Energy turnaround for Turnberry Resort

• Famous luxury golf resort commits to far-reaching energy saving measures
• Target by 2020: cut energy by 30 %, water use by 20 %, and significant waste reductions
• Savings in energy costs alone expected to reach € 19 000 a year

Built in 1906, Turnberry Resort is the world’s oldest golf resort and is now part of Starwood Hotels & Resort’s acclaimed portfolio of Luxury Collection properties.

Located on the South Ayrshire coast in Scotland, the resort comprises the main hotel (117 bedrooms), a restaurant, lounge and bar, spa with swimming pool, several self-catering apartments, lodges, three golf courses, a club house and and golf academy. Around 55 000 guests pass through the hotel every year.

In response to Starwood’s Global Citizenship initiative, Turnberry developed a ‘sustainable resource commitment’ to reduce operating costs and improve environmental performance in the areas detailed below.

Energy efficiency: Turnberry committed to reducing its energy use by 30 % by 2020 compared with 2010 consumption. Replacing 50 W halogen spotlights with 5.5 W LEDs reduced the restaurant’s lighting consumption by 89 %. The energy saving has also reduced power station CO2 emissions by over 120 tonnes per year.

Water use reduction: To reach its 20 % water saving goal by 2020, toilets now have half-flush cisterns and urinals have been fitted with passive infrared detectors. Another measure was to train cleaners to save water and report leaks and overflowing cisterns faster.

Waste management: To cut back on waste and the costs of disposal, Turnberry started separating and measuring waste streams. It eliminated polystyrene from all food and beverage packaging, and encourages re-use instead of disposable products.

Key results

The Turnberry Resort has saved around £ 13 000 (~€ 14 500) a year by installing LEDs, focusing on waste streams and recycling, and implementing water-saving tools and techniques.

These measures and more are expected to generate annual savings of up to £ 17 000 (~€ 19 000) over the coming years. The programme runs until 2020.