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Pedal-powered hotel in Denmark gives guests a reason to go green
One luxury hotel has found a way to help you sleep well, lose weight and reduce your carbon footprint. The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, installed two pedaling bikes to generators and are encouraging guests to pedal for green living.The bikes are free to use for all guests. Every person who generates 100 watt hours from pedaling will not only feel good about contributing to the hotel's electricity supply, but also feel good about burning calories. No worries, though - the hotel will give you a complimentary meal worth approximately $36 to make up for the lost calories.
You're not required to bike (although we do recommend doing your part to help the environment). You can stay in one of the 366 rooms at this hotel in Copenhagen and still enjoy all its energy through renewable and sustainable sources, such as solar panels and a groundwater-based cooling and heating system.
The hotel is no stranger to green concepts - it was the host of last year's climate change conference and today is providing travelers with education and inspiration to live a greener (and healthier) life through its Green Key certification program that includes:
- The first groundwater-based cooling and heating system in Denmark, expected to reduce the energy used in the hotel for heating and cooling by almost 90%
- Low energy lighting and hand dryers
- The largest solar panel park in Northern Europe to be integrated into a building, covering all the hotel's sunny facades
Filed under: Europe, Denmark, Hotels and Accommodations












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ashley Apr 19th 2010 2:55PM
Yes, PLEASE!
I was just thinking the other day, while I was down at the gym doing my run on the treadmill: the gym is almost always full. There are many stationary bikes and elliptical machines. People use them! Quite frequently! And vigorously! And yet all that energy is wasted, put into wearing down the ball bearings and whatnots that make the machine move.
Why -aren't- we doing more to use this energy? Even if it's not enough to power anything, there has got to be some way to store the energy or charge even the TVs and lights in the room with the machines. I suspect, though, that on a large scale it could make quite the difference. I also suspect that if people knew their energy bill would go down if they simply hopped on a bike for 30-60 minutes every day, we'd be a lot more fit on the whole!
JuliaL Apr 22nd 2010 5:46PM
This is awesome! I hope the program works out and is continued. I agree with you, Ashley; why aren't we making more of an effort to incorporate this technology into our every day lives? Would it take a significant investment in generators to store the electricity or to get it to the main grid that everyone draws from? Maybe we would need federal funds allocated for this??? At least we can use eco-friendly clothing and bags (http://www.luggagepros.com/sherpani-sport-lily-shopper-tote-bag.shtml) when we go to the gym for now.