1 - Compliance with the Law

Casa do Ouvidor complies with the law and the applicable codes of conduct,
and it is demanding in their enforcement.

2 - Company Image

Associating a company to good environmental practises fosters its notoriety.

3 - Answers to the growing expectations of customers regarding Service Quality

In the Tourism Industry environmental quality is part of the product's quality.

4 - Improving Competitiveness

If our guests are aware of our good environmental practises they might be motivated to rationally use equipment and to be sensitive to energy efficiency; it also promotes a waste reduction and recovery policy.

5 - Reducing Operational Costs

Implementing an Environmental Management System contributes to a substantial reduction of costs, to a better use of energy and water and to an improvement in waste management.

6 - Relationship with the local community

Casa do Ouvidor chooses local products and services that follow the criteria of good environmental practises, improving both the local economy and the environmental quality, by stimulating suppliers to adopt good environmental practices.

7 - Customer Satisfaction

The strategy of Casa do Ouvidor aims to ensure our customers' satisfaction, providing them with a pleasant, environmentally sustainable stay, with unforgettable moments, so that when our guests leave they are already willing to return.

8 - The principle of constant improvement

Constant improvement is part of the corporate culture that the management tries to instil as one of its quality management principles, by objectively defining corrective and preventive actions, fostering the efficiency of our services, defining goals and mechanisms for detecting and assessing both incompliance and progresses.

To ensure that these commitments are followed, several measures where adopted from which the following stand out:

During the construction phase

• We used environmentally friendly materials: the stone walls feature a waterproof coating, a geotextile felt covering and cavities. The wood work is made with national wood, pine tree, Japanese cedar and maritime plywood. We also used double glazing windows except for the traditional windows and door that, due to the house's typology, had to be simple. In order to maintain the house's traditional features we also used wooden shutters. The covering is isolated by 40 mm Roofmate panels, settled over a plywood structure, Onduline roof tiles and traditional roof tiles, creating an effective acoustic and thermal isolation.

Water

• Flush toilets, taps and showers have ecological discharges.
• The draining system goes to a septic tank and a soak-away pit given that the town of São Roque does not have a public network system.
• The pool (fresh water) has an automatic filtering system, pH and salinity measurement and control. The water treatment is made by salt hydrolysis.
• The Jacuzzi's water control and treatment is operated by hand applying bromine-based products. Bromine is a natural, non-aggressive disinfectant extracted from sea water.

Hygiene and Cleaning

• We adhere to the most stringent hygiene, safety and health requirements. Safety is a daily concern especially if there are children involved. There is no such thing as being too cautions so constant and strict vigilance is kept. A stitch in time saves nine.
• The pool area is protected by a stainless steel fence, preventing the direct access of children to the pool.
• The pool is equipped with a lifebuoy and an alarm system (controlled by the user) that detects body immersion in the pool.

Waste

• As a preventive measure, Casa do Ouvidor aims to produce less waste and to reduce its dangerousness, promoting waste recovery by reusing objects or some of their parts.
• We also encourage our guests to separate waste. There are containers in every house for this purpose. According to the guidelines of PEGRA, the company is in charge of giving an appropriate end to each type of waste, including organic waste which is composted.
• Casa do Ouvidor also makes soap, shower gel and shampoo dispensers available in every bathroom, as well as a detergent dispenser in the kitchen.

Energy

• The air conditioning is equipped with an inverter system, so it reaches the ideal temperature faster than other systems, and it saves about 1/3 on energy and expenses. Apart from that, the air conditioning system is equipped with several devices that manage its operation, namely economic mode and daily and weekly timer, which is very useful as it can be programmed to dehumidify the houses during the most humid months.
• The household appliances are the most efficient in the market and were placed in ventilated areas. Both the washing machine and the dishwasher are equipped with a timer through which their operation can be programmed to off-peak hours.
• The dynamic pricing of electricity is divided into three periods of the day. This system is very efficient in terms of energy consumption, since one may use the washing machine, the dishwasher, the irrigation system and the automatic pool vacuum system from 10 pm to 7 am.
• We only use high efficiency light bulbs, except in the living room, where three of the lamps have a rheostat and therefore do not allow high efficiency light bulbs.
• Outside, there are motion activated lights, while the other outdoor lamps are controlled by a timer.
• The Jacuzzi is programmed to run in economic mode, operating in maintenance 2 hours per day. When it is not being used, guests cover the Jacuzzi with a isothermal lid.
• The cables for installing thermodynamic energy (heating pump) are already in place but, for financial reasons, it will only be installed in 2012.

Indoor Environment

• Casa do Ouvidor is a non-smoking building, under Law No. 37/2007, from 14 August.

Outdoor Environment

• When there are no organic products in the market to use in the orchard, we use homologated chemical products in the minimal recommended dosages, always respecting the safety time breaks.
• In the lawn area, next to the residence and the pool, we use chemical fertilisers since the natural products existing in the market exhale a strong smell and might attract rodents.
• We use unleaded gasoline for the lawn mower.
• The irrigation system is programmed to operate from 5 to 7 am during the drier periods.

Outdoor Activities

• In each accommodation unit, at the reception and on our website there is information on protected and classified areas, the Azores Natural Heritage, guides, events and sport activities in nature available on Pico Island.

Top Management

• This is a family business; the managing-partner works part-time and the cleaner, to whom the company has provided training, works full-time. The spouse of the managing-partner gives some support at the reception desk and manages some of the activities. Therefore, everyone works for the same environmental and strategic goal.