Ruby Falls (Chattanooga, Tennessee), America’s deepest commercial cave and most-visited underground waterfall, receives over 400,000 visitors annually. This 80-year-old natural attraction with a 1928 Irish style castle, listed in the National Register for Historic Places, has in recent years been transformed into a more sustainable business operation with progressive energy-saving strategies, waste reduction efforts, and sustainable land use initiatives – and a Green Globe International seal to testify to the successful implementation of these sustainability efforts.

Ruby Falls: the tallest and deepest underground waterfall open to the public!

“Third party certification is crucial to holding us to a higher standard and keeping us focused on more environmentally sensitive business practices,” said Hugh Morrow, President of Ruby Falls, LLC., “To remain as natural as possible, Ruby Falls has also formed teams within the business to to evaluate environmental initiatives.”

Working with Skye Con, a third party environmental consulting company, Ruby Falls become the first U.S. attraction to successfully complete the Green Globe International environmental certification process in May 2009. The Green Globe seal recognizes progress made in the following four areas: renewable energy, reductions in emissions, waste management and land conservation.

Featuring a145-foot waterfall located 1,120 feet beneath the surface of Lookout Mountain, Ruby Falls’ natural wonder has earned its place in many “best of” lists, such as the “Top Ten Hidden U.S. Treasures“. With the installation of state-of-the-art solar panels, Ruby Falls is now not only one of the top historic natural attractions in the nation, but also a sustainable destination utilizing innovative approaches to green technologies.

Ruby Falls’ array of solar panels produces 16,000 and 20,000 KWH of renewable energy annually, enough electricity to light over two hundred and fifty 60-watt light bulbs. This combined with the use of computer-controlled high efficiency lighting in both LED and compact fluorescents has reduced Ruby Falls’ power consumption by over 24% compared to the 2007 level. Surplus electricity is sold back to the Electric Power Board for their Green Energy Program.

Ruby Falls team: solar panel dedication

In addition to the solar panels, Ruby Falls has identified further energy saving opportunities through by reducing or making more efficient energy use for indoor and outdoor lighting, e.g. changing the timing and duration of lighting and dding lighting and equipment controls, and purchasing fuel-efficient vehicles. These energy saving efforts help reduce the demand for gasoline, oil, coal, and natural gas, which leads to a reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions.

The “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” strategy has also proven effective at Ruby Falls. A significant source reduction has been achieved by altering approaches to materials used for site operations, which has also helped lower the amount of toxicity of what gets thrown away. On top of reusing and recycling what cannot be reduced, making the switch to environmentally friendly products has helped further lower the falls’ environmental impact.

As a natural attraction, Ruby Falls depends on the beauty of the natural environments inside and outside the cave. It is not surprising, therefore, that Ruby Falls’ commitment to another 80 years of offering this attraction to the public has come with concerted environmental stewardship efforts.

>> Green Gem at Ruby Falls: Watch this Gold to Green interview with Ruby Falls President, Hugh Morrow, on how and why Ruby Falls has implemented extensive environmental stewardship efforts.

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