NEWH - Winter 2013 - (Page 10)

Sustainability Point of View Electrify your Green Design Making the economic case for sustainable hotel design By Dina Belon, vice president of NEWH Sustainable Hospitality Whether you are a hotelier or not it is important to understand the economic factors that are impacting the hospitality industry. There are strong top line and bottom line economic facts that show how much more effective, profitable, and guest centric that a hotel is that has incorporated a strong sustainability program. There are three major segments to the hospitality market; meeting convention, business, and tourism sectors. So let's look at what is important to the customers of these sectors or how sustainability can impact a hotels top line: Green Meetings & Business Travel With 95 percent of the Global 250 (G250), which are the largest global corporations publishing a sustainable report and 80 percent of them declaring a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) score; large corporations are looking for measurable and verifiable sustainable information from their business travel and meeting/conventions suppliers. The GRI's Framework is a reporting system that provides metrics and methods for measuring and reporting sustainability-related impacts and performance. It can be used by any type of company or organization, based anywhere in the world. In other words, hotels are part of the supply chain for large G250 and Fortune 500 companies, and sustainability is important to them; the hotel's client. According to the Carbon Disclosure Project, 97 percent of Global 500 (G500) companies disclose their carbon emissions from the operations and 72 percent of companies are reporting the emissions associated to their business travel. It is clear that for large corporations the sustainable aspect of their travel supply chain is becoming increasingly important and transparent. Eco-Tourism According to the CMI Green Community Marketing, Inc., Green Traveler Study in 2011, 81.5 percent of respondents "consider themselves as very eco-conscious." Even considering the economy 38.9 percent of travelers say they have "increased their green purchasing." With a consistently growing green traveler segment, sustainability initiatives are impacting consumers' decisions. Specific green travel practices were up across the board over the previous survey-85 percent say they had turned off the lights when they left the room, and over 75 percent say they had recycled and used their towels and sheets more than once. More significant changes in green behavior were seen more substantive, proactive environmental measures: there was a 7.5 percent increase in the number who said they "researched and booked greener accommodations" and almost 4 percent more off set the impact of their travel. It is clear from the research that the green travel segment is growing both in the group of travelers that make decisions based 10 www.newh.org on the sustainability aspects of a hotel and the influence of green hotels on the overall traveling public. Operating Savings Now for the bottom line benefits. Just as important to the added value to reputation and revenue is reducing resource depletion and consequently operating costs, green hotels are making a tremendous impact on the overall negative impact of the hospitality industry. Buildings are responsible for a large portion of the environmental footprint of human activity. In the U.S. alone, hotels represent more than five billion square feet of space, nearly five million guestrooms, and close to four billion dollars in annual energy use. Hospitality facilities have the opportunity to seamlessly provide exceptional levels of comfort while using less water, less energy, generating less waste, purchasing wisely, and effecting less pollution. LEED certified buildings on average: * Consume 26 percent less energy * Emit 33 percent less CO2 * Use 30 percent less indoor water * Reduce solid waste to landfi lls by 75 percent * Improve the health, comfort, and productivity of the indoor environments. Global Perspective With 4.5 percent of the world's population, the U.S. disproportionately consumes 25 percent of the world's oil supply. Buildings in the U.S. are our country's largest users of electricity (40 percent); potable water (13.6 percent); and produce large amounts of greenhouse gases (39 percent). Buildings cannot sustain this level of disproportionate energy and water consumption and carbon emissions. In addition, increasing energy and water costs plus future pollution taxation will make operating costs higher for real estate owners, making sustainability an economic decision. It is clear that for the hotel client, sustainability is important, consequently it is important to hotel brands and independent operators alike...that makes sustainability important for all aspects of the supply chain including consultants, purchasers, and suppliers. ❙❘❚ SAVE THE DATE NEWH Green Voice presents a virtual one-day event on December 3rd. Stay tuned, you won't want to miss the opportunity to participate in three CEUs from the comfort of your own chair. http://www.newh.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - Winter 2013

NEWH - Winter 2013
Table of Contents
News
Who’s Who
Sustainability
Q&A: Trisha Poole
Q&A: David Tracz
Q&A: Stacey Berman
Product Know How
Have You Seen?
On the Scene
On The Cover: Seamus Bateson and Steve Cohen of Shelby Williams
Project: Refinery Hotel in New York
Project: SER Steaks + Spirits in Dallas
Save the Date
New Members
Partner Profiles
Ad Index

NEWH - Winter 2013