Wen I Chang:
Green Hotel Developer with a Heart of Gold

It is with the greatest of pleasure that I introduce to the readers of Kinetics Magazine, the honorable Mr. Wen I Chang. As the preeminent developer of “Green Hotels”, Mr. Chang’s Gaia Napa Valley has earned the very first gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in the USA. Truly, there is no doubt,  Wen I Chang has artfully mastered the new age talent of combining incomparable heart and beauty into the age-old industry of hospitality. His visionary expertise is literally a much needed “breath of fresh air” at this stage in the revamping of our modern eco-friendly business practices. Perhaps, I could even dare to call Mr. Chang a “prophet of our global future” due to his farsighted imagination and undaunted courage. Well, no matter what your perspective happens to be, Wen I Chang is proving himself to be one of the most ingenious and powerful forces of the green movement which is destined to transform the soul and rebuild the spiritual foundation of corporate America. And the good news is he’s only just begun…

Kathryn: Mr. Chang, thank you so very much for agreeing to this interview. Sir, it is a genuine honor to have the opportunity to speak with you today. I’ve been going through all of your information, including the contents of your website: http://www.atmanhospitalitygroup.com/ and I must tell you how incredibly inspiring I find both your personal philosophy and professional work to be!

Wen I Chang: Thank you, thank you so much! This is truly my honor.

Kathryn: You are too kind, thank you. I’d like to go back to your beginnings, Mr. Chang. You were born in Taiwan, and I cannot help but wonder what in your upbringing there led you to your career in the hotel industry?

Wen I Chang: Oh, that’s good, very good. Truthfully, I think I should say why I became interested in sustainability! When I was in elementary school, I think it was second grade when my brother heard on the BBC that in America, the Agricultural Department was dumping all of the surplus wheat into the Pacific Ocean. That was a really big shock to my brother and to me. At that time, in my young-child heart, I asked myself why America didn’t give the wheat to an African country? In my mind, this was so much better than dumping it into the ocean! That situation was huge for me and I never forgot it! And then, at the turn of the millennium, the Ritz Carlton put a big advertisement in prime time stating that anyone who had stolen anything from their hotel could bring it back in order to compete for a trip to Tahiti or Bora Bora.

Kathryn: Oh, my word! I never heard of this…

Wen I Chang: Yes, it’s true. They gave away these trips and ignored their social responsibility. Even though they tried to make it a joke, it was for real. They sent people to Bora Bora, and yet this is just propaganda. The children of the world are left to think that it is okay to steal! And then the final thing that made me really want to become a green hotel developer happened in 2002. ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers), always held in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had approximately 20,000 people at their luncheon speech. The speaker at that luncheon was President George Bush’s Environment Minister, David Kemp. He was scheduled to speak for one hour, and yet, after only five minutes of his address, more than 90% of the attendees walked out because they had no interest in listening to his message on saving the environment!

Kathryn: But how could that possibly be, Mr. Chang?

Wen I Chang: They left because they all said they had something better to do. And when I say 90% - that is an understatement! It was at that moment, I decided my mission, for the rest of my life, was meant to be sustainability!

Kathryn: I must say it is rather shocking, actually it’s heartbreaking, for me to think that all those people left the luncheon because they had no interest in learning about the ways in which they could help save the planet.

Wen I Chang: Yes, they all wanted to go next door to the exhibition hall to see the other products; they had no interest in listening to the message, and that was a true turning point in my life. I thought to myself that it didn’t matter how small a developer I happened to be, I was going to do anything I could, for the rest of my life, to help the planet.

Kathryn: Now, at that time, you only had the one hotel under development?

Wen I Chang: Yes, at that time, we were going through the LEED approval process for the first green hotel, Gaia Napa Valley.

Kathryn: Mr. Chang, I pray that you will please bear with me while I digress for just a moment, here…you are such a wondrous philosopher, and I was truly moved to tears by some of the things you said on your website. So, I have to ask you which great minds and writers inspired you as a child?

