Taking care of yourself in eco-friendly wellness centres

In a frenzied society with tight deadlines and red-hot mailboxes, taking a moment to relax is no luxury. Those who care for nature would prefer to take care of body and mind as ecologically as possible. Going to the spa may not sound like the best choice in that respect. Or is it? Westtoer presents a few wellness centres in West Flanders with an environmentally friendly approach. Enjoy.

There is no shortage of sustainable choices at Bolwerk. The entire building is furnished with recycled and ecological building materials. The water is heated on sunny days by a solar collector, and on rainy days by a pellet heater using ecological pellets from Ecopower. Waste water is treated in-house with a helophyte filter and used to flush the toilets. As icing on the cake, manager Ruben Benoit installed an ecological swimming pond. "For this you don't need chemicals and no mechanical filter system: the lava stones and plants do all the work. We only use an electric pump to circulate the water. This is powered by our PV system." The whole concept of Bolwerk exudes sustainability and ecology: from the access to the swimming pond via large natural stones from the Meuse to the rich biodiversity in the park garden. Maximum enjoyment without guilt? Check.

'How can we generate as much energy as possible ourselves and make our business more energy efficient?' That question occupied business manager Yves Vandenabeele at the start of his thorough renovation. For better insulation performance, twenty centimetres of insulation was added everywhere in the floor, walls and roof. The glass in the windows was replaced with triple insulated glass. "As a result, we no longer have to heat our wellness area all year round," he says. "We also replaced all appliances with sustainable ones: the sauna, infrared cabin, hammam and whirlpool bath run on economical, energy-efficient appliances." Herenhuis tries to produce the necessary electricity itself as much as possible with solar panels and batteries. On a sunny afternoon, this yields around four hours of zero consumption. These investments enabled Herenhuis Izegem to apply for the sustainable travel badge (level 3) on Booking.com. An extra incentive to book with them.

When Westtoer (De Kust) and the Province of West Flanders launched a call for extra sustainability advice, Tania Clarys and Olivier Willaert of B&B De Arend submitted their questions to the jury. As a result, they were assigned a professional coach. The progressive plan that followed was soon turned into reality. They installed solar panels, batteries, water pumps and a hydrogen power plant. The building is now equipped with an air-conditioning system that also blows heat during winter. There are 26 solar panels on the roof, linked to three batteries. B&B De Arend's energy bill took a spectacular dive. "Because we saved so much electricity, it created new opportunities," says Tania. "We decided to install a wellness with sauna, hot tub and heated outdoor pool." All these facilities are heated using the solar panels, heat pump and hydrogen power plant. "This is a completely CO2-neutral process," Olivier explains. "Only during the winter do I buy a bit of energy extra. But then I am happy to pay a little extra for green electricity."