New Haven, CT Claims America’s First 'Net-Zero' Hotel
Hotel Marcel offers "Hospitality For The Planet."
CBS Saturday Morning recently highlighted America’s first net-zero hotel: the Hotel Marcel in New Haven, Connecticut.
Hotel Marcel stands out for its “brutalist architecture and Bauhaus design,” its website reads. Previously home to the Armstrong Rubber Company, the self-described sustainable hotel was originally built in 1968 and reopened in May 2022 under its new name. The business claims to be entirely powered by solar energy and electric batteries.
The hotel not only claims it’s 100% fossil fuel-free, but it also offers Climate Wake-Up Calls.
“Humanity is sleeping through the climate crisis,” the Climate Wake-Up Call web page notes. They are reimagining this hotel service to “disturb recipients into action. Because if we don’t wake up now, it could be too late.”
The nightly hotel rates average $136 to $300+ per night. The hotel also mentions proceeds from each booking go to the New Haven Climate Movement—a youth-oriented group promoting climate justice, green jobs, and healthy communities.
The revamped hotel’s developer, Bruce Becker, stated its operation qualified for the Inflation Reduction Act’s 30% tax credit for solar panels and batteries for businesses and also received Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing. Becker wrote in a Yale University publication that federal subsidies “saved” them $3 million in remodeling and construction costs. The luxury hotel cost over $54 million to renovate and rebuild.
A recent HotelDive spotlight found, however, that the New Haven hotspot isn’t as net-zero as advertised. The building maintains “embodied carbon” in the building’s existing concrete and steel frame—materials derived from fossil fuels.
Bloomberg pointed out that the hotel downplayed greenhouse gasses emitted during the renovation and construction process. The report explained:
The Marcel’s triple-glazed windows? Good for keeping heating and cooling costs down, but a massive carbon emitter to manufacture. The hotel’s new, more efficient mechanical systems? They, too, emit large amounts of carbon during fabrication, transportation, and installation. Demolition of old walls? More carbon. Drywall, interior finishes, and bath fixtures for all 169 rooms? Carbon, carbon, carbon—all ignored in the Marcel’s net-zero promise.
The Hilton-affiliated hotel says it “operates completely independent of fossil fuels.” But can the hotel stay “all-electric” during Connecticut’s cold winters? Paul Torcellini, a principal engineer for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, told the publication Hotel Marcel likely needs backup gas boilers when electric heat pumps fail to work. Torcellini conceded, “An 80% shift to carbon-free energy is better than no shift.”
How much electricity can solar and batteries supply? Assessing New Haven’s electricity profile, the city is primarily powered by natural gas (57%) and nuclear (39%)—not solar or battery power. Connecticut’s electricity profile on the Energy Information Administration (EIA) website reveals solar only provides 3% of net electricity generation for the entire state, with natural gas (56%) and nuclear (37%) mostly delivering power to residents.
It’s debatable if there’s demand for this sustainable travel option. Hotel Marcel’s General Manager Ben Webster conceded the zero-emissions hotel movement could be “antiquated in 10 years.”
Net-zero guidelines make everything more expensive—the travel industry included. One study in 2022 found hotels don’t financially benefit from green certifications which themselves yield mixed results. One of the study’s researchers said hotel green labels “didn’t help in terms of revenue and may actually be a deterrent.”
Americans are conscious about the environment but don’t want to pay a premium for electricity or lodging. The free market—not federal government solar tax credits—should determine if “net-zero” hotels are viable.
To learn about the problems of net-zero climate goals, go HERE.