Wen I Chang: Of course, for me, there was the ancient Chinese wisdom. If you go to my website, you will see one of the books I’ve translated called, Art and Physics. It states that whenever our collective human consciousness wants to shift our direction, art is always a vanguard; always a forefront. This is because artists use their intuition. And then physicists use creation to prove what is, but between the two (artists and scientists) there is no communication. Yet, artists are usually 150 years ahead of science. But until the scientists prove something to be so, we don’t accept it into mainstream thinking; even though, unconsciously we may have accepted it all along. If we look at what we believe today, ancient eastern wisdom was already there, three or four thousand years ago! In Chinese, we call this worldview Shi Jei. Su means time, and Jei means the third dimension. So, time interplayed with the third dimension becomes the fourth dimension which is what Einstein’s teacher, Herman Minkowski called the spacetime continuum. So, in ancient wisdom, LaoTsu, Tao Te Chin, ancient Buddhism and Hinduism already exists over there. And that all proves Plato’s Doctrine of Recollection in which he states that any new invention, knowledge or technology is simply a revival of ancient wisdom. So, it’s all thinking that’s part of one whole, beyond space and time.

Kathryn: Do you turn to the ancient wisdom of the I Ching for wisdom and guidance?

Wen I Chang: Oh, yea, of course! At a big gathering, about two months ago, I was the keynote speaker. Everyone there for looking for a word of encouragement for the people who’d lost a job or a business during the time of national financial flux. I told them about the I Ching Qua (hexagram) 24. It is called, Recovery Qua. It says that everything in life follows the pattern of the cycle. Everything that goes down, will come up again. We will know recovery, and then a boom, then decline will lead to recession again. The I Ching teaches us this is the natural cycle of life and it usually takes four to six years to complete one economic cycle. In my hotel, the Gaia Napa Valley I used this concept in a mural there. We have Spring morning, Summer noon, Autumn dusk and Winter night. After the winter, we always come back to spring. After the midnight, we come back to morning. That is one of the ten greatest thinking points of the late 20th century. It is called, nonlinearity in nature and the I Ching spoke of it 5,000 years ago.

Kathryn: That’s quite fascinating as is another idea you speak of on your website, the idea of dualistic harmony. Please explain this concept to me…

Wen I Chang: Oh, yes, that’s good! Twenty-three hundred years ago, the western civilization produced a great thinker by the name, Aristotle. He separated the brain into two parts; the left brain, reason and the right brain, rhyme. With the separation of the brain hemispheres, Aristotle came up with what we call either/or logic. In Latin this is tertium non datur. This concept means that the middle way has been excluded in the presence of either/or logic. Many generations later, the greatest psychiatrist of the 20th century, Dr. Carl Jung, referred to tertuim non datur the middle way is the “blind spot” of western civilization. You see, people say a thing is either beautiful or it is ugly. You will either go to Heaven or you will go to Hell. Either you make money without caring for the environment or you take care of the environment and you don’t make money! Through dualistic harmony I am trying to show the world that it is possible to make money, take care of the environment and carry the burden of our social responsibility, all at the same time. I call this the three Ps: first is the Planet, second is People, and third is Profit. In our second green hotel we use only vinegar to clean our windows, and so, we can pay our employees at least one dollar per hour more than the other hotels. Here, you can see how the two coexist through dualistic harmony.

Kathryn: Were you educated here in the United States?

Wen I Chang: Yes, I completed my education in the United States, in Illinois.

Kathryn: And have your children become a part of the family business?

Wen I Chang: Yes, my son, Yuan-Sing Chang, is a LEED AP. He left a very high-paying job to join my company. I don’t pay him as much, but he wanted to join me for the sake of the mission. Also, my daughter Ling Ling Chang and I are working on a book called, Green Hotel: Innovation, Renovation and Development. We are trying to get together the fifteen LEED hotel owners in the world to publish this book. I will not be the main author; instead everyone of these fifteen hotel owners will be put on the book as co-author.

