Heritance crowned most energy efficient hotel chain by bagging Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards

The attendees present at the Sri Lanka National Energy Efficiency Awards 2011 experienced history in the making as they witnessed Heritance Hotels and Resorts being crowned the most energy efficient hotel chain in Sri Lanka. Heritance Hotels made a clean sweep of the Large Scale Hotel Sector category, a feat that has never been achieved in the history of the awards by a single hotel chain. 

Heritance Kandalama, the most awarded hotel in Sri Lanka walked away with the Gold Flame Award and was honoured for its ability to demonstrate year-on-year energy reductions along with ongoing sustainability processes and energy management strategies.  Heritance Tea Factory the recent winner of the Sri Lanka Tourism Award for the Best 4 Star Hotel in the country walked away with the Silver Flame award.  Heritance Ahungalla, the winner of the Sri Lanka Tourism Award for the Best 5 Star Resort in the island which emerged the overall champion at the recently concluded Culinary Art 2011 was the proud winner of the Bronze Flame Award.

The Sri Lanka National Energy Efficiency Awards is an annual national event conducted by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority for private and public sector institutions with the aim of recognising their contribution towards an energy secure Sri Lanka. “We as a team are delighted to have been recognised for the efforts we have taken towards efficient utilisation, conservation and management of energy.  We have been the pioneers of implementing innovative, cost effective and transferable energy efficiency measures over the years and winning these awards reaffirms our commitment towards reducing our demands on Mother Earth.” said Rohitha Rajaratne, Vice President, Engineering, Aitken Spence Hotels.  

The group has a comprehensive energy conservation policy and has concentrated on reducing its dependency on fossil fuels by switching to renewable energy.  

In a first for any hotel in Sri Lanka, a biomass gasifier was installed at Heritance Tea Factory and there after at Heritance Kandalama. The gasifier reduces 750 tonnes of carbon emissions per year by replacing diesel with grilicidia wood. The use of locally farmed grilicidia wood instead of imported, and pollution causing, diesel not only saves the environment but also creates substantial employment opportunities for local farmers. The central heating and hot water in the hotels are supplied by this eco-friendly sustainable energy source. This not only reduces the carbon footprint but also paves the way to alleviating poverty by generating more employment opportunities locally while reducing the foreign exchange drained out on purchasing imported crude oil.  

Operating under the Heritance Hotels & Resorts brand, the flagship Heritance Kandalama is the world’s first hotel to obtain the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The Observer of UK named it as one of the “Icons of Modern Hotel Design” and Travel + Leisure calls it one of the leading green hotels of the world.

Heritance Tea Factory has its roots in an inspired idea, to conserve and restore a long-abandoned tea factory transforming it into a hotel. The world renowned hotel’s accolades are many: voted amongst the “100 Best Places to Stay in the World” by Sunday Times UK and being nominated for the “Top 5 Factory Hotels in the World” by The Independent, UK are a few of the many accolades awarded to Heritance Tea Factory.  

Sri Lanka’s first five star beach resort, “The Triton” was re-launched in 2006 as a Heritance Resort. The multi award winning premier beach resort, Heritance Ahungalla, is a creation by the legendry architect Geoffrey Bawa.  

“The two words (Heritage and Inheritance) the combination which gave rise to the brand name ‘HERITANCE’ are very significant. The relevance of heritage to our hotel brand is that it denotes the standards that we have established based on the knowledge and experience that have been passed down to us throughout the ages. We have learnt from the past and intend to use this as a foundation for the future.

The relevance of inheritance to our brand is that, we have inherited the locality and environment in which we manage within. It has been bequeathed to us and we are honour bound to take care of it, before it is passed on to the next generation,” Aitken Spence Hotels Managing Director Malin Hapugoda said.

“It brings great joy to our team to have being recognised by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and the Ministry of Power for our energy efficient initiatives in our bid to protect Mother Earth for our future generations,” he added.  

The company’s premier resorts operate under Heritance Hotels & Resorts. Its latest Heritance property Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara commenced operations in July 2011. It has joined the award-winning Heritance Hotels & Resorts portfolio consisting of Heritance Kandalama, Heritance Ahungalla and Heritance Tea Factory.