We offer many impressive mountain retreats, but none are quite as extraordinary as the luxury eco lodge. The lodge offers modern facilities and amazing luxuries, but not at the expense of the environment. The travel industry is starting to become more eco-conscious, as people are starting to realise the unacceptable carbon footprint created by holidays and trips abroad. When you have the pleasure of staying in such as beautiful part of the world, naturally you want to be able to protect it and refrain from spoiling the landscape in any way.
Here at Marmotte Mountain we decided to tackle the issue and design and build a stunning self-sufficient lodge. We ensured it was as environmentally friendly as possible, without compromising on luxury. Read on for more details about the green features of this forward thinking build.
Eco Engineering
The reason the lodge is so energy efficient is mainly due to the engineering involved. The design includes:
‘Tight Envelope’ – The house is built to the ‘passiv haus’ standard, meaning it has minimal air leakage. This is accomplished through tight seals, no holes, and super-insulation
‘Double flux Ventilation’ – Because there is almost zero transfer of air into and out of the house, we installed a double flux ventilation system. This brings fresh air into the house, which is then warmed or cooled by the air that is being pushed out of the house, without using heating or cooling.
The above two steps drop the heating and cooling needs of the house by more than 70%.
Renewable Energy
We succeeded in lowering the energy required to make the house comfortable, but we knew that we would still need electricity and heating. We made the most eco-friendly choices:
Geo-thermal heating – We drilled three 30 metre vertical shafts in front of the chalet to run pipes down into. The pipes pick up the ground heat which is permanently around 6-7˚C. The heat exchanger in the technical room, uses compression to warm this up to the desired temperature for hot water, and underfloor heating. This pump system uses about 25% of the energy that a conventional heating system would use.
Solar thermal heating – The geo thermal system is augmented with solar thermal heating panels on the garage. When the sun is shining, the solar thermal panels provide hot water for almost zero energy use. They also produce enough power to generate electricity so the house produces zero emissions.
Energy Efficient Appliances
We didn’t stop there – when furnishing the eco lodge, we made sure to handpick the most energy efficient appliances. All lighting is LED, using 90% less energy than conventional bulbs, and all appliances are the most energy efficient available, usually A+++ rated.
Want to find out more about our eco lodge in Chamonix? Get in touch today.