What is the future of travel? | Ivaylo Lefterov | TEDxVitosha

Summary

The script introduces the Spark Hotel, the world's first energy-positive, carbon-neutral, and waste-free hotel, aiming to revolutionize the building and hotel industries with sustainable practices. Located in Norway, it leverages innovative technologies like digital twins and blockchain for carbon neutrality and waste management. The hotel's design is inspired by local architecture and nature, and it offers a holistic experience with wearable technology to personalize guest wellness. The goal is to redefine travel and promote eco-friendly practices for a better planet.

Takeaways

• 🌿 The Spark Hotel is the world's first energy positive, carbon neutral, and waste-free hotel, aiming to redefine sustainable travel.
• 🏔️ The hotel's vision is inspired by the desire to protect the Arctic Circle and create an off-grid, carbon-neutral building.
• 💡 The hotel's design and construction incorporate innovative technologies to minimize environmental impact and promote sustainability.
• 🔬 A design lab and incubator are part of the hotel's concept, serving as a space for testing new technologies and innovations.
• 📈 The hotel's location in Norway, on the second largest glacier in the country, emphasizes the importance of understanding and protecting the site's natural environment.
• 🌍 The building industry contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, and the hotel aims to challenge this norm.
• 🔄 The hotel uses a digital twin and blockchain technology to monitor and offset its carbon footprint, striving for carbon neutrality.
• ♻️ A partnership with Nokia's net0 labs has resulted in a portable data center that captures heat from computing to recycle food waste into fertilizers.
• 🚀 The hotel is designed to be energy positive, producing more electricity than it consumes, utilizing surplus energy for various operations.
• 💡 The building's design minimizes its physical footprint, using low-carbon floating platforms to avoid impacting the seabed or land.
• 👥 SVAR Touch, a wearable technology, is used to monitor guests' physical and mental well-being to create personalized experiences and promote wellness.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of the Spark Hotel project?

The primary goal of the Spark Hotel project is to create the first energy positive, carbon neutral, and waste-free hotel in the world, challenging the hotel and building industry to adopt sustainable practices.

How did the idea for the Spark Hotel originate?

The idea for the Spark Hotel originated from the business partner's vision of creating a balance and saving the Arctic Circle, and his experience falling in love with the pristine nature during a personal holiday.

What was the initial plan for the land before the hotel project?

The initial plan for the land was to develop a Disneyland adventure park, as allocated by the local municipality.

How did the land ownership transfer to the Spark Hotel project initiators?

The land ownership transferred when the then-owner of the land contacted the initiators after they expressed interest in preventing the land from being used for the initial development plan.

What is the significance of the location of the Spark Hotel in terms of sustainability?

The location is significant because it is situated in the second largest glacier in Norway, the lowest glacier in Europe, and the only growing one, emphasizing the importance of creating a sustainable project to protect the environment.

What is the role of the design lab or incubator in the Spark Hotel project?

The design lab or incubator serves as a space for future technologies and companies to test innovations in building materials, construction methods, food production, wellness, and more, fostering a culture of innovation for sustainability.

How does the Spark Hotel project address the issue of food waste?

The project addresses food waste by incorporating a portable data center technology that captures and converts the heat produced by computing to recycle food waste into byproducts used for fertilizers in green farms, creating a circular economy.

What is the concept behind the digital twin and blockchain technology used in the Spark Hotel?

The digital twin, in conjunction with blockchain technology, allows the hotel to monitor the entire carbon footprint and waste production from sourcing materials to the operation of the hotel, enabling them to design and offset the carbon imprint and become truly carbon neutral.

How does the Spark Hotel project aim to create a guilt-free travel experience for guests?

The project aims to create a guilt-free travel experience by calculating and monitoring the carbon footprint of guests from their reservation to their departure, and recycling the entire carbon footprint locally within the hotel, achieving a net-zero impact.

What is the significance of the building's design in terms of its environmental impact?

The building's design is significant as it floats above the land and water, minimizing the footprint on the seabed and land, and using local, low-carbon platforms as a foundation, ensuring zero impact on the environment.

How does the Spark Hotel project plan to utilize surplus energy?

The surplus energy captured from sunlight will be used for the operation of the hotel, charging electric boards for guest transport, and powering the green farm and other activities, ensuring no energy waste.

What is the purpose of the wearable technology 'Svar Touch' in the hotel?

Svar Touch is a wearable technology that monitors guests' physical, mental, and social aspects to create a bespoke experience tailored to their individual needs, including personalized menus and treatments.

How does the hotel plan to educate guests on sustainability and wellness during their stay?

The hotel plans to provide an educational process at checkout, showcasing how guests can change their lifestyle and living habits based on the data collected during their stay, offering ongoing programs, coaching, and sessions to improve their wellness and lifestyle.

