Sustainability

Our Goal for a Sustainable Future

At reStays, we strive to provide exceptional service while minimizing our environmental impact. We are committed to implementing sustainable practices that reduce our global footprint and provide our guests with peace of mind that their stay had a smaller impact on our planet. The Re, which encompasses reStays and reResidences, obtained its LEED® Canada Silver status in 2024 based on a few key features, including a sustainable site, a heated walkway, a green roof, a heritage facade, indoor air quality, energy efficiency, water use reduction and recycled content.

Our Sustainable Features

We take hardscape management seriously and have implemented heating in our walkways, eliminating the need for snow and ice removal. This reduces harmful chemical use, runoff, and energy waste from snow removal equipment. Our green roof provides many sustainable benefits, including reducing the heat island effect, retaining rainwater ecological biodiversity, and improving air quality. Additionally, the green roof offers an experiential benefit with enhanced views from the upper tower to the verdant roofscape below.

We have worked with our mechanical and electrical consultants to ensure the use of high-efficiency boilers, furnaces, and domestic water heaters. Our suite layouts can accommodate energy recovery ventilators, and we extensively use LED lights and occupancy sensors in amenity and common spaces, generating energy savings over the building's life.

Our keyless entry system eliminates the need for plastic keys (and key holders), reducing waste. We offer housekeeping on demand, which means less laundry detergent is used. Our in-house laundry facilities reduce our carbon footprint by eliminating the need for the transportation of linen. We have sorting bins in every suite for garbage and recycling, making recycling easier for guests. Finally, we have installed aerators to reduce water waste and consumption in our faucets.

Restoration and Reuse of Materials

Preserving the historical atmosphere of our site is important to us, and we have restored elements from the existing heritage façade. Our restoration project was coordinated with the NCC’s heritage architects. It was always mindful of the agreement with the NCC, the conditions inherent in that comprehensive document, and the associated approval from the NCC’s Advisory Committee on Planning, Design and Realty (ACPDR). We have also reused materials taken from the building, such as windows and window surrounds, stored them for several years and then restored them for re-installation in a new brick façade with a new lead-coated copper cornice at the top of the building. This cornice boasts a distinctive center gable and bishop-hat finials framing the centrepiece.

Pedestrian Traffic Developed

We have developed links through the site, allowing pedestrian traffic to walk a series of covered walkways, open skies, and a grand outdoor staircase that leads past a restaurant patio at Queen St. The new building built behind and beside the Heritage façade picks up on the rhythm of proportions of the Heritage Façade to create an inviting streetscape to the Sparks St. Pedestrian Mall.

Why Sustainable Travel is Important

Sustainable travel is vital because it continues tourism while protecting local environments. Over-tourism has damaged the environment in many places worldwide, causing depletion of natural resources, pollution, and many more physical impacts. Sustainable travel helps to avoid these adverse effects while still supporting local economies. As a hotel, we believe that we play an essential role in promoting sustainable travel and lifestyle in general, and we encourage our guests to do their part by taking advantage of the many eco-friendly transportation options that Ottawa offers.