Bentota Beach Hotel opens ‘Eco House’

The ‘Eco House’ was declared open at Bentota Beach Hotel by of Bentota Beach Hotel General Manager Sanjeeva Perera recently – yet another occasion where John Keells Hotels’ employee pledge of ‘I Will Be Green’ was adhered to.

This is a single-storeyed building on 150 sq.ft office space that was constructed next to the hotel Green Zone to be utilised to maintain all documentation related to the Environment Management System (ISO 14001), Green Globe Certification and National Cleaner Production Certification requirements and also it will be the hub of networking for all environment related activities.

The ‘Eco House’ was built using environment friendly building materials and methodology. The roof has been designed with re-usable roofing materials removed from the sports complex at the soft refurbishment.

Walls were put up with compressed soil bricks manufactured by OS Bricks which provides a cooling effect inside the building without plastering. Broken granite floor tiles have been used for the floor with a cement and clay mixture and the pavement around the building has been designed with rubbles.

The louvered door, windows and furniture used were removed from the hotel soft refurbishment and fixed in a way to provide adequate ventilation and lighting to the building. All lamp shades, produced with recycled paper, use energy efficient lighting.

This unique building is a model for an eco-friendly construction and is used to educate school children on environment friendly constructions.

John Keells Hotels is determined to ensure that its business activities are conducted in a socially responsible manner; accordingly it is worthy that Bentota Beach Hotel has won a Merit Certificate in Recognition of Excellence in cleaner production practices, which is awarded by National Cleaner Production Centre.