Eleanor Harris: An Eye On British Airways i360

Our vision has always been to create a sustainable attraction and to make the i360 as ‘green’ as possible. In our early designs, we had planned to include a wind turbine at the top of the tower, which could have created around 20% of the vertical cable car’s energy needs.
When our engineers got into the more detailed designs, we had the disappointing news that unfortunately the turbine might cause the tower to move in high winds, and would therefore need to be removed.
So they went back to the drawing board and have come up with a method of capturing energy on the vertical cable car’s descent. By doing so we will recover approximately 50% of the energy needed to power the vertical cable car’s ascent. So we will save even more energy than from the wind turbine!
All of our energy will come from renewable energy sources; and we are in the process of finding an electricity supplier who can offer a 100% guaranteed green energy tariff.
We also have incorporated sustainability design into the beach building to minimise energy consumption. For example, we are using natural ventilation for cooling; we will use low energy LED lighting throughout the attraction and A+ rated appliances.

Aiming to set a new benchmark in sustainability:
Sustainability is also about how we work. It is our vision that our restaurants will serve fresh locally, sourced food that has been caught, reared and grown in Sussex. We also will be installing a food composter for our food waste that turns waste into water.
We will have recycling waste bins throughout our site for use by our customers and our staff. Our team are encouraged to cycle, walk or take public transport to work and we will provide dedicated cycle storage, showers and changing facilities.
We will become a member of Green Tourism Business Scheme and promote environmental awareness and sustainability – training staff to reduce waste and conserve energy and resources. We will also be applying for ISO 20121 standard to manage sustainable events at the i360.
www.brightoni360.co.uk
Twitter: @TheBrightoni360 @Eleanor_Harris
Facebook: Brighton-i360, Pinterest: Brightoni360 Pic: Kevin Meredith