MAGAZINES 
Luxury, Beauty … Sustainability
When you enter the immense great room of the St Julien Hotel & Spa in downtown Boulder, you are probably thinking how inviting the comfortably elegant space feels, with its striking fireplace and stunning Flatirons views. You are probably not thinking about garbage and compost. But be assured that every employee at the St Julien is thinking about them, as well as participating in many sustainable practices that make this hotel as environmentally smart as it is beautiful.
THE GRAND TOUR
First and foremost, the St Julien is a world-class luxury hotel and spa—a 2010 Condé Nast Traveler Gold List “World’s Best Places to Stay” property. Everything about it says elegance and comfort. Built in 2005, the hotel is definitively modern, stylish and airy, with invitingly warm, organic materials. It has 201 guest rooms and 16,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor conference/event space to cater to groups of any size.
Guests and visitors can enjoy relaxing services at the spa and then take a dip in the serene infinity pool. They can indulge in a cocktail in the great room or at T-Zero Lounge, and then have dinner at Jill’s Restaurant, where they’ll be entertained with tableside cooking. On Saturdays—and Sundays too, during the winter holidays—visitors can lap up the St Julien’s afternoon tea, a decidedly modern take on that classic meal. The most popular place of all, however, is the south patio. Plenty happens there, from al fresco dining and salsa dancing under the stars to weddings amid the lovely gardens and picturesque gazebo.
THE GREEN TEAM
But behind the scenes at all these chic venues with their myriad of activities, the St Julien has implemented an ambitious sustainability program. In 2007, the hotel began working with James Farrell, a sustainability consultant at Boulder’s UHG Consulting. Under his direction, the hotel focuses on three ongoing goals: waste management, energy conservation, and community outreach and education.
Farrell heads the hotel’s “Green Team,” which includes all managers. “The trend now is for most hotels to have a ‘green manager,’” says Anthony Grippo, projects manager at the hotel, “but our level of commitment is what makes us different.” He adds, “We have top-to-bottom commitment. Every employee is trained.” At the same time, Farrell says, “We make sure the guest’s experience is not at all compromised.”
WASTING AWAY
The St Julien’s waste-management goal is to be a “zero-waste” property, which means reducing its annual landfill outputs by a whopping 90 percent (imagine trying to do such a thing at home!). That translates to cutting the hotel’s 2008 output of 33 tons to 3.3 tons. Currently the output stands at 5.5 tons, an 85-percent reduction. How has the staff accomplished it?
First, absolutely anything that can be recycled is, an educational challenge for newer employees raised outside the Boulder bubble. “At first they’re overwhelmed,” says Grippo. “You’ll see them standing over the bins thinking about what goes where. But new employees see the commitment level of everybody else and it becomes their common practice.”
Next there’s composting, a big job due to the many cuisine services provided by the hotel and the resulting food waste. “In many hotels everything is thrown in the trash because it’s easier,” Farrell says.
Third, there is reuse or donation of materials. The Boulder Shelter for the Homeless gets the partially used shampoos and conditioners guests leave behind, as well as buffet extras during the winter holidays. Older linens go to Red Apple Recycling, a Denver-based nonprofit that sells to textile companies and uses its earnings to fund sustainability initiatives in metro Denver schools.
Another part of reducing rubbish is not creating it to begin with. To that end, the hotel uses no plastic water bottles and almost no paper towels or napkins.
What about that last 5 percent of the waste-reduction goal? “Nothing is perfect, and we can do better,” Grippo says. “We will be able to achieve that 5 percent by stressing [to employees] how important our zero-waste goals are to the hotel and its values.”
ENERGY EDICT
The St Julien began its energy-reduction efforts in 2008, and two years later it joined 10 for Change, a Boulder-based organization whose members strive to reduce their energy use by 10 percent each year. In 2010, the hotel met that target; as of September 2011 it was at 7 percent for the year. To achieve these goals, the hotel went far beyond changing out light bulbs. Farrell studied the hotel’s light usage and needs, and developed a complex but efficient automatic lighting schedule. Now, if a light isn’t needed, it goes off. In addition, the heating and cooling systems now can run at variable speeds, and newly purchased equipment and appliances conform to EnergyStar or higher standards. Installing solar panels was examined and determined to be ineffective; it would meet only 1 percent of the hotel’s energy needs.
Of course, by reducing its overall energy use, the hotel has also reduced its energy costs. “Without a doubt there are benefits for both the hotel and the environment,” says Grippo.
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Because its final sustainability goal is to promote education and outreach, the St. Julien hosts a variety of environmental events. Each November, the hotel teams up with Eco-Cycle to present a Waste Summit in honor of America Recycles Day (Nov. 15), with keynote speakers addressing residential and commercial issues. An ongoing event, Boulder Green Drinks, is a happy hour and networking opportunity for those in sustainability-related industries. Earth Hour, an international happening, takes place on March 8, and the hotel hosts the official city of Boulder event. From 8:30-9:30 a.m. around the world, participants turn off their lights; the St Julien turns off all non-necessary lighting.
THE END RESULT
How has all this paid off? “Not many hotels of this size can achieve these goals,” Grippo says, and apparently, the industry agrees. In 2011, the St Julien Hotel & Spa was voted one of the top 10 international hotels for Best Environmental Practices by the SpaFinder Readers’ Choice Awards. So now, when you enter the St Julien great room—perhaps to go dancing on the patio or sip a cocktail by the fire—you have yet another reason to like this luxurious hotel.
Mary Lynn Bruny has been writing local feature and humor articles since 1994. She lives in Boulder County with her husband and two sons.
The St Julien Hotel, at 900 Walnut St., is open to the public daily. Jill’s Restaurant is open 6:30am-10pm for breakfast, lunch and dinner; T-Zero Lounge from 5pm-close. Afternoon tea is served from 2-4pm on Saturdays. The spa is open 8am-8pm. For reservations and information, call the concierge at 720-406-9696 or visit www.stjulien.com.
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