Kathryn: Wow…that is such a magnanimous idea! And how wonderful to keep your personal mission, to educate the world on the “green issue”, in the family I’m impressed, that’s very inspiring! While we’re talking about being inspired, you also mention on your website that you were greatly inspired to go green after a conversation with a renowned architect.

Wen I Chang: Oh, yes, Mickey Meunnig - such a sweet man. He is a very shy American who is my idol; he’s my hero! He’s from the lineage of Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Goff. I was introduced to him by a city planning director when I was working on a project for the Hilton. He told me that if I wanted the project approved, I needed the help of a really “green architect”. The planning director told me to go meet Mickey. He said that if Mickey liked me I would know within ten minutes. He also told me that if I sensed he didn’t like me, I should excuse myself, and not contact Mickey again. Well, I went to meet Mickey, in the Big Sur area and I was humble. We started talking about Stravinsky, Debussey and Monet. Before I knew it, Mickey invited me to lunch and our lunch lasted for three hours.

Kathryn: My goodness, if lunch lasted for three hours, the two of you must have had a very lot in common!

Wen I Chang: Oh, yea. In fact, it was quite poetic since the seagulls came to steal my fish and chips! Then, before I knew it, three weeks later, he had designed the roofline representing DeBussey’s, Le Mer and a water lily garden representing Monet’s, Water Lily Pond. That kind of a moment changes your life forever. It was a turning point of my hotel development career due to my realization that architecture could be so beautiful. It was then I understood the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe when he said, “Architecture is frozen music.” It is the idea that a gorgeous lady is dancing with a beautiful melody, and when the melody climaxes, the music stops and the lady is frozen in time - that’s architecture. When I saw what Mickey had designed, at that moment I knew every hotel project of mine must have some kind of a beautiful element. For example, the mural I spoke of, the koi pond (at our third green project) and our swan lake…all these kinds of things are very important as they represent the green hotel . Our message is that we are creating a lifestyle which is that our green hotels are hotels with heart and beauty. For now on, all of our hotel projects will reflect those qualities.

Kathryn: That is such an beautiful sentiment and you’ve stated that is it your mission to transform consciousness, one traveler at a time.

Wen I Chang: Absolutely. That’s why in my hotels there are three levels. You know, it is very difficult to get LEED certification. Most other LEED hotel owners emphasize their architecture and green technology. But, I go one step further. Because you are in the media you may be familiar with a famous media expert by the name, Marshall McLuhan. He said, “ The medium is the message.” And I use my hotel development and operation as a medium to deliver a message. So, we have a message package that includes a animal, or flower as the room plate instead of a number. Every room also has an bookmark, with an inspirational message, the customer can take home with them. One such book mark has a short poem on it from Tagore. It reads, “ The night kisses the fading day and whispers in her ear, I’m death, I’m your mother. I will give you fresh birth.” Or this one, “Someday, I shall sing to you in the sunlight of some other world. I have seen you before in the light of Earth, in the love of man.” These kinds of poems represent the truth that after we die, we will rebirth. It is another example of non-linearity in nature.

Kathryn: Well, in truth, all those small but powerful touches, on your part, show you possess such heart, compassion and depth. Not only do you strive to accommodate your clients in beauty, you try to inspire and nurture their souls during their stay.

Wen I Chang: You’re right, yet even so, some of the customer steal the books from the rooms. In Chinese we have a name for that. These people are called, elegant thieves. He may steal the book, but it still has a positive impact on him. So, I often have to replenish the books a lot, but no problem.

Kathryn: What other kind of feedback do you get from those who spend time at your hotels?

