Lee Plaza: Once an Iconic Luxury Hotel of the USA - Essay Sample

Introduction

Among several of the most famous and what was one time, excellent hotels in the United States of America are the Lee Plaza, also known as the Lee Plaza Hotel. It used to attract many people due to its classiness, where the wealthy would be able to access it. The services offered there were quality, and only the rich would be able to pay for the services. These, among other features, made the hotel famous across the entire region of West Grand Boulevard where it was situated (Austin, 2010). The hotel was located about a mile to the west of New Center along the West Grand Boulevard, a place in Detroit in the state of Michigan. After its years of operation, the hotel was rendered vacant, with about 15 floors high-rise being non-operational. Thus, the hotel enters in the list of major neglected hotels in the US (Austin, 2010). It was registered as a historic site by the Michigan state and added to the historic locations in the US.

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The hotel was designed by Charles Noble and was constructed in 1929 and presents excellent art decoration architectural designs of the 1920s (Austin, 2010). Its design was appropriately done to include proper ventilation, considering proper lighting, among other integral elements of a building. All these features made the building outstanding and gave it all over the United States of America. Its location was in a favorable climatic region, which was characterized by warm temperatures during the summer. However, during the winter seasons, the hotel would experience the cold temperatures which the hotel was aware of and incorporated a heating system to ensure it remains warm for its customers. Additionally, the humidity levels in the building were appropriately controlled. This paper will dig deep into modalities that would be used to refurbish the building taking special considerations on ecological, bioclimatic, engineering systems, and environmental management constructions.

General Policies and Triple Bottom Line Approach

Triple bottom line approach ensures that a company commits to concentrate on social, economic, and environmental aspects as they are integral in the community (Elkington, 2013). The theory requires such organizations to focus on the elements as much as they focus on their profit. For the Lee Plaza Hotel refurbishment, measures such as the use of clean energy, enhancing environmental conservation by reducing pollution as well as water stewardship are aspects that should be designed to suit the triple bottom line approach (Elkington, 2013). It should also consider the social element, which is about the population surrounding this hotel, which involves providing quality services and products that are safe for human use. The measures must also be tailored to ensure sustainability as the organization commits to having its power plants and water management systems (Elkington, 2013). In the realization of the refurbishment of this hotel, availability of labor, both skill and unskilled must be put in place to ensure that the hotel gets outstanding management and junior workers with the skills needed in the hotel industries to ensure that the customers are served professionally and to enhance their satisfaction (Elkington, 2013). Programs to incorporate the participation from the guests who check in to the hotel upon re-establishment should be made available, such as providing suggestion platforms for feedback.

Bioclimatic Architecture

The entire United States of America is located away from the equator and towards the northern hemisphere. For this reason, the country experiences freezing winters, which is not favorable to many. Considering that this is an industry that attracts many guests, and such a facility must find comfort by ensuring that the cold weather does not affect the convenience of the guests (Allen & Iano, 2013). Thus, when repairing the building for the operations, such issues must be addressed by ensuring that it is well insulated to prevent heat loss from inside to the outside. Additionally, heating systems must be incorporated to ensure that during the cold seasons, heat can be generated and maintained within the building (Allen & Iano, 2013).

Conversely, during the summer, the country becomes extremely hot. Too much heat may affect the comfort of the guests who check in to the facility after it is repaired. As a result, measures to ensure that the building does not allow too much heat from the outside must be put in place. It means that when renovating the structure, it must be fitted with appropriate air conditioners, fans, and ventilation appliances to enhance the circulation of fresh as cold air within the building as well as its other rooms (Allen & Iano, 2013). By doing this, the entire structure holds a better position to carry a considerable number of guests and make them enjoy the comfort. Putting such measures in place to provide these microclimates within the building ensures a steady flow of clients into the facility throughout the seasons of the year without suffering the repercussions of the extreme temperatures endured in the US (Allen & Iano, 2013).

