
Designing Sustainable Hotel Bathrooms
Any hotel owner will tell you about the huge burden of utility bills for their business. Our tips for designing sustainable hotel bathrooms will reduce bills, save water, save energy, contribute to your net zero goals and have no impact on the experience your guests receive. Sanitaryware manufacturers are constantly releasing more efficient products, motivated by the expectation of stricter regulations and increasing costs. Be ahead of the game and choose the best products on the market.
Our number one recommendation is to buy for longevity. The warranty should be foremost in your mind because you can buy ‘the most sustainable’ product in the world but if it needs replacing every 2 years, rather than every 10 or 12 years, it is not sustainable. Replacing equipment is wasteful and once you calculate installation costs, additional admin costs, the room being unavailable during works, taking the cheap option is rarely sensible economics. In this article we don’t discuss the embodied carbon of sanitaryware because every product is different. We would recommend looking for products that have an EPD (Environmental Product Declaration), looking into the manufacturer’s environmental credentials and looking for manufacturing certifications, for example the EU EcoLabel.
Water shortages are already a reality in several counties in the UK and globally some regions are reaching crisis point. The UK Government’s priority is to focus on more efficient use of water and it is likely that increasingly stringent restrictions will come into force in the near future. By choosing water saving facilities now, you will potentially save a future refit to comply with legislation and / or save on increasingly high water bills. Remember that every drop of potable water has also been through extensive processing, which has a carbon impact. We need to minimise our water use to relieve the pressure on a stretched resource and to decarbonise. Investing in sustainable hotel bathrooms will make a difference. Where hotels innovate, households follow and the time to do it is now!
Toilets
The main consideration when specifying toilets is the water consumption. Many of the major contract manufacturers are adopting the Unified Water Label, which provides a simple demonstration of water use, graded from A-E.
This provides a very easy method of comparison but be aware that if guests flush twice because of insufficient flush, water is being wasted. Therefore you need to find the most effective and the most efficient model. If the toilet model does not have a Water Label, you should look for a flush below 4.5 litres.
Be careful to ensure that toilets are of a high quality and are installed correctly. A BBC article from 2020 highlighted the problems of dual flush toilets, designed to save water, wasting even more water due to leaks. The Bathroom Manufacturers Association said that the ‘drop valve system’ used in many modern toilets is more prone to leaking than traditional siphon systems if not maintained regularly.

A water saving toilet is only effective if it is installed and maintained properly. A high-quality dual-flush toilet will save water but a cheap product may waste more water than a standard toilet.
If your hotel is undergoing extensive building work, or is a new build, consider a rain water or grey water harvesting system. Although the ‘grey’ sometimes puts people off, it is perfectly safe with a professionally installed and maintained system, to harvest filtered water to flush your toilets. Fears of additional cleaning requirements or unpleasant smells are easily managed and we predict grey water harvesting will become an essential feature of future buildings.
Have a look at this useful factsheet from Visit Scotland on how to make your Toilets and Urinals more efficient.
Showers
Water consumption is of course a priority but remember that every hot shower is also consuming energy. The less water used, the less fuel needed to heat it, which means you save on water and energy bills. We work with a genuinely innovative manufacturer, Kelda, who use technology developed in aerospace research to inject air into the water, resulting in considerably less water being used with no impact on the experience of the shower. Their showers use up to 60% less water (and power) than regular showers. They also supply a very exciting ‘bubble shower’ for a spa experience which is one of the most efficient spa showers on the market. Don’t take our word for it, David Lloyd gyms are saving over £8,000 per year on their water bills and over £5,000 in energy bills in their Ipswich branch alone, simply by opting for Kelda showers.
To have a BREEAM compliant shower you are looking for a flow rate below 10 litres per minute and to achieve maximum credit the flow rate should be below 3.5 litres per minute. The aforementioned Unified Water Label also covers showers, and includes the energy consumption. Small reductions in water use and energy use can make an enormous difference in hotel and leisure facilities and paying a small premium for an efficient product will give you an ROI in no time at all. Sustainable hotel bathrooms will pay back quicker than you may think.
Taps & Basins
There are a number of considerations when choosing taps & basins for sustainable hotel bathrooms. Firstly, don’t skimp on the tap because cheap products are notoriously problematic. A substandard tap will cost you hundreds in maintenance, waste water through leaks and be a frustration for your guests. Cut price taps will cost you.
Next we look at flow rate. The maximum flow rate for BREEAM compliance is 9 litres per minute with maximum credit given to a rate of 3 litres or less. Bear in mind that there is no necessity for a high flow rate in a hotel basin. Unlike a bath tub, it will make negligible impact on the time needed to fill the bowl. Less conscientious guests who run the tap whilst brushing their teeth or washing will be using less water with a lower flow rate. To compensate for the perception of poor pressure you may choose a tap with an aerator which simply adds air to the flow, giving the appearance of a high flow rate.
You should also consider the operation method. Avoid a traditional on/off tap that can be left running, potentially all day if your guests goes out. Most of us have accidentally left a tap with a minor flow and especially when we’re unfamiliar with the tightness required. Taps with an infrared sensor to activate the flow are both efficient and hygienic (particularly in shared facilities). A push button timed tap (self-closing) is an alternative. Think about how your basin is likely to be used and whether your guests will be expecting to fill a basin to wash their faces or is it more likely they will run the tap to wash and brush.
Please also consider design and shape of the basin. A well known chain of business hotels regularly provides basins with taps set so low in the basin that filling a water bottle is impossible and even filling the provided kettles is very tricky. Encourage guests to drink tap water in their rooms rather than buying plastic bottles from the minibar. It’s better for the planet and gives a positive impression to guests. By all means have posh bottled water (preferably refillable glass) available on request, but do ensure accessibility to tap water.
Finally, check replacement parts are made available. Budget manufacturers often don’t supply parts so you end up replacing the whole faucet system when one component goes wrong. Talk to your installer / maintenance team about how you are going to source parts and get the best life out of the product.
Getting started on your sustainable hotel bathrooms
We know that hotel refurbs come in many shapes, sizes, budgets and timelines. Planning ahead is key in any design project but when you are bringing sustainability into the equation, a bit more research is required. It’s all too easy to get swept away in greenwash so it’s important to quantify your water and energy saving goals. By setting targets, it’s easier to get your stakeholders on board. It’s also easier to promote your achievements without being accused of greenwash yourself.
Talk to your marketing staff too. Eco-friendly loos may not seem a glamorous topic but as customers increasingly look to spend their money in venues that reflect positive environmental and social values, your refit may become a great selling point, setting you ahead of the competition.
More than ever the hospitality sector need to look to the future. By minimising your impact on the environment and designing more resilient facilities, you can create a more secure future for your business.
If you are planning the refurbishment of your hotel bathrooms we offer full design services as well as more specific sustainability consultancy on every element of interior refits. Contact us to discuss your requirements.


