Heathman Hotel

Our tour of the Heathman Hotel began with an anecdote about a colleague of the hotel manager's wife, visiting from Dallas, who placed her laptop in a blue bin beneath his wife's desk for safekeeping, not realizing that in Portland, those blue bins under desks are recycle bins. Her laptop was recycled and she learned a valuable lesson, one she hopefully shared with her coworkers in Dallas.

Bookcase in lounge showcasing autographed
works of authors who have stayed at the hotel

The Heathman Hotel is a family-owned business and is not subject to the limitations that some of the larger chains face. Decisions are made quickly and there is no brand hovering over them telling them what to do, so they are able to implement new programs and experiment with new ideas as they wish, and they have fun doing it. Seven years ago, they hired an energy consultant for a few small projects and have kept an energy consultant on staff since. Through analyzing utility bills, they realized that the way to save money and keep operations from suffering was to reduce utility consumption and improve resource efficiency rather than managing labor (layoffs), even during the recent recession. That realization carried them forward and resulted in a cultural change at the hotel. Sustainability became their focus and set them apart in Portland as leaders in the industry, giving them a competitive advantage over many of the larger brands that were slower to catch on to changing consumer demands and the emerging trends toward resource conservation and efficiency. Unit remodels took on a "hyper-local" approach, in which every item (doors, faucets, sinks, shower handles, etc.) removed from the hotel was repurposed, recycled, or resold by local companies for profit (supporting local economy). The resulting remodels were 99% landfill-free. The biggest challenge during the process was that mirrors could not be recycled, so it was important to remove the mirrors carefully and keep them in tact so that they could be reused. New materials brought in for the remodels were also purchased locally and included sustainable lumber, which was more expensive, but worth it to them. The hotel has been in operation for 90 years, and they want to be around for another 90 years. "This is not a tear-down building."

Bathroom after remodel

Another anecdote about Portland's sewer system upgrade illustrated the buy-in among Portland businesses and residents. A six-year overhaul of the city's over-century-old sewer system was completed recently and resulted in large increases to water rates. Even though the hotel consumption has decreased through the use of more efficient toilets and plumbing fixtures, water bills continue to increase, but they are ok with that because the sewer upgrade was necessary and will result in a cleaner river, which will benefit everyone. That seems to be a common point of view in the Northwest.

The tour continued with peeks inside a few of the suites, highlighting the use of local materials and artists to decorate spaces, including a mural painted on the side of an adjacent building to enhance the view from one side of the hotel. Also of note was the minimal use of lighting and heating/cooling when spaces are empty, further reducing wasteful energy consumption.