Ecological Construction

Use of Renewable Power

Environmental issues are critical and must be taken into keen considerations to ensure that the environment is not hurt. While considering renovating the Lee Plaza Hotel, concerns about the source of power to be used must be focused on. Various sources of energy are used by different entities, amounting to pollution of the environment; thus, in refurbishing the hotel, clean sources of energy must be considered (Spiegel & Meadows, 2012). The hotel should be renovated with plans to equip it with renewable energy plants to supply electricity to the building. For this reason, the hotel should be made to come up with critical decisions about using renewable yet clean energy to save the environment and make it a better place for the human beings and the communities around it. Therefore, a considerable amount of revenue is collected through the approach (Watson 2015)

Water Stewardship

Water is another integral aspect of the environment that must be conserved to ensure its safety and minimize its wastage. The hotel should be designed so that water can be reused in other activities that require water to run. Additionally, simple plants to facilitate water treatment for the hotel should be put in place to promote its efficiency and reduce its wastage (Abdelmoez 2011). As a result, such systems would go a long way in ensuring that the hotel runs adequately on scarce water instead of running on large amounts of water, which may amount into wastages of water, thus, conserving the water (Spiegel & Meadows, 2012). Such measures would also go a long way in enhancing the quality of water emanating from the company's systems, as well as portraying leadership by conserving shared water resources. While designing the reoperation of the hotel, ways of partnering with the local community members within the locations it operates to enhance protection, and the accessibility of clean water must be incorporated (Abdelmoez 2011). Recycling of the wastewater should be a strategy used by the hotel in its effort to conserve water to facilitate continuous supply in the future after reopening (Abdelmoez 2011).

Reducing waste would also go a long way in helping the hotel to minimize waste; it helps conserve the environment (Abdelmoez 2011). While designing the reopening of the Lee Plaza Hotel should be carefully done to enhance that there are systems laid in place to improve the reduction of wastewaters, solid wastes, and gases into the environment, which are notorious in the pollution of the ecology. Such methods would include treatment plants for waste, especially liquid wastes, and gaseous waste before releasing them into the atmosphere (Abdelmoez 2011).

Engineering Systems Efficiency

Due to the complexity of the building, sophisticated engineering systems are critical and must be designed appropriately to help in environmental conservation. The building requires a system of well-engineered components ranging from power systems that would be used in driving a variety of methods such as the heating, cooling, storage, lighting, and cooking systems, among other uses (Ghosal 2011). For this reason, while planning to reopen the hotel, the power systems must be designed and installed appropriately to ensure safety and efficiency. Additionally, water systems must be well established and engineered to provide water conservation by minimizing leakages and mixing of wastewaters and clean water. Furthermore, it would be essential to install treatment plants and those for recycling and reusing the water (Ghosal 2011). A hotel is a facility that may be involved in the production of harmful gasses from the kitchens and other elements of use. Appropriate engineering systems to ensure proper and safe elimination of those gases would be instrumental in environmental conservation. Other integral issues that must be addressed in the engineering aspect of refurbishing the building include the ventilation and artificial lighting of the facility to enhance the preservation of power in the facility.

Environmental Management: Maintenance Issues

In minimizing water consumption after the operationalization of the Lee Plaza Hotel, reducing water usage in the hotel will be integral, considering the nature of the venture, which needs lots of water. In the bathrooms, the use of water limiting nozzle for the shower will help minimize the usage of water by the guests. Reusing water in the kitchen for other issues will help in water conservation (Jones & Zembe, 2010). Swimming pool water should be treated regularly and cleaned technologically instead of changing the water frequently. In the gardens, water should be reused to water crops.

Power is another integral aspect of the hotel, as it is used to run different systems. The use of energy-saving bulbs in the guestrooms and other rooms would go away to conserve energy. Natural lighting other rooms would also reduce the consumption of power through the use of sunroofs and opening the windows during the day (Jones & Zembe, 2010). In heating the water, the hotel must consider installing solar water heaters to help in heating water as solar energy is renewable. The use of low power consuming machines would also be an integral measure in ensuring that the hotel conserves substantial power after resuming its operations.

Hospitality activities are the center part of the events taking place in the hotel. Upon reopening, measures should be put in place to ensure that waste is minimized. The use of utensils that can be reused instead of the disposable ones would enhance waste reduction (Jones & Zembe, 2010). Reusing garbage in the hotel is a critical move among the reused substances, including utensils, water, and fuels. Recycling wastes such as water would be vital in reducing wastes. In air management, improving the indoor air quality would be enhanced by opening the windows to allow fresh air circulation (Jones & Zembe, 2010). Additionally, using air conditioners and fans would ensure the proper variety of air inside the rooms.

In the hotel industry, several chemicals are used and may be detrimental to the wellbeing of humans. Thus proper use of the chemicals must be observed. Some of the substances that may be used include detergents, toilet cleaners, and other poisons to control pests (Jones & Zembe, 2010). Proper handling and handling of protective gear while using them would assist in minimizing the risks. Additionally, other eco-friendly substances can be used instead of hard chemicals such as allowing the free flow of air to control pests; proper lighting would also assist in controlling pests, d...