Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, St Andrews

Fairmont St Andrews has been an industry leader in their commitment and implementation of a range of procedures and practices to ensure they are a sustainable hotel.

Green operations
The hotel joined the Clean the World initiative in January 2017 to recycle all unused bathroom soaps and hygiene products. The hotel is recycling on average 250kg of products per month which are donated to humanitarian organisations around the world.
All cups in the staff canteen have been replaced from paper to china. These are reused and have saved £5,000 per year, as well as reduce waste. Water cooler stations are available in all staff areas, and recyclable glass bottled water is offered in conference areas for guests.
Compostable straws have been introduced in all dining and bar outlets, and only provided if asked for. The resort contract Olleco who supply the resort with cooking oils, recycle the resorts waste food and oil into renewable energy and convert organic waste into green fuels.
Compostable coffee pods have been introduced in all guest bedrooms. Housekeeping employees then dispose into the food waste locations.
Fairway grass clippings are returned to the ground which acts as feed for our ryegrass which reduces the amount of fertilisers applied. As part of the hotels continued food recycling programme, food waste is turned into compost and used to help produce the hotels home grown produce. The onsite green house and vegetable garden supplies the hotels restaurants with herbs, forage, chili peppers and tomatoes. Using as much locally sourced produce and ingredients as possible the hotel is reducing its food footprint, using less miles to transport produce as well as economically supporting the local community and independent businesses.

Energy conservations
The hotel has invested in separation hubs for its building management system allowing temperature, air conditioning and heating to be managed floor by floor. This has significantly decreased the hotels consumption of energy.
Additionally, the hotel introduced a new CHP (Combined Heat & Power) system in October 2016, which saves £100,000 on utilities per annum. The CHP has a gas driven engine which generates electricity to the entire hotel and its grounds. The waste heat the CHP produces is recycled and fed back into the LPHW (low pressure hot water) distribution system. Having implemented this system the hotel produces 60% of their own power and the CHP is on target to save 682 tonnes of CO2 per year and annual CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) of £11,000 per year at £16.00 per tonne.

All lights in the hotel have been replaced by LED lighting, saving £25,000 per annum and significantly reducing the hotel’s energy consumption.

Water conservation
Across the grounds and golf courses the hotel uses recycled and rain water to fill the irrigation ponds and have a network of drainage pipes throughout the courses that empties into the ponds and restricts the usage of the borehole by 75%. In 2019, the borehole was no longer required to top up the irrigation ponds, so the usage of borehole in 2019 was actually lower.
In all guest bedrooms a housekeeping notice is left encouraging guests to re-use bath towels to help reduce water use. New bathrooms have been fitted in all 220 guestrooms with reduced water output in toilet systems, basins, baths and showers. New shower heads have reduced water output from 19.5 litres per minute to 9.5 litres per minute.

Reducing Carbon Footprint
In 2018, the CHP and BMS systems were integrated with Carbon Credentials London whose purpose is to lower energy consumption of the hotel. An additional £53,000 saving per year on utilities is expected. New HVAC and lighting were installed throughout the hotel allowing low power mode scheduling between 11pm-5am, rooms are automatically powered down when not in use.
Dark Native Scottish Honey Bees will be introduced to the 520 acre estate in 2018. In 2017, the hotel returned lawns back to natural wild grasses to enhance the local landscape and encourage natural wildlife, insects, helping to populate the local ecosystem.

Sourcing sustainably
Committing their support to the development of a more sustainable food system, the hotel avidly supports the local economy with 75% of food served in the hotel being sourced from Scotland, with 100% of produce being Fairtrade. The provenance of food and drink is incredibly important and all menus showcase where ingredients are from. The hotel won the 2017 Fife Business Award for Excellence in Food & Drink.
The hotel works with local primary school pupils, inviting them to the hotel to teach them about the importance of health and nutrition and sustaining the region for generations to come.