Wen I Chang: Mostly, they say our hotel is very impressive. However, most come to visit our hotel, for the first time, because of the price. We have not been open that long so, we still have some rooms for $99 per night. And that really appeals to a lot of people. Let me tell you this story. There was a doctor from Colorado who used to visit Napa every other week. One week she had her reservation with the Marriott, but when she arrived they did not have a room for her. Well, she was a little angry about that and decided to come to our hotel. She told me that she’d seen our signs, but thought there had to be something wrong with it because the rooms were so inexpensive. After staying that night, she was hooked, and has returned every month since. Another time, there was a senior lady who made a big fuss because she did not understand why a green hotel was wasting so much electricity on the hallway lighting. She thought it was too bright since we were supposed to be saving the environment. I heard the fuss so, I walked over to assure her that the bright light was coming from a Solatube and directly from Mr. Helios - the sun. I went on to explain how the Solatube captures, reflects and magnifies the sunlight. She thanked me and told me that I’d reduced her guilt! When she returned to her home in New York, she called to tell our Sales Manager that she’d her toilets to .99 from 3 gallon tanks. In California most toilets hold 1.6 to 2 gallons. This customer also replaced her shower heads with the Low-Flow heads we have at the hotel. They release 1 gallon of water per minute instead of the usual 2.5 gallons. So, you can see how we are having a direct impact on the people who stay at our hotel. We give them an opportunity to absorb a new experience for them to dare and to dream of journeying back to our true nature. When we are successful at doing that, we are no longer just a place to play and sleep; we become a place, a journey, a dream. A place, a journey, a dream is one of my trademarks.

Kathryn: You are a remarkable visionary, Mr. Chang, yet I read you prefer to be called a dreamer. What is the difference to you?

Wen I Chang: Firstly, a visionary must start with a dream. I try to be humble because USA Today said I was a visionary with courage. I took a vision and added action. I took action but still needed a lot of money to make this a chain. But this is not a franchise-chain. I do not like them because they really suck the blood of the franchisee. They say they have an intimate marriage with the franchisee, but that is not true. So, I have what Best Western has, and that is an affiliation membership system.

Kathryn: With all that you’ve learned through your experiences in developing and operating green hotels, what advice could you give the average person to help themselves and the earth in the way of green practices?

Wen I Chang: Excellent point, Kathryn. Firstly, find only one thing the can do absolutely right. For example, every night, before sleep, make sure to turn off all the lights. Or if they just make sure there are no facets left dripping in the house. Starting from the smallest actions like this, they will create a sense of pride and satisfaction. And from there they can create the butterfly effect. For me it started with a birthday party in Santa Cruz when I could not get a glass of water. I was really upset, and then I started thinking about the amount of water that was being used to water the golf courses in that area. And I knew there was something I could do to save water. So, that night I took a two and a half minute shower. And from that day on, instead of an eight minute shower, I‘ve always taken a two and a half minute shower. From there I went on to become the most advanced green hotel developer in the United States. I know that I am successful because I have a three level philosophy. First level is green technology, second level is the message package, third level is transformation of consciousness. That’s how I’m doing it!

Kathryn: I cannot tell you how much I admire what you are doing. What you have accomplished in your life, in your career, is absolutely incredible. You’ve certainly inspired me to take a closer look at the ways I can contribute to making this world a greener, healthier place for all of us to live.

Wen I Chang: Kathryn, I encourage you to always remember the butterfly effect. You know, to change the world, all you have to do is to master one good thing. Let me give you just one more example. For nineteen years I used a platinum American Express card. I did not know they charged me $499 per year to use that card until one day my new secretary asked me what that charge was on my bill. We investigated it and discovered I was being charged this annual fee just to carry this card. I decided I did not need that kind of prestige so, I canceled that card. Now I take that $500 I saved and I give $5 each to 100 homeless people I meet on the street. Yes, people say that they can take the money and go buy beer. But at least I give them a chance. Sometimes I give $20 or more to those I see who have lost their teeth and their hair and I know I am doing the right thing.

Kathryn: That’s a butterfly effect, too. That tiny movement could make a huge change in someone else’s life. Mr. Chang I thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me today. Your contribution to the world is immense, and I am extremely impressed with the difference you are making!