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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Seattle, February 2010 - Bardessono, a 62-room boutique luxury inn and spa in Yountville, California, received The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification -- the top sustainable honor available -- from the U.S. Green Building Council. Destination design firm WATG provided complete architectural design services for the project.
Bardessono, located on a 4.9-acre site in the heart of Napa Valley, is the first hotel on the west coast in the United States to receive this rating. It is one of only two hotels in the world that has achieved the LEED Platinum certification status.
“Kudos to the entire team,” said developer Phil Sherburne upon hearing the news. “I am quite excited to receive this recognition for all our creative thinking and hard work. We can feel proud about this one.”
“Bardessono was designed to meld into the quiet surroundings of Yountville yet stand out as a true destination resort,” said Susan Frieson, WATG associate and lead architect on the project. “Through a dedicated collaborative effort of designers, engineers and contractors—as well as a developer committed to the highest level of environmental sustainability and energy-efficient design—we were able to create a wonderfully successful project. To have achieved Platinum certification is the icing on the cake!”
“Bardessono’s Platinum certification demonstrates tremendous business leadership and environmental stewardship,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The hotel and hospitality industry is among the largest consumers of natural resources and energy. Through LEED certification, hotels can achieve dramatic cost savings by using less energy, water and natural resources and can have a positive contribution to the environment.”
The LEED green building certification program encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. To achieve a LEED Platinum rating, the building must address the following criteria: site sustainability, and efficiency with water, energy, atmosphere, materials, resources, indoor environmental quality, design innovation, and regional priority.
Bardessono uses solar and geothermal energy, sophisticated energy management systems, sustainable building materials, and organic landscape management practices.
Some of the sustainable design features of the property include:
• Seventy-two 300-foot-deep geothermal wells to heat and cool guestrooms and to provide hot water.
• 940 solar panels on the buildings’ flat roofs, hidden from view by parapets that produce 200 KW of power.
• Rammed-earth sculptural walls and 100-year-old olive trees.
• Paving stones and sand for the entrance road, to allow water to seep into the soil, and valet parking, which will allow guests to walk – rather than drive – throughout the property.
• Automatically-controlled exterior Venetian blinds to let the sun and heat in early in the day and out later in the day.
• Low-E glass, designed to take advantage of natural light while controlling glare and heat gain.
• Fluorescent bulbs and light-emitting diodes. Everything electric in the rooms is on motion-detectors that shut them off when a guest leaves. When they return and put their key in the door, the current goes back on.
• Dual-flush toilets and low-flow fixtures that save water.
• Filtered water, which takes the place of bottled water.
• Drought-resistant landscaping and underground emitters for outdoor watering.
• Re-use and treatment of gray and black water for irrigation through Yountville’s water system.
The project is managed by MTM Luxury Lodging and was developed by Phil Sherburne, who also developed Willows Lodge in the Seattle area and Inn of the Spanish Garden in Santa Barbara, CA.
The inn includes a spa with four treatment rooms, a 75-foot-long rooftop infinity pool, a fine-dining restaurant, and meeting space. The design reflects a blending of the Valley’s agrarian character, the high refinement associated with its wines, and the indoor/outdoor character of local living. Cello-Maudru was the general contractor and Ecotope was the mechanical engineers.
Some of the unique elements of the inn include a lobby without a front desk – guests are greeted in the foyer by the staff; every room has its own courtyard that allows for absolute guest privacy; and spa treatments will be available in every guestroom.
WATG has a legacy of environmentally sensitive planning, architecture and design. A hallmark of WATG is its sensitivity to the influences of the local culture, the natural resources, the people and the spirit of the place. From its offices in Seattle, Irvine, Honolulu, Orlando, Singapore and London, WATG has designed hotels and resorts in 160 countries and territories across six continents. For more information, visit www.watg.com.
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Destination design firm WATG has been selected as the architect and interior designer for The Ritz-Carlton, Tamuda Bay on the Mediterranean Sea in Morocco. Designed with a contemporary aesthetic, the resort will have 100 rooms, 140 golf and hillside villas with a residents club, 80 marina apartments, a beach club, and will include an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course with a clubhouse and practice facilities.
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