Denver’s latest hotel takes trees and sustainability to a new level. Populus, the country’s first carbon-positive hotel, opened in Denver in mid-October. The LEED Gold-
certified property with aspen tree-inspired architecture has introduced a “One Night, One Tree” program in conjunction with the opening. In partnership with the National Forest Foundation, Populus is planting one tree for every night of each guest’s stay, with the goal of planting 20,000 trees in Colorado this year alone. The trees will be planted in the state’s Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, Gunnison, and White River national forests.
The program is part of the hotel’s overarching sustainability approach, intended to offset its operational carbon footprint through using 100% renewable electricity, turning all food waste into compost, and being part of regenerative agricultural partnerships. In addition, carbon emitted during the transportation, installation, and disposal of the hotel’s building materials was reduced through a combination of sustainable design and construction and offset by the planting of more than 70,000 trees in Gunnison County. Populus’ landscaping includes trees surrounding the hotel with a soil-aeration system mimicking a real forest, as well as custom-designed benches made from salvaged honey locust wood from trees felled during the renovation of Denver’s 16th Street Mall. To ensure ongoing tracking and transparency of all sustainability efforts, the Populus team has engaged Denver-based Lotus Engineering & Sustainability.
The hotel’s Executive Chef Ian Wortham is taking a nature-based approach to cooking at the two on-site restaurants: Pasque, the elevated, all-day dining spot on the ground floor, and Stellar Jay, the rooftop restaurant and bar featuring shared plates and foods prepared over an open flame. Both outlets showcase seasonal produce, regionally sourced protein, and local and family-owned producers.
The hotel contains 265 guest rooms and has several options for meetings and events. Five spaces on its second floor serve as intimate meeting rooms or can be combined for larger events, with a maximum capacity of 120 attendees; its largest space is Perch, an open, flexible venue with 769 square feet that offers a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding neighborhood. Stellar Jay features a lounge, private dining room, bar, and outdoor terrace that in total holds groups as large as 150.
