Best Practices
From small, limited-service properties to deluxe accommodations, a range of properties have found innovative means to make going green work for their bottom line. The following highlight success in Energy, Operations, Certifications, and Water conservation strategies from properties and organizations nationwide to give you ideas for implementing strategies that your guests, employees, and your profit margin will appreciate.
To view a complete listing of Best Practices, please visit AH&LA's Member's Only Energy Management and Green Resources page.
For any inquiries on green practices within hospitality, contact Kathryn Potter at kpotter@ahla.com or (202)289-3130.
- Marriott International was recognized for the second time for its environmental initiatives and green related cost savings.
- Saving nearly $7.8 million in 2007 on energy bills-equivalent to a cost reduction of $0.13 per occupied room night, or an increase in the company's average daily room rate of $0.15.
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3 percent per available room since 2004, putting Marriott well on track to meet its goal under EPA's Climate Leaders program of achieving a 6 percent reduction per available room by 2010. Benchmarking the energy performance of more than 95 percent of its properties using EPA's energy performance rating system.
- Earning the ENERGY STAR rating for more than 200 hotel properties to date in more than 20 states.
- Expanding on initiatives that have resulted in superior achievements in energy efficiency, such as the Marriott Retro-Commissioning program, the appointment of an Energy Champion for each property, the installation of alternative laundry systems, and procurement policies requiring ENERGY STAR qualified products and more efficient building equipment.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will participate in the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Earth Hour 2009 on Saturday, March 28. All 56 properties world-wide, from Dallas to Dubai, will turn out their lights at 8:30 p.m. for one hour. Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York is creating “green” themed cocktails during the hour, as well as illuminating its indoor pool with 100 floating candles. Seattle’s AAA Five Diamond Fairmont Olympic will host candlelit dinners with French-inspired cuisine, and the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise will light up its lakeshore with ice luminaries, while housing a large fire and old-fashioned storytelling sessions under the stars.
Return to Top
The Ambrose is located in Santa Monica, California and was recently named one of the world’s top eco-friendly hotels by TripAdvisor. The hotel integrates eco-methods into the daily lives of the property, its employees, and its guests. The Ambrose will do more than reduce, reuse, and recycle; it will compost, use green cleaning alternatives, support neighbor and local merchants, uses Energy Star appliances, conserve water through low flow toilets and linen reuse programs, and find transportation alternatives. Additionally, The Ambrose Hotel was the first hotel in the nation to receive LEED Silver Certification in the summer of 2008.
With a new honey program, Fairmont Washington, D.C. is responding to the nation’s honey bee shortage by welcoming 105,000 Italian honey bees to their rooftop as part of the hotel’s environmental stewardship program. The three honey beehives will enhance the culinary program of the property by providing 300 pounds of honey within the first year to be used in soups, salad dressings, pastries, ice cream, and others at the Juniper restaurant.
The bee population has been decreasing in size due to habitat loss and pollution, which in turn effects the pollination of plants. Without pollination, insects, birds, and animals all find it difficult to thrive as deforestation and pollution progress. The Fairmont Washington, D.C. is the only hotel in the area currently raising honey bees.
Cavallo Point, next to the scenic village of Sausalito in the Golden Gate National Parks, has a pending LEED certification, a commitment to sustainability through the Institute at the Golden Gate, and boasts a comfortable environmentally-responsible lodge. Cavallo Point believes in stewardship and preservation, focusing its team’s efforts on re-using historic materials, restoring landscape with native plants, using green building elements, and partnering with Good Night Foundation, which raises funds to support local and global programs that improve the safety, health, and appeal of various tourist destinations around the world.
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is encouraging employees to take additional green initiatives through an educational environmental impact program. The training program focuses on aligning Hyatt’s corporate environmental mission to minimize carbon emissions and other harmful pollutants with that of its hotels and resorts. It will continue Hyatt’s efforts to minimize the company’s impact, yet never compromise guest services. Through Hyatt Green Teams, which are placed at every full-service hotel, employees will learn more about the necessary steps to decrease consumption of valuable resources in their daily lives.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts launched a new green initiative to help meeting planners organize more environmentally friendly green meetings. Fairmont will now offer quick and easy access to green information for every hotel and resort through “Green Sheets,” which outline each Fairmont property’s green efforts and green meeting options. Recently recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for 2009, Fairmont is committed to giving planners the tools to hold eco-friendly meetings.
Mount Washington Resort located in Bretton Woods, NH, is actively trying to green itself, including educating and mentoring employees, supporting the 3 R’s, buying locally, reducing energy waste, and actively pursuing sustainability. Specifically, the resort has a linen reuse program, a recycling program, and kid’s camp that teaches campers how to make crafts from recycled materials. Additionally, the hotel purchases eco-friendly products, including no phosphate soap and organic and botanical spa ingredients, is testing bio-diesel fuel in Bretton Woods equipment, uses an oil furnace that reduces consumption by 50% for the facility, and purchased Triplex hybrid lawn mowers for its golf course maintenance.
Return to Top
Marriott International continues to show commitment to the environment through a variety of initiatives, ranging from protecting the rainforest to greening their headquarters. Marriott recently announced that it will pursue LEED certification for its Maryland-based global headquarters as well as for 30 additional hotels.
By 2010, Marriott will have a variety of brands in multiple locations certified by the United States Green Building Council. The hotels will either seek greener alternatives in design, development, construction, or management. Initiatives will range from offering eco-friendly amenities, to preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles, to solar tracking skylights, and to switching to biodegradable disposable containers. Employees will also be encouraged to use public transportation. A few hotels currently seeking LEED certification include the Residence Inn Arlington Courthouse in Virginia, and Courtyard Hotels in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Portland, and Pittsburgh.
The Hyatt Place in Wyoming, geared toward business travelers, opens its doors as the first Hyatt LEED-built hotel in Wyoming, and in the world. The 5-story, 113-room hotel offers many LEED-related features:
- Use of green cleaning compounds
- Boasts in-room motion sensors to control heat and lighting
- Recycles leftover shampoo and soaps onsite. The property then converts the remains into laundry detergents, which are used to wash the hotel’s linens.
This urban office park hotel was named the most energy-efficient and environmentally-sustainable building by the U.S. Green Building Council last fall. As the first to obtain the USGBC’s top level of certification in the hospitality industry, the Greensboro property was constructed with 100 solar rooftop panels, an elevator that generates electricity on its way down, and oversized windows for natural light. The construction coupled with green operations, which include 70+ sustainable practices, allowed the property to use 40 percent less energy and 35 percent less water than a comparable hotel. Its restaurant, Print Works Bistro, strives to meet green standards by using geothermal energy for the refrigerators, and oven hoods that use sensors to power according to the kitchen’s needs.
Return to Top
A property committed to the environment, Kalahari Resorts has added the AquaRecycle system to its long list of green programs. The 740-room property located in Wisconsin and the 884-room hotel in Ohio both hope to reuse 70 percent of their laundry water, a substantial savings in cost and wasted water. It didn’t take long for Kalahari Resorts to be recognized for their conservation efforts; after one year of efficiency endeavors, the company won the 2006 Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air Recognition Award. Both hotels use low-flow showerheads and dishwasher sprayheads, HVAC energy management systems, LED exit signs and fluorescent light fixtures in the indoor waterparks, and motion-sensored lights in public areas. Individually, the Wisconsin hotel’s greening includes the installation of a 103-panel solar hot water system, and the installation of an energy control system for the guestrooms, while the Ohio property installed a transparent roof system to allow natural light to heat the indoor waterpark, and an ozone laundry system for faster washing and drying, all done with less chemicals and energy.
Return to Top