The creators of the Populus hotel have promised to overcompensate for their emissions by a factor of 400% to 500%. Travelers to Denver, Colorado , will soon have the opportunity to spend the night in what promises to be “the first carbon positive hotel in America”. So say the creators behind Populus, a new 265-room, stylish, yet climate-conscious luxury hotel in the heart of the city. Set to open in mid-October, the building is a striking addition to the city’s skyline – a sleek, three-corner structure built to resemble a grove of aspen trees, with each window shaped like the tree’s iconic “knots”. Its climate claims, too, are equally provocative. The hotel’s creators have promised to overcompensate for their emissions by a factor of 400% to 500%, through a combination of low-carbon construction, eco-friendly operations and a huge tree planting campaign throughout Colorado . But when accounting for all of the waste, energy consumption and transportation of goods required of a luxury hotel with two restaurants – not to mention the fact that buildings alone account for 39% of greenhouse gas emissions – will your $300 to $500 purchase of a room at Populus really help fight climate change? The president of the company behind Populus says they have already planted 70,000 spruce trees to offset emissions accrued in the building of the hotel. “There are a lot of layers to this,” says Joel Hartter, a University of Colorado Boulder environmental studies professor who specializes in corporate sustainability. “On paper, it looks great. But it would take a lot of research to verify those claims.” These days, claims of “carbon neutrality” from giant corporations such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Walmart, IKEA, Microsoft and many more are commonplace. But often, that merely means using their deep pockets to purchase “carbon […]