A premier example of eco-chic, Bardessono is one of only two U.S. hotels that are LEED Platinum certified.

Imagine going away on vacation without leaving the faintest trace? This is not a plot point for an episode of CSI, in which, should the aforementioned happen would make for the most unpleasant vacation ever. We’re talking footprint, your carbon one, while still relaxing, getting pampered, and using no fossil fuels.

Bardessono, in California’s Napa Valley, will make you feel wonderfully smug about your time away but this sense of environmental satisfaction comes at a formidable price.

Built from recycled materials, almost completely self-sustaining in terms of energy, and using only local food, the hotel is hard to fault on environmental grounds. Unsurprising, then, that it won LEED’s highest certification, awarded to only three hotels in the world.

Its list of building materials reads like a lesson in green construction practices: salvaged wood, including redwood wine casks, was used for doors, desks and tables, while stone reclaimed from an old wine store at the owner’s family home was reused on the exterior walls. Even the concrete and stainless steel have a high recycled content. The overall feel is modern and unfussy, yet warm.

Air temperature control comes from a geothermal pump, which also provides naturally-heated water – cooling is by automatically-lowered exterior blinds first, to keep the sun out (unusually rare in hotels, but so simple and effective), and by room thermostat second. Most of the hotel’s electricity is provided by nearly 1000 solar panels on the roof.

The best suites have bathrooms with their own treatment beds, for your in-room spa, and outdoor stone tubs; all of the 62 luxe-sized guest rooms have private patios or balconies (as they should, at this price). Take a dip in the rooftop pool, with views to tree-covered hills. As you’d expect, food and wine are both largely organic, with some grown on-site.

Apart from the knowledge that you’re treading so lightly on the planet, we like the free wine tastings and free yoga classes (I wonder if the two are connected, by any chance? Purge your Pinot with some hard-core sun salutations). Even better, go on a bike tour of nearby wineries and enjoy Napa Valley’s finest vintages, pedaling off the dizzying grapes between stops.

Rates start at $399/night plus tax. Clean conscience and shiny eco-halo included.

Places & Spaces is a travel guide that will inspire you to carve out a vacation on your calendar. All of the gorgeous locations and accommodations in our guide share our concern for the environment. From tent glamping to lavish built environments, fair warning, you’ll feel compelled to pack your suitcase.

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Every time I pass a Best Buy, Wal-Mart or Target, I can almost see a pulsing blue aura hovering around the mammoth plex; or rather, an anti-halo that screams: “This facility couldn’t give a rat’s ass what it eats. Enjoy your rolling blackouts this season.” And inside, I hear the hum: A diffuse but powerful white noise surrounding me like a florescent radioactive soundtrack. This, I think, is the sound of energy consumption.

I would never have expected any of these shops to own up to the issue and take some (expensive) steps to deal with retail energy crime. But IKEA may be stepping to the plate.

The often mysterious Swedish (or is it Dutch) superstore has been making a bunch of noise regarding green corporate responsibility in recent years, from investment (IKEA GeenTech venture capital) to sourcing and sustainability. And though the store certainly has its critics, the shop is digging deep to find out ways to deal with facility energy usage. To that, witness its geothermal energy heating and cooling plans for its new Centennial, Colorado (near Denver) store scheduled to open next fall.

IKEA worked with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to design and build the geothermal system, which will be buried under the store’s parking garage. Way under. Like 500 feet-ish under (that’s down, down, a football field down and then down some more), where some 130 pipes will pump liquid that will cool and be brought back to the surface to heat or cool the facility, depending on the season.

Explains Triple Pundit: “When warm air at the surface is passed over the cool pipes, the air gets cooler. When the air is cooler than the liquid, it is warmed as it passes over the pipes.  Meanwhile, the geothermal technology helps to maintain a building’s relative humidity at 50%.”

When it’s super hot or cold outside, the system won’t be able to do the job by itself, but most of the time it’ll be able to take care of business.

IKEA says the system may serve as a model for future stores. NREL Senior Geothermal Analyst Erin Anderson (above, on-site) adds: “The IKEA/NREL project could be the benchmark for a credible standard for geothermal installation in large-scale retail stores nationwide”¦ We’re trying to collect data on how it actually performs, which could prove invaluable to future projects. By collecting actual live data on the performance of systems, you have better insight on what needs to be improved. We’ll be able to say with confidence, ‘if you do it this way, it will work this well.'”

