A green hotel

Following the successful installation of our new woodchip-burning biomass boiler system, we are celebrating a Gold Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme
The innovative boiler provides heating and hot water for the entire hotel by burning wood chippings supplied from nearby forestry – a completely sustainable fuel – supplemented by solar panels to reduce fuel use during summer months.

This is only part of a wide-ranging set of initiatives to reduce the impact of the hotel and its guests on the local environment, covering Energy saving, waste and recycling, water, responsible purchasing (using eco-friendly products and buying locally) and actively encouraging wildlife.

Part of the funding for this project has been provided by Northumberland National Park Authority's Sustainable Development Fund

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Battlesteads & the environment

Owner  Richard Slade decided on a Green approach after taking over Battlesteads in 2005. Rather than jumping in at the deep end with a rebuild, he and his wife Dee decided to run the hotel for a year to get a greater insight into the needs of the business.

“As we were redeveloping the hotel and adding new kitchens and restaurant facilities it became clear that the old heating systems weren’t up to the job” explains Richard “If we had a full hotel and guests were using electric showers at the same time as kitchens were operating the electricity would trip off! Because we are in the countryside we couldn’t increase power and the alternatives of oil or gas burning are highly inefficient and increasingly expensive”

Battlesteads first experimented with low-energy light bulbs and managed an incredible saving – they now light the entire hotel using the same amount of power as was previously used in the bar and lounge areas.

“This proved that we could make major efficiencies without compromising the comfort of our guests, leading us to look at the nationally recognized Green Tourism Business Scheme” says Richard “Using their guidelines we have instigated a ‘Green’ policy aiming to minimise the environmental impact of the hotel and its guests. While refurbishment and rebuilding work has been taking place we’ve been finding more and more ways to include greener solutions to everyday problems”

Staff member Lindsay Skelton was given the task of ‘green co-ordinator’ to check all aspects of the hotel, from eco-friendly cleaning products to recycling. “In order to achieve an assessed Quality Rating we needed to demonstrate our actions on a whole range of environmental criteria including energy, waste, water, purchasing and encouraging wildlife – all of the staff had to be involved” says Lindsay.

Battlesteads is the first hotel in Northumberland powered by a biomass boiler. Of the various green options for providing water heating and general heating throughout the hotel, woodchip proved to be the most acceptable and most efficient “Wind power is not reliable and we simply don’t get enough constant sunlight to run entirely off our solar panels in winter, although they are so efficient that they should be able to provide the majority of our needs during the summer” says Richard “In this instance the simple fact of having abundant fuel right on our doorstep made woodchip the obvious choice.”

The innovative approach and hard work has resulted in a Gold Award after only 6 months in the scheme, but Battlesteads is not resting on its laurels; “We can’t just stop now that we’ve got an award” says Richard “Once the green bug gets you, you find more and more things to include. Our commitment to environmental improvements is ongoing and will alter as new products and methods become available.”