La Grange des Ecrins : an Ecogîte®

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Sustainable development, sustainable tourism, ... : These words are now our daily lives, we can not hear the television without hearing about it, read a newspaper without finding an article or spend an evening without the subject being discussed. But what is there behind these words? For most of us, it remains very unclear, if not incomprehensible, but for most of us, we also feel that this is important.
We each have our own ideas: it tells us that the world goes wrong and you begin to feel the effects?

At la Grange des Ecrins, we do not claim to be all inclusive or to be yours, but we try our level to make our brick building, this drop in the ocean of actions to achieve goals difficult to identify: natural resource conservation, reducing carbon emissions, reducing emissions of GHGs (greenhouse gases ),...We adopt an attitude of eco-citizenship at our level.

For this, we adopt, as far as possible, sustainable practices ; we try, through gestures mostly simple to do, to participate in sustainable development and sustainable, it is tell a development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

To help us implement our actions and environmental citizens to enhance these activities, we decided to engage in the process of environmental qualification developed by the Gites de France: qualifying ECOGITE®.

THE ACTIONS OF LA GRANGE DES ECRINS

About work :

We worked on the insulation of the house (roof and walls, of course, but also ground).

We have chosen to best promote the healthy and local materials known (wood benefiting from FCE or PEFC label, stone and lime,...) and totally excluded (in accordance with specifications "Ecogîte") products (window PVC glycero paint, polyurethane,...).

Note that we did not engaged in the choice of "all green" (hemp, wool sheep,...) for different reasons (the problem of certification of materials, skills for implementation, additional cost,... ).

We have completely redesigned the heating system (solar panels and wood-fired boiler-shredded - see below) ;

We have set up systems for controlled mechanical ventilation (CMV) and humidity controlled (part of the house) a type system "Canadian well."

In the part of the house rebuilt, facing south, we have favored the passive solar energy by setting up large windows, through which we hardly ever even heat it in winter.

Building and around

We have retained the characteristics of the building, centuries old, in the renovated respecting the local architecture, including the use of traditional materials (which may be as recent tradition coverage "steel sheet tray").

We buried overhead cables (electricity, telephone) and placed on the floor solar panels and satellite dishes TV antennas.

Parking and external access avoid, where possible, the asphalt or concrete (stone, grass, all comers,...). Note however that some asphalt to facilitate access for people with disabilities.

Plantations favor native species, non-allergenic, no water consumer.

At the daily

- The hot water is produced by solar panels (15 m²)

- The home heating is provided by a central heating based on a wood chip boiler. The wood chip fuel is a local origin (it is waste from a sawmill in the valley) that require little energy to be produced and transported. It is a fuel with a very favorable carbon footprint. Even if the CO ² produced during the manufacture, transport and combustion, it also sets during the life of the tree

- The boiler and solar panels are coupled, the boiler shall be assisted by the solar panels when the sun is present. By cons, it takes over solar panels for hot water if we have no sun for several days

- The swimming pool (in use from May to September heated at 25 ° C minimum) is also heated by solar panels

- Our health elements (sink faucet, shower, toilet flushing,...) are equipped with consumption limits

- We use appliances Class A (low consumption of energy and water) and set up a maximum of light bulbs

- We sort our waste

- For the table d'hote, we work up with local products (most of our suppliers are on the Champsaur or the high Alps) and we use gas for cooking

- Exotic products that we use (coffee, tea, ...) are, if possible, products with a certified "Fair Trade" as "Fairtrade / Max Havelaar"

- Our cleaning products are in the vast majority of cases of products with a "green label" (European Eco-label, European label for sustainable development "sustainable cleaning"

- We try to use paper (printer paper, toilet paper, paper towel ...) from sustainably managed forests. This paper benefiting from FSC or PEFC forest management to ensure environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable.

Note that all these choices and actions in favor of a more rational development are favored but are not engaged in a systematic way. There is no fundamentalism in our approach but the will to do the best whenever possible (within the limits of functionality and reasonable cost).

YOUR ACTIONS

During your stay with us, we will ask you to help us carry out these actions for the good of our planet and future generations (this is still a common place but do not hesitate to repeat).

• You have in the entrance, under the canopy, a trash can to throw recyclables (bottles, packages, newspapers,...),
• Think about turning off lights when leaving your room,
• Do not leave taps running,
• We are not changing the linens (towels) every day if this is necessary, however, put the towels on the floor to change,
• For longer stays, we change the bed linen once a week.

THE FRENCH ECOGITES

ECOGITE® : The Ecogîtes ® are a label certifying Gites de France accommodation of High Environmental Quality.

The holiday cottages receiving qualification Ecogîtes are new forms of tourist accommodation to meet strict requirements with regard to taking into account the overall environment. They illustrate the practice of responsible tourism.

It is this philosophy that this expanded network will register through the preservation of natural resources, minimizing negative impacts on the environment, exploitation of renewable energy use in construction or restoration of natural materials, local, recyclable, without adverse effects on health.

The main areas of work of Ecogîtes are :

• Economies d'énergie et utilisation d'énergie renouvelable (solaire, bois, éolien, hydroélectrique...),
• Meilleure gestion des ressources en eau,
• Tri sélectif, gestion des déchets,
• Intégration au site et utilisation de matériaux sains,
• Equipements performants pour plus d'économie et moins de rejets.