Outlines

00:00

🏨 Pioneering Sustainable Hotel Design

The script introduces the Spark Hotel, the world's first energy-positive, carbon-neutral, and waste-free hotel. The hotel's design is a response to the environmental challenges, particularly the hotel and building industry's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The hotel's creation was inspired by the desire to protect the Arctic Circle and create an off-grid, carbon-neutral building. The hotel's design and construction involve innovative technologies and materials, aiming to challenge the industry norms and redefine sustainable travel. It also includes a design lab for future technologies and a holistic circular economy approach to minimize waste and maximize efficiency.

05:02

🌿 Embracing Circular Economy and Technological Innovations

This paragraph delves into the technological innovations at the heart of the Spark Hotel's operations, emphasizing a portable data center technology developed with Nokia, which captures heat from computing to recycle food waste into fertilizers. The hotel's goal is to create a 360-degree holistic circular economy, contributing to guilt-free travel for guests. It discusses the potential of carbon credits as a new form of digital currency and the hotel's design inspiration from local architecture. The building floats, minimizing environmental impact, and leverages abundant sunlight for energy production. The hotel captures and recycles various forms of waste into useful resources, aiming for a net-zero energy footprint.

10:05

🌱 Creating a Bespoke and Holistic Guest Experience

The final paragraph focuses on the guest experience at the Spark Hotel, highlighting the use of wearable technology to monitor and tailor individual wellness experiences. The hotel offers a personalized approach to dining, treatments, and overall well-being, ensuring guests receive bespoke services that cater to their physical and mental health. The script discusses the hotel's educational mission to empower guests with knowledge to improve their lifestyle and contribute to a better planet. The hotel's vision is to be a space for innovation, offering guests insights into sustainable living and the opportunity to experience the future of travel.

Keywords

💡Metaverse

The term 'Metaverse' refers to a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the internet. In the video script, it is mentioned in the context of distinguishing the real-world hotel from a virtual reality construct, emphasizing the actual physical existence of the Spark Hotel.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability generally means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In the video, it is a central theme, with the hotel striving to be energy positive, carbon neutral, and waste-free, showcasing innovative approaches to building design and operations that minimize environmental impact.

💡Carbon Neutral

Being 'carbon neutral' means having a net-zero carbon footprint, achieved by balancing a measured amount of carbon emissions with an equivalent amount of carbon offsets, such as through carbon credits or planting trees. The video describes the hotel's efforts to monitor and offset its carbon emissions to achieve this status.

💡Digital Twin

A 'Digital Twin' is a virtual model of a process, product, or service. In the context of the video, the hotel uses digital twin technology combined with blockchain to monitor its carbon footprint and waste production, enabling a comprehensive understanding of its environmental impact.

💡Blockchain

Blockchain is a decentralized and distributed digital ledger that records transactions across multiple computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks. The video mentions its use in conjunction with digital twin technology to ensure transparency and traceability of the hotel's environmental data.

💡Circular Economy

A 'Circular Economy' is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. It involves reusing, sharing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products. The video describes how the hotel implements a circular economy by converting waste into useful byproducts, like fertilizers for farming.

💡Net Zero

Net Zero refers to having a zero net release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The video talks about the hotel's goal to be fully net zero by offsetting all carbon emissions locally, contributing to the overall sustainability initiative.

💡Carbon Credits

Carbon credits are certificates issued to entities or projects that reduce or remove a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The script mentions the potential for the hotel's sustainability efforts to generate carbon credits, which could become a new form of digital currency or asset.

💡Floating Platforms

Floating platforms, as mentioned in the script, are structures that allow the hotel to have minimal impact on the seabed and land, showcasing an innovative approach to construction that aligns with the hotel's commitment to environmental preservation.

💡Wearable Technology

Wearable technology refers to electronic devices that are incorporated into items of clothing or accessories. In the video, 'Svar Touch' is introduced as a wearable device that monitors guests' physical and mental well-being to provide personalized experiences, emphasizing the hotel's focus on holistic wellness.

💡Holistic Experience

A 'Holistic Experience' involves engaging all aspects of a person, including physical, mental, and emotional, to create a comprehensive and integrated experience. The video describes how the hotel aims to provide such an experience by considering various aspects of guests' well-being and tailoring services to their individual needs.

Highlights

Introduction of the world's first energy positive, carbon neutral, waste-free hotel.

Aim to challenge the hotel industry to innovate for sustainability.

Hotel's vision started with a personal story of balancing and saving the Arctic Circle.

The hotel is designed to be off-grid and carbon neutral.

Land was initially allocated for a different development but was purchased to prevent it.

Hotel serves as an incubator for future technologies and innovations.

Location in the second largest glacier in Norway, with unique environmental considerations.

Building industry contributes significantly to global green gas emissions.

Food waste is a major contributor to green gas emissions.

