Carbon net zero hotel 'better than original dream'

A new hotel in Devon is claiming to be one the most environmentally-friendly new-build constructions in Europe.

The Voco Zeal Hotel, at Exeter's Science Park, which opened in March, has claimed to be the first carbon net zero hotel in western Europe.

Bosses said it had many sustainable features, including bedside lights made from 3D-printed recycled plastic.

They added that they hoped the building's eco-friendly philosophy would generate future building ideas to match its energy-efficient performance.

Founder Tim Wheeldon said: "What we've done is we've actually adopted a heating system called an adiabatic system [a process where no heat enters or leaves a system, but can be generated through compression] and you can see the pipework for some of the some of the adiabatic works that have been going on.

"It basically takes fresh air, heats it up or cools it down to a certain temperature and then distributes that within the hotel.

"I feel very proud - what we've achieved is better than I originally anticipated anyway.

"So as far as I'm concerned, I'm absolutely thrilled with what we managed to achieve.

"It was a dream of mine 10 to 12 years ago and we have actually managed to make what was deemed the impossible five years ago, actually possible."

Steve Goodhew, Professor of Environmental Building at Plymouth University, said it was "certainly a step forward".

He said: "This has got certain elements to it which means that it will be performing better than many of the other hotels in and around Exeter and, for the majority of the instances, the whole of the UK."

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