Mr. Weissman

Eco-Friendly Practices

Building a Green Program in Your Portfolio of Properties

By Arthur Weissman, President and CEO, Green Seal, Inc.

Becoming green is not a one-time thing: it requires a concerted effort over time from a number of people and departments. This article will outline some recent trends in developing an environmentally responsible corporate policy, the steps to build a green program in a property or group of properties, and information about what should be covered by written policies and procedures.

Recent Trends in Corporate-Level Green Management Policies

In recent years, environmentally responsible property construction, management, and operational policies have grown extensively to include corporate-level engagement and institutionalization throughout franchises. This year Hilton Hotel Corporation announced their short- and long-term sustainability goals, Starwood developed its new franchise ELEMENT, and InterContinental established its Innovation Hotel Initiative -- showing that there has been a strong and positive shift in the thinking of corporate managers to act on and implement environmentally responsible polices within their chains. In their Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Industry Trend Study for 2008, Deloitte is also careful to point out that sustainability is "Unlike many other business issues... it is all-encompassing - involving shareholders, consumers, retailers, suppliers, employees, non-government organizations, state and federal governments, and scientific and academic institutions. Leading companies in this arena are factoring in changing technologies, emerging consumer demands, and evolving regulatory requirements into their strategies and operations. In addition, they are taking a full life-cycle view of sustainability, and understanding how changes in one part of the organization could impact another." 1

Part of this shift is due to improvements in recent years in the ability to track and record environmentally responsible initiatives of individual facilities worldwide2 as well as a heightened awareness of energy and carbon issues, exemplified in carbon reporting tools such as the Doubletree Portland's on-line carbon-off set calculator developed in partnership with The Climate Trust. A helpful tool that is facilitating the development of green action plans across a brand or chain has been the data they now have available from life-cycle assessment software, which has been used internally by a number of brands for the past few years. These databases provide quantitative baseline data that chain and brand managers are now using to establish incremental green modification goals for their environmental programs. Quantifying how day-to-day operations can promote waste minimization, energy efficiency, freshwater management, waste water management, and the consumption of environmentally responsible products will enable you to set realistic and meaningful goals for more sustainable operations.

Another source of corporate-level interest in sustainability and environmental responsibility is due to an increasing demand by consumers for public reporting by corporations to disclose their efforts in adopting sustainable practices3. Fox - Przeworski4 has also pointed out the significance of linkages between environment and trade issues that are being discovered through efforts to harmonize trade liberalization, environmental protection, and domestic development goals. This harmonization has led to an array of incentives available to developers and lodging franchises who commit to building and managing green properties.

So with all this interest and demand in how your company and franchise can green your operations, where is the best place to begin? The first and foremost effort should be to build consensus within your senior management as to the importance of sustainable operations for your business. There are numerous guides and resources available now that identify and list ROIs for green facility design, green facility management, green operations, and environmentally preferable purchasing that can be of assistance in identifying specific solutions for your construction, housekeeping, and bulk purchasing. Once senior-level consensus is reached within your company via a written policy of commitment to sustainability, an action plan based on quantifiable goals should be developed by each department that outlines what actions will be taken to realize corporate commitments in the policy. These action plans should also include specific individuals or staff teams responsible for implementing each action. In developing these action plans department staff should collectively review the activities they are responsible for with the following questions in mind:

• How can we reduce the amount of waste produced?
• How can we reuse and recycle materials and equipment that are used in day-to-day activities?
• How can we increase energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption of the properties or company?
• How can we reduce the consumption of fresh water resources?
• How can we reuse grey water?
• How can we reduce the use of hazardous substances?
• How can we make purchasing activities more environmentally and socially responsible?
• How can we increase staff and guest awareness of the company's environmental goals?
• How will environmental concerns expressed by employees and guests be resolved? Once this plan is drafted, its time to take action on it. The tracking systems mentioned earlier are one internal means of auditing individual facilities, but another way of learning as an organization and as a company can be through third-party auditing of your properties. In addition, third-party certification can add credibility to your efforts for skeptical customers, and it can also become the basis for developing internal environmental award programs within your chain that provide certified properties various marketing or other franchise incentive benefits. All of the public and private environmental auditing programs currently available within the U.S. are tiered programs, with criteria for each tier building on those of the lower tiers. The expected outcome is that new member properties seeking certification will work through the program, going from less complex and challenging initial accomplishments to more difficult ones as they develop environmental polices and practices for waste minimization, energy efficiency, freshwater management, waste water management, hazardous substances, and environmentally sensitive purchasing. This way applicant companies are buffered from the potentially resource-intensive and costly effort to become more environmentally responsible. Organizational memberships in environmentally conscious networks within your community and industry can be other sources of green operational ideas for you and your team as well. Both certification and environmental network membership can increase the visibility of your green efforts within the community, industry, and public at large, increasing your brand recognition.

Conclusion

The key point in greening your chain is that adopting environmental responsible polices is not a finite business obstacle, but an on-going opportunity to lower your long-term operational costs, drive increased business and revenue, reduce your company's environmental and social impact, and provide high quality and healthful hospitality services to your guests. What can be a better long-term management plan than that?

1. Deloitte Development LLC (2007) Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure Industry Trends 2008. January 02, 2008. downloaded http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/article/0,1002,cid%253D184903,00.html
2. Bohdanowicz P. