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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Environment
Josiah Hesse in Denver

America’s first ‘carbon positive’ hotel comes to Denver – but do its climate claims stack up?

A stylish hotel building looks like a triangular block of swiss cheese as it sits in the middle of a busy downtown area
The creators of the Populus hotel have promised to overcompensate for their emissions by a factor of 400% to 500%. Photograph: Courtesy of Populus

Travelers to Denver, Colorado, will soon have the opportunity to spend the night in what promises to be “the first carbon positive hotel in America”. So say the creators behind Populus, a new 265-room, stylish, yet climate-conscious luxury hotel in the heart of the city.

Set to open in mid-October, the building is a striking addition to the city’s skyline – a sleek, three-corner structure built to resemble a grove of aspen trees, with each window shaped like the tree’s iconic “knots”. Its climate claims, too, are equally provocative. The hotel’s creators have promised to overcompensate for their emissions by a factor of 400% to 500%, through a combination of low-carbon construction, eco-friendly operations and a huge tree planting campaign throughout Colorado.

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