Environment
Hotel Ullensvang has been certified with the ecolabel Eco-Lighthouse since 2012. Eco-lighthouse gives a reliable environmental image for those that wish environmental responsibility beyond what the government requires. Both management and the staff are committed and take responsibility in our daily operations.
Environmentally - conservation of nature, culture, and environment
The hotel’s environmental strategy is to identify opportunities in order to take measures to operate in the best environmentally friendly way possible. This is to ensure that our guests, staff, and local community enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the hotel is situated in.
We are proud that already in the early 1980’s we had an environmentally friendly fan coil system in which we use the “Sørfjord” to warm up our hotel in the Autumn, Winter, and Spring as well as using the same principle to cool down the hotel in the Summer. The fan coil is based on a fan function and cannot be compared to air-conditioning. All rooms are equipped with a main switch which controls the lights in the room. The hotel has in recent times replaced hundreds of spotlights to environmentally-friendly LED lights. The hotel has also changed all balcony doors and window frames which has resulted in a much improved “U-factor” (insolation measurement). To ensure the hotel uses less energy the heat from the fridge/freezer elements and motors is collected and used to heat the water for the hotel, extra water from these elements is also used to keep the outside areas snow and ice-free during winter.
Hotel Ullensvang, as their neighbouring farmers do, gets its water from a local water source 900 m.a.s.l behind the village of Lofthus. It is clean and locally sourced water. Ullensvang’s buffet is well-known and popular among Norwegians and international guests, as well as our goal to reduce waste as much as possible. After the introduction of our own composter, we have managed to reduce our food waste amount by 76%. The food waste is dried, and all the moisture is removed, the consistency closely resembling that of coffee grounds, which can be used as an extra supplement in soil. The hotel’s goal is to reduce food wastage even more in the future. Statistics in regard to waste are calculated daily and if there is a fluctuation, these are then analysed and measures are taken. We also urge our guests to take part in showing environmental awareness by helping themselves several times, but each time to eat everything on the plate. The fruit village of Lofthus has many local specialties to offer during the summer month and we strive to offer as much local produce as we can within reasonable limits. There is more organic produce bought in to support agriculture that takes an environmental stand. We set demands on our suppliers to use environmentally friendly packaging. Recycling is done to a high standard.
Hotel operations require effective and precise cleaning. It is at the same time possible to use fewer disinfectants and use water-added electrolytes for +/- ions to attract bacteria. The hotel produces a lot of dirty laundry. We, therefore, ask our guests for help to reduce the volume and help save the environment. Our guests are urged to use their towels several times. There are also no towels in the swimming area. One must ask at the reception to receive more towels. Small measures can make a big difference. The laundry suppliers have utilised products that satisfy the requirements of the “Swan” label to minimise emissions of soap and chemicals.