CERES' Green Hotel Initiative
The Green Hotel Initiative is a program to help catalyze both the market demand for, and supply of, environmentally responsible hotel services. During the past year, CERES has developed a partnership with Swissotel Atlanta, the host of its 2001 conference. The hotel was chosen because of management's willingness to explore environmental changes that would further their performance as well as meet CERES' goals.
As a first step, CERES held its 2000 Green Hotel Symposium there. During the meeting, a workshop was used to assess the hotel's current environmental efforts and to discuss ways the property could improve. Afterwards, the Georgia Pollution Prevention Assistance Division completed an environmental audit of the hotel. CERES put the hotel in touch with Swisshotel Boston management which offered the assistance of their 'green team', a task force working on the Boston property.
The CERES Best Practice Survey can be used to help make hotel selections based on environmental criteria.
Contact: Sarah Raposa http://www.ceres.org/ghi/bps.htm
Case: Interface's Green Hotel Programme
Interface's mission, to first be sustainable and then restorative, extends to the criteria it uses to select suppliers, including hotels. Before holding meetings and events at hotels, it asks the venue to complete a 50 questions "Green Hotel Questionnaire" that it adapted and expanded from the Green Hotel Association survey.
Four years ago, Interface teamed with a resort in Hawaii to dramatically reduce consumption and waste during the company's six day world meeting of 1000 attendees. Prior to the convention, Interface carried out two eco-audits of the facility. The hotel was very responsive - it altered standard operating procedures and implemented capital improvement projects such as installing solar panels. Detailed metrics of utilities and waste were collected each day, analysed and reported to the plenary sessions the next morning.
On the final day, the results were compared with the average of a similar convention held the previous year. After implementing all the energy saving initiatives, total electricity consumption for the final day was reduced by 21 percent. If this improvement was maintained year round that would equal a savings of US$708,000. Water use was reduced by 48 percent and solid waste was reduced by 34 percent. Interface found that the total economic impact of the improvements was over US$1 million in annual savings for the resort as well as a significant reduction in its ecological footprint. Contact: Pauline Armstrong.
The Ocean Blue Foundation Blue and Green Meetings Initiative is creating a web-based tool to assist planners in making environmentally responsible choices when orchestrating meetings. After it is launched in fall 2002, the group intends to introduce a voluntary certification scheme and eco-logo for events that meet the highest standards of environmental practice. bluegreenmeetings@oceansblue.org http://www.oceansblue.org
Help is available
Help is at hand for hospitality industry operators and managers who are feeling the effects of the UK government's Climate Change Levy, which is increasing fuel bills by as much as 15 percent. By joining the Hotel and Catering International Management Association's government-backed 'Hospitable Climates' programme, energy bills can be reduced by as much as 40 percent. Reported savings in the hotel sector have beenup to £400 per room. The program is in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
Businesses receive free, targeted advice about energy-saving techniques and technologies, confidential benchmarking of their energy consumption against similar establishments, access to site-specific and design advice and the use of an advice line. "It's not too late for the hospitality industry to start being energy- efficient," says the association's chief executive, David Wood. "Because we waste huge amounts of energy and produce too much carbon dioxide, the government introduced the Climate Change levy. This is not because it is an easy wasy to generate revenue - the proceeds are going back to employers in reduced National Insurance contributions and support for energy efficiency projects."
Grevile Bridge, Chairman of Beale's hotel group says: "... It is crucial that all employees understand that we are not just reducing energy costs and pollution levels to improve profit margins, but, more importantly, to reduce gases and pollutants generally for the good of mankind - an objective in which we all have a vested interest."
Contact: Rosemary Morrison. www.hospitableclimates.org.uk
Annual savings over £20,000 are just one of the benefits of the East of England Tourist Board's first "Green Action of the Year.' The initiative chose installation of low energy lighting as its first priority and 300 of the region's businesses took part. As well as making significant financial savings, about 120 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be saved, demonstrating the cumulative potential of small-scale action.
"Breaking environmental action into 'bite-sized chunks' has not only overcome the time constraints faced by micro-businesses, but enabled us to use standard tourism fora to reach those who would never attend a 'green-specific' event," says Neil Warren, the group's planning officer. The second action the group is focusing on are water-saving devices. Contact: Neil Warren
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FROM our content partner, Green Hotelier, November 2001.
Resources:
Audubon International's Cooperative Sanctuary Programme for Golf Courses: http://www.audubonintl.org/acss//golf.htm
Landscaping to Environmental Advantage, Green Hotelier, October 1999
Lessening the Environmental Impact of Golf Courses, Green Hotelier, July 2000.
