Case Studies of Successful Sustainable Design

In 2015, Barry Sternlicht risked his reputation to make sustainability sexy in luxury hospitality. A feat that had yet to be accomplished… He’d already revolutionized hospitality with W Hotels and sold Starwood for $13 billion. But instead of retiring, he was busy chasing an idea he'd had a decade earlier: "Eco-friendly luxury" – an oxymoron to most industry experts. Traditional hotels believed wealthy travelers only wanted fancy modern finishes, not reclaimed materials and environmental consciousness. But Sternlicht saw market trends everyone else was overlooking… Millennials were willing to pay more for brands that matched their values. Instagram-worthy experiences. But not at the cost of their conscience. Sternlicht saw an opportunity: No luxury hotel brand was serving this massive market. So in 2015, Sternlicht opened 1 Hotel South Beach. The lobby featured a massive sculpture made from driftwood salvaged from Miami shores. Rooms had filtered water taps instead of plastic bottles. Local stone and native materials connected guests to Miami's natural environment. 1 Hotels became a brand that "looks good and does good." Yet, the industry was skeptical. Eco-friendly practices were associated with budget accommodations. Many believed sustainability would compromise the premium experience that wealthy travelers had come to expect. But something incredible happened… 1 Hotel South Beach became the hottest spot in Miami. Celebrities made it their go-to. Guests were actually paying more to stay at 1 Hotel than competing luxury hotels. Sternlicht had achieved the impossible: making eco-luxury the hottest trend in hospitality. The secret wasn't just the green features. It was the storytelling. Every reclaimed wood beam had a history. Every design element connected guests to the local natural environment. Guests weren't just staying at a hotel–they were part of a mission. Their popularity was cemented with 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge in 2017. Sternlicht's team used wood from the old Domino Sugar Factory in the design. It became one of NYC's most photographed buildings. Suddenly, sustainability was the main attraction. There are a few key lessons from 1 Hotels' success: → Values-driven branding commands premium pricing → Local storytelling creates deeper guest connections → Sustainability can be a differentiator, not a cost → Gen Z and Millennials will pay more for authentic experiences Today, 1 Hotels operates 14 properties across 7 countries. They command some of the highest rates in their markets and inspired dozens of competitors to go green. Proving sustainability could be aspirational, not sacrificial. Exactly what Sternlicht set out to accomplish.

A house near Hanover, Germany was constructed using almost 100% secondhand materials ♻️ Building with reclaimed materials has three common challenges: 1. Finding materials in good condition and in the right quantity 2. Ensuring those materials meet current building codes 3. Finding an architect/builder that is committed to reuse and pushing conventional design boundaries The architecture firm CITYFÖRSTER addressed all three by designing a house almost entirely from reclaimed, recycled, and upcycled materials. Some examples: 🖼️ The aluminum windows and fiber cement panels were salvaged from a nearby youth center that was renovated into social housing 🏸 The wooden strips framing the entrance once served as sauna benches in a local sports club 🎨 The green and blue facade glass panels were salvaged from an old paint shop that was demolished This project is a great prototype for "design follows availability," or a commitment to using materials that already exist in a nearby city or region. This approach encourages us to rethink how we value materials in the built environment -- before, during, and after their first lifecycle. Photos from the architecture firm's project feature -- link in comments! 👋 I talk about circular economy in the built environment, including cultural heritage, workforce development, and affordable housing. Follow for more case studies! #circulareconomy #greenbuilding #sustainability #sustainableconstruction #decarbonisation #climateheritage #embodiedcarbon

Thatched housing is a global phenomenon that can be found in many localities across Europe, UK, Asia, Africa and South America. The Lo—TEK Case Study House series pays homage to innovative biomaterials, ancient knowledge, regenerative practices, and oral knowledge sharing— protecting the intellectual property passed from thatcher to architect using an oath-based smart contract encoded to the blockchain. The first case study house titled, THUS will preserve the knowledge and craft of seagrass construction from seabed to structure and provide a roadmap to working with local biobased resources and integrating traditional materials like seagrass back into contemporary architecture and design. Seagrass is a rot resistant, fire resistant, CO2 neutral material with the potential to transform the global building industry. However, only 5 people are trained to thatch with it in Europe and only two seagrass farmers remain in Denmark. One of the challenges of seagrass construction is that compression is necessary, otherwise the seagrass blows out of the structure. By using the previously unpublished and understudied Mønsk gable thatching technique, THUS will apply seagrass thatch vertically to the construction.” THUS is commissioned by K21 Dusseldorf Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen for the Winter 2025/Spring 2026  “Land and Soil” exhibition, which includes work from 20 international artists and collectives exploring various models of resource governance—from Indigenous societies to utopian blockchain projects. With works by Maria Thereza Alves, Simon Denny, Nir Evron, Dor Guez, Congolese Plantation Workers Art League (CATPC), Christopher Kulendran Thomas, Gordon Matta-Clark, Kathryn Larsen, Grace Ndiritu, Johannes Paul Raether, Lin May Saeed, Shimabuku, terra0, Ron Tran, Julia Watson, among others, the Lo—TEK Case Study House will be located in the park north of the Museum overlooking the lake. Images and models by Studio Kathryn Larsen ApS and @sofiaaholck