCombustionCombustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame...
of coalCoalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
that is diverted from landfills. - 87% of construction waste was recycled, diverting 1,535 tons of debris from landfills.
- Water usage has been reduced by 33% by installing high-efficiency KohlerKohler Company'The Kohler Company is a manufacturing company in Kohler, Wisconsin best known for its plumbing products. Kohler also manufactures furniture, cabinetry, tile, engines, and generators.-History:...
plumbing fixtures. - Air quality improved by circulating large amounts of outside air into guestrooms in an energy efficient way by employing “energy recoveryEnergy recoveryEnergy recovery includes any technique or method of minimizing the input of energy to an overall system by the exchange of energy from one sub-system of the overall system with another...
” technology. - Regional vendors and artists were used for materials to reduce transportation and packaging.
- Low-emitting volatile organic compoundVolatile organic compoundVolatile organic compounds are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary, room-temperature conditions. Their high vapor pressure results from a low boiling point, which causes large numbers of molecules to evaporate or sublimate from the liquid or solid form of the compound and...
(VOC) paints, adhesives, carpets, etc. reduces indoor air contamination. - Guestroom shelving and the bistro’s tabletops are made of walnut veneer, over a substrate of SkyBlend, a particleboard made from 100% post-industrial recycled wood pulp with no added formaldehydeFormaldehydeFormaldehyde is an organic compound with the formula CH2O. It is the simplest aldehyde, hence its systematic name methanal.Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with a characteristic pungent odor. It is an important precursor to many other chemical compounds, especially for polymers...
. - A green, vegetated rooftop will be planted on the restaurant to reduce the “urban heat island effect.”