Innovation in technology and digital twin with blockchain for carbon neutrality monitoring.

Portable data center technology to recycle food waste into fertilizers.

Creating a 360-degree holistic circular economy for true sustainability.

Guilt-free travel concept with carbon footprint monitoring for guests.

Potential creation of carbon credits as a new form of digital currency.

Inspiration from local architecture and the concept of floating above land and water.

Use of low carbon platforms for a zero impact on the seabed and land.

First energy positive hotel producing surplus electricity for its lifespan.

Utilization of sunlight in Norway for energy capture and production.

Capture and recycling of heat and food waste into the electrical system.

Svar Touch wearable technology for monitoring and bespoke guest experiences.

Educational process at checkout to change guests' ongoing lifestyle for better wellness.

Vision for the hotel as a space for innovation and sustainability.

Transcripts

[Music]

does this look like the new james bond

movie set or is it simply another

metaverse reality i have to say sorry to

the point it's simply a spark hotel

the first energy positive carbon neutral

waste free of grit hotel in the world

we truly pushed ourselves from the very

beginning to

create a vision for the new hotel design

and the new building design in order to

tackle the issues of

sustainability in general but also all

the issues of green gas emissions but

most importantly we really wanted to

challenge the hotel industry to be

different and to be a destructor for the

building industry itself

we aim to redefine travel in a way in

which we're going to see it in the

future

it's a very personal story like with

many others the hotel started

with my business partner through his

vision of creating and balancing and

saving the arctic circle but also the

vision of how we can create a truly

off-grid

building and it's truly carbon neutral

so four years ago he went on a personal

holiday with his family and completely

fall in love with the crystal clear

waters and with the

blue deep blue

colors

of the glacier itself

well as it happens the land was already

allocated for developments by the local

municipality who wanted to create some

kind of a disneyland adventure park of

so some sort

so

he starts searching who is might be and

what we can do actually to stop that

as the universe it happens interviews

right in the right moment and four

months later the owner of the land back

then

has contacted him and say well would you

like to buy that because i have no idea

what to do with it

and so it happens we then come together

and start tackling the issues of what we

can create there to both satisfy the

local community the people as well as

everyone else who is involved in this

project but most importantly how can we

protect that pristine nature where it's

over there

so we start looking and combined with

many various different

companies as well and we decided we need

to design a hotel that's a given but how

we can make it more interesting how we

can put it first so we decided to do a

design lab an incubator if you like for

future technologies and companies to

come and produce all of their new

innovations that they want to do a place

to test various different things from

building materials to construction

methods to

food production wellness spa whichever

you want to do with it so it really

becomes a true incubator space for

innovation

and that obviously put us in quite a lot

of challenge for how we do this and how

do we approach the people that we need

to work with

but

the most important thing is to

understand the sites where it is it is

located in the second largest glacier in

norway

and it's the lowest glacier in europe

climbing veteran europe and the only

growing one as a fun fact

uh the location itself is very important

as i mentioned we needed to really be

able to understand how we can create a

true sustainable project there in order

to protect that location

and from my personal mind but also for

the purpose of the project we start

looking as to what sustainability really

means it's not just water conservation

or

simply

alternative energy sources it's much

more than that so i want to give you

some very basic facts which are

quite scary in fact over 40

of the global green gas emissions is

actually

committed and produced by the building

industry itself the hotel industry alone

contributes to another one percent for

those green gas emissions

but the worst for most of all is

probably the food waste over eight

percent of all food production

is going to waste and actually eight

percent of all green gas emissions are

going to waste which is a third of the

food production sorry for that

being sustainable means more than that

so for us to actually tackle those three

main issues in particular the food waste

we wanted to design a building that is

actually can prove to the world alike

and everyone else in the industry that

we can do better we can be better and it

should be better in order to continue

enjoying these beautiful astonishing

places around the world so how do we do

that it all starts with innovation

obviously in technology the key aspects

of all of those elements and one thing

that we start looking at and creating

from the very beginning is a digital

twin together with a blockchain

technology and digital twin we've

decided

to be able and and able to actually

monitor the entire imprint of all carbon

neutrality and all the carbon aspects

and waste produced from the very

beginning from those how we source the

materials where we buy it from how it

travels to us how it's being built how

it's been produced in order then through

the operation of the hotel to actually

design and be able to offset that entire

carbon imprint and become truly carbon

neutral

which brings me to the second innovation

that we owe technology i should say that

we produced

uh together with our sister company and

nokia which is net0 labs it's a

basically a portable data center

technology that allows us to convert and

capture the heat produced by the

computing in order to fully recycle all

the food waste to then create a

byproduct that is essentially used

for the production of fertilizers for

our green farm food for our animal farms

and fish farms etc all that creates a

true 360 degree holistic circular

economy which is what true

sustainability should be

in that effect that allows us to also to

