SUSTAINBLE PRACTICE

SUSTAINBLE PRACTICE

The following five strategies represent PA's insight into the opportunities to introduce environmental management practices that affect the hotel's bottom line, and their relative attractiveness in terms of investment cost and payback period. It should be noted that strategies 1 and 2 can reduce the capital requirements for strategy 3. For example, conservation and efficiency in water heating will reduce the size of solar hot water system requirement to achieve a targeted reduction. Strategy 4 is a proven way to maximize the impact of Strategies 1-3, and ensure that early gains are not lost through neglect. Finally, Strategy 5 allows the hotelier to go beyond its hotel property to optimize its environmental performance.

Strategy 1 - Change Staff Practices to Reduce Waste and Conserve Resources

Changing staff practices requires awareness, training, revisions of standard operating practices, and incentives for staff compliance. Without a comprehensive and reinforcing approach, changes in hotel operations will not take hold and most staff will revert back to standard practices. Reinforcement includes educational videos and lectures, on-the-job training, back-of-house signage, and checklists and supervision for line staff, and recognition for departments and individuals that have adopted best practice

Strategy 2 - Improve End Use Efficiency

End-use efficiency is characterized by reducing the resource (i.e., electricity, water) used to perform the same end use (e.g., lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, refrigeration, laundry loads). It is achieved through controls, resource recovery systems, and higher efficient technologies, with the payback period typically increasing across the same spectrum. Payback periods for controls are usually measure in terms of days or weeks, while, at the other end of the spectrum, energy efficient lighting with a payback period of less than 1 year.

Energy controls include timers, occupancy sensors and other thermostatic controls, and photo-censors for exterior lighting. Water controls essentially restrict flow rates at taps to the minimum standard for guestrooms and public bathrooms, kitchen, etc. Water controls also include automatic shut off valves, foot pedals for kitchens to ensure taps are shut off when not attended, and sensors on toilets and taps in public bathrooms.

Strategy 3 - Invest in Cost-Effective Renewable Energy Systems

Like end-use efficiency, advances in renewable energy technologies and the rapidly increasing cost of petroleum fuels and electricity suggest revisiting the application of renewable energy systems. These include groundwater source heat pumps, solar hot water, solar electric or photovoltaic (PV), bio-diesel, and, in selected locations, small wind energy systems. Given that the capital investment in these systems is substantial, and that the performance of the solar and wind systems will vary considerably based on availability of sun and wind resources, PA recommends a feasibility study be done to determine the cost effectiveness for a specific hotel property

Strategy 4 - Implement and EMS for Continuous Improvement

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a systematic framework for integrating environmental management into an organization's activities, products, and services. A critical step in any organization's adoption of an EMS is the identifying those aspects of operations (e.g., use of chemicals in landscaping) and introducing changes in facilities and practices that minimize the impact of the organization on the natural and social environment. The voluntary EMS standards, e.g., Green Globe and ISO 14001, distinguish themselves from environmental performance standards in that they focus on the organizational aspects and the process for determining appropriate levels of environmental performance, rather than prescribing specific technology criteria

Environmental Management System

The EMS essentially shifts the responsibility of improving environmental performance from the engineering department to the entire organization. It empowers staff at all levels to both comply with best practices, but also identify further improvements based on their detailed knowledge of the hotel's operations.

Strategy 5 - Establish "Outside the Fence" Partnerships to Green the Supply Chain

The final challenge facing those hoteliers seeking to minimize their environmental footprint is what to do when you have exhausted all cost-effective improvements within the property (i.e., Strategies 1-4 above). PA recommends exploring partnerships that result in "greening the supply chain". Such partnerships include working with chemical suppliers to offer non-toxic cleaning agents, food and other suppliers to distribute in bulk, returnable containers to minimize packaging wastes, and contractors to remove construction wastes.

Where available, hoteliers can sign agreements with resource recovery and recycling companies to off-take glass, paper and cardboard, aluminum, and recyclable plastic bottles that would otherwise require solid waste contractors to haul away from the property. There are now companies that will take used kitchen grease to make bio-diesel4. Shelters and local community organizations often will take damaged towels, linens and bedding.