At the end of the day, it’s not like your next trip to IKEA will be “hum-free” or that the halo will be any less toxic – much less saintly. It’s positive, though, that these things aren’t going wholly unnoticed. Whether it’s good consciousness or just good PR for the big box shops to show some energy manners, a reduced footprint is a reduced footprint. Let’s hope some more shops dig deep for some answers, as well.

Images: Håkan Dahlström and Pat Corkery

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The hard working contributors, columnists and editors at EcoSalon are earning their green stripes, blazing the trails and taking their proven commitment to sustainable living beyond the daily blog. Our strides are so darn exciting, we simply can’t keep them to ourselves.

Ready, set, kvel!

Fashion Editor Amy DuFault has stepped over to the other side, opening her own eco haunt, Shift Boutique. Sure to be the next Hyannis, Mass. hot spot, the store peddles sustainable products by Prairie Underground and Dahl, to name just a few emerging green lines. Amy also hosts events through her lifestyle consulting company, Greenover. If that didn’t keep her busy enough – she is signed up in January to teach eco fashion enrichment at her local middle school, helping 12-year-old girls create recycled fashion to showcase on a catwalk at a fashion show.

Contributor Susan Chaityn Lebovits is developing and implementing ways Boston University can reduce its environmental footprint. Susan is the Communications Specialist for Sustainability at the university, and is working to launch a new website in January that will house everything from research on renewable energy to classes that touch on sustainability and energy-saving building retrofits. The site will even help visitors locate bike racks and recycling stations. Meantime, Susan is producing a 15-stop Green Campus Tour Podcast, which covers locations such as the university’s geothermal building.

Anna Brones, our newest contributor, gets all of our votes as the people’s representative for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. HuffPost in conjunction with Hopenhagen is sponsoring the competition and voting ends December 4th, so cast yours as well! If chosen, Anna would report back daily from the conference as a HuffPost citizen journalist. Anna is the co-founder of Under Solen Media, where she develops social media marketing strategies to positively align brands, causes and adventurers. She’s also been busy helping the Save Our Wild Salmon campaign in the ongoing litigation process to come up with a scientifically sound plan for restoring Columbia-Snake River salmon.

Senior Editor Luanne Bradley will soon appear with her husband, Edwin, in a San Francisco Chronicle article on eco power couples. The feature highlights their daily work for green change. Edwin is an environmentalist and lawyer and Luanne writes the column Life in the Green Lane, a humorous look the modern family going green in the city. Luanne continues her green design consulting, having completed a teacher’s lounge with healthy fibers and vintage Mid-Century furniture.

The Green Plate Columnist Vanessa Barrington is on a daily mission to make the small changes that add up, riding her bike everywhere she can, finding “the car is merely a taxi for the dog to go on walks.” She is limiting her meat and processed food consumption and still working to get one hold-out member of her family to see the joy of giving to charity instead of “stuff” for the holidays. Her garbage can is minuscule and she only fills it once a week! She uses bathwater to flush her toilet and when she is cold, she puts on a sweater instead of cranking up the heat. Of course, she can also make a steaming bowl of delicious soup from one of her dozens of dynamite recipes.

EcoMeme Columnist Lora Kolodny is in a holiday mood, trying to knit a gift-scarf out of bamboo yarn, and looking forward to the Green Drinks holiday party Dec. 8th in NYC. She recently convinced a Manhattan restaurant manager to stop serving coffee in disposable cups by default. Now only to-go patrons get the paper. When not writing for EcoSalon and her blog at the New York Times, she also volunteers for God’s Love We Deliver.

Publisher and EIC Sara Ost has been busy building the green community at EcoSalon through Trashless Tuesday on Twitter (a la Meatless Monday), drawing chuckles and questions cruising around the Bay Area in her Smartcar, hosting Treehugger’s Carnival of the Green recently, and turning up as one of Greenopia’s Green Women We Love. Next up is convincing the neighbors they really, really need the Omlet.

Check back soon for more updates on the green goings-on from all our contributors. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

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