look into this aspect even further

create a true guilt-free travel as they

call it for all of our guests to come we

will be able to calculate and monitor

the entire journey from the moment they

send us an email for reservation

calculate the footprint on their flight

their entire stay with us and then going

home and looking at these wonderful

pictures combining all that footprint of

carbon we then take it and recycle it

entirely locally into the hotel itself

which creates them to be fully net zero

by doing that it really helps us to look

at in in carbon neutrality in a very

different aspect and also that

technology allows us to potentially

create carbon credits which in a couple

of years time will be the new nft so

potentially the new digital technology

of digital currencies that people will

start trading very quickly

as governments globally now are looking

into how that can become a reality

and of course

all that has to be inspired by something

and part of our inspiration has been the

very local architecture of the

traditional fishermen drying hats for

fish and also the traditional cabins in

the nordics themselves

the building is

neither land-based or water-based it's

simply floating above emerges between

the lot the water and land and it's

located we're using the symbol of crab

as one of our aspirational elements that

it's neither aquatic or or ground-based

it's simply which exists between the two

the same thing what we do with smart

itself we've decided to change some of

the conditions we first looked at how we

can minimize the actual footprint and

and

the base of the building in order to

avoid any

major impact on the seabed and the land

itself

well initially we're looking into the

more traditional aspects of things but

then we discover

a technology

of a local company that is using in some

of the floating platforms in the north

sea which is actually a low carbon

platforms that can submerge as a

foundation so the building is actually

anchored to those platform so we

actually have a zero impact on the

seabed as well as on the land and the

building is simply floating merging

between the land the line of line land

and water

fun fact the actual size of the building

the inner circle is the size of a

stadium so i don't know how many times

bigger than this is

but that was also driven by the need of

our need to create electricity as i

mentioned in the beginning this is the

first energy positive hotel that means

that we're actually going to produce

more electricity

for the entire lifespan of the building

and actually the building itself needs

to be built and operate itself

how we do that you say it's norway it's

dark people get drunk they get commit

suicide that knows what else they do

right well

one forgets that there's over seven

months of the year there's above 20

hours of sunlight in norway it has the

ability to capture so much of that

energy that's going completely to waste

and that's exactly what we're doing

we the all the surcharge or surplus of

that energy will be used for the

operation of the hotel itself but also

for the charging of our electrical

boards which we use will be used for

transport guests from the airport to the

building itself

as well as our green farm to charge our

animal farm and all the other activities

we are going to be doing in the

operation of the hotel itself there's

many other aspects that we looked into

to the building itself we capture all

the heat produced by the human being

ourselves we're being guests in the

building we capture all the food waste

created from sewage toilets the heat

produced by

kitchens and the spine converting it all

back into the into the electrical system

and the operation of the hotel itself we

truly don't want to see any single waste

of the energy that's been produced in

the building itself

which brings us directly into the more

holistic journey we want to make sure

that entire

vision if you like for uh experience has

to be transferred to the person itself

the user the people who are actually

going to utilize that building

so we've created svar touch

that's very different

concept in a way that it's a wearable

technology that allows us to monitor

every user and everybody in the building

their physical mental physical

even

if you like

social aspects in order to create a

truly bespoke experience of their

creating their

menu for the needs of their

body needs and their mental needs are

creating their particular treatment

aspects to be entirely designed for what

their actual body system requires

how many of us have actually been truly

honest to the doctors when we go there

and tell them how many drinks you had

last night and you know do you do this

and going to the spine you have slightly

uncomfortable things for me as a man

being asked because i'm pregnant or not

well none of those things are going to

be happening here what we wanted to do

is actually

create a truly holistic experience for

our guests from the moment of their

arrival they'll be met with a welcome

health concierge will take them through

the entire journey allow them to

experience and create

true value for wellness and do these

changes in their day-to-day experiences

for the hotel but more importantly what

we want to do is at the time of checkout

we want to create a bit of an

educational process we want to show them

to all of them

how we can actually change their ongoing

lifestyle how they can change their

living as a normal person outside of the

hotel itself we'll be able to showcase

them and collecting through the data

collected and through the modification

of the food menu and the treatments

they're using the adventures they're

doing the light in the bedrooms the

sound the smell that they're going to

experience

to see how actually their overall

wellness have improved by staying with

us for the period of time that they

stayed with us we'll be able to provide

them with the ongoing programs and

coaching and sessions if they choose the

like to do that for us in order to get

them to become a better in their

lifestyle and wellness which by default

will create a better planet itself

and in that sense we truly want to be

smart to be a building a space for true

innovation a lab for people to come and

truly engage with what innovation and

sustainability means for for everyone

and how we can protect the planet well

in two years from now

all of us

could experience the future of travel

thank you

[Music]

you