Supporting community developments
Colleagues are heavily committed to local community tourism working with the Fife Coast & Countryside Trust to participate in initiatives including beach cleaning and maintenance of the Fife Costal Path (FCP) which runs through the property.
Four times a year, a group of colleague volunteers walk the FCP and the Kittocks Ravine, which lies within the onsite golf courses, collecting waste, discarded rubbish and foreign items that have been washed up from the sea. Three times a year colleague volunteers team up with the local Fife Council to clean beaches in and around St Andrews, Kingsbarns, and East Neuk beaches.

Protecting natural environment
There are three Special Sites of Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the 520 acre estate. A souterrain and a pill box worked stone pillar both located in the Kittocks ravine. The third is a promontory fort which is positioned below the 15th green of the Kittocks Golf Course.
In 2017, the hotel returned lawns back to natural wild grasses that enhanced the local landscape and reduced water usage by encouraging natural wildlife and insects, helping to populate the local ecosystem. A further acre is being cultivated into wild flowers in March 2018 to create a sanctuary for native honey bees.In 2017 the Scottish Bee Keepers Association assessed the estate to find it was in commendable condition to hosting native bees due as the land was cultivated back to natural habitat for the bees to forage. In 2018 two bee Nucs with Dark Native Scottish Honey Bees will arrive onto the property. This small black honey bee is native and acclimatized to the range of weather received in Scotland. The hotel will commence educating guests about the importance of bee-sustainability and family packages featuring hive tours will be introduced as well as a wild flower meadow specifically for a bee-sanctuary.

Eco-Paper
When launching St Andrews Bar & Grill in 2015, the resort wanted to ensure the concept of this signature dining venue not only captured sustainable produce, but ensured it flowed through the menus, even in the paper that the menus are produced on. Gmund Bier Papier was selected due to its earthy, lively and authentic feel. Produced by the Gmund paper mill on the shores of Lake Tegernsee in Southern Bavaria, the paper contains spent brewers grains derived from hops, malt and yeast and also the remains of used paper beer labels.
Zephyr Sport Bar Menu is also printed on eco-friendly paper. Printed on ‘Extract’, this pioneering paper is inspired by our environment. It is produced with the paper waste from used takeaway coffee and tea paper cups. The plastic liner is removed from the cups by a special process and is converted into products such as cable insulation. The paper fibres are then “cupcycled” into a unique and tactile coloured paper range, so creating something beautiful from used paper cups which would otherwise go to landfill. This will launch in December 2018.

All paper used on the resort is FSC certified.

Bees
On 27th July 2018, the resort welcomed over 20,000 dark native Scottish honey bees to the five-star resort as part of their ongoing commitment to green tourism.
Over the past year, John Keating, general manager at Fairmont St Andrews and Johnny Mitchell, head gardener at the resort, have been training to be beekeepers with The Fife Beekeepers Association. The day finally arrived when two bee nucleus’ arrived onto the resort this July.
In anticipation of hosting honey bees on the resort, in 2016/17 Fairmont St Andrews returned manicured lawns back to natural wild grasses that enhanced the local landscape and reduced water usage by encouraging natural wildlife and insects, helping to populate the local ecosystem. A further acre was cultivated into wild flower meadow in March 2018 to create a sanctuary for the native honey bees.
The Fife Beekeepers Association assessed the 520 acre estate to find it was in commendable condition to hosting dark native Scottish honey bees due the land being cultivated back to natural habitat for the bees to forage. The small dark native honey bee is native and acclimatized to the range of weather received in Scotland, making it ideal for the Fife resort.

The hotel is keen to educate guests on the importance of bee-sustainability and family activities featuring hive tours have been introduced during school holidays as well as a wild flower meadow specifically for a bee-sanctuary. In 2019 a third hive was introduced to the resort and the wild flower meadow was extended.

For more information visit: www.fairmont.com/corporate-responsibility/responsible-business/