A RANGE of initiatives established by the Fairmont Southampton won it the Evergreen Environmental Hotel of the Year, chosen by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts from 56 competing properties around the world. The honour came through efforts by the Fairmont Southampton's Green Team, headed by assistant golf superintendent Jason Pick, in the areas below:

l Rainwater collection

The hotel created an environmental management programme for fresh water and wastewater. With more than fifty inches of rainfall annually, the hotel uses a one million gallon storage tank to collect rainwater, which provides significant supply during winter and lower occupancy periods. A reverse osmosis plant provides the additional volume necessary for guest rooms and outlets during high occupancy or drought situations. Continuous monitoring of the holding tank depths is recorded, directly indicating our costs and overall efficiency.

l Effluent irrigation

A fully automatic, computerised central control utilises field satellites to efficiently irrigate the golf course, its gardens, and hotel grounds with reclaimed water. Additionally, throughout the golf course are underground drainage lines, designed to return any excess rainwater or irrigation back to the lagoon, where it is reused.

l Freshwater through reverse osmosis

Using the reverse osmosis plant, the hotel's engineering department is able, to produce 250,000 gallons of fresh water per week removing sodium from salt water. This combined use of stored rainwater and freshwater, and the resulting grey water from all guest rooms, kitchens, pools and all hotel departments is transferred through drainage piping to the hotel's on-site waste treatment facility. The sewage and wastewater treatment facility breaks down the waste by biological process, and is further adjusted to reach specifications set by the Department of Health and Environment Protection. This effluent water is then piped back to the golf course into an aerated lagoon. From there, the water is pumped by vertical turbine to irrigate the property's 18-hole golf course, gardens, and hotel grounds.

l Energy conservation

Office lights and computers are turned off at night. As well, the hotel has installed low-volume showerheads and high efficiency light bulbs for guest rooms. Air conditioning systems are managed by communicating occupancy levels to engineering. Through computer-controlled scheduling of HVAC schedules, the department is able to cool only those meeting rooms in use. Guest rooms also contain patio sensors, which automatically shut down the air conditioning if the door is open. Similarly, air conditioning in meeting rooms and ballrooms are turned off when not in use. The design of east/west facing windows also allows maximum use of natural light.

l Natural light and laundry solutions

A $1.5 million upgrade of the hotel's laundry facility in 2006 has produced a dramatic savings in water usage per pound of laundry washed, and significantly reduced its power requirements. The increased efficiency has allowed the consolidation of Southampton's sister hotel, the 310-room Fairmont Hamilton Princess.

l Environmental Planning and Protection

The Fairmont Southampton separates and carefully disposes of metals, wood, kitchen grease, batteries and motor oils. Horticultural waste is composted. Bottles and cans are recycled. As a result of recent improvements to the Government recycling facilities, the hotel intends to extend those efforts to guestrooms and food and beverage outlets. The hotel's beach outlets also do their part, supplying consumers only with products that are safe for the environment. Plastic straws and glass are banned from the beach and equipment used is refueled off-site, to prevent potential spills.

l Fairmont Eco-Meet Programme

The goal of Fairmont's Eco-Meet Programme is to minimise harm to the environment during meetings, conferences and similar events. Such events include 'a disposable free' food and beverage service, including organic food choices where available. Environmental educational materials are also made available to planners and delegates, while programming options help delegates to take the eco-experience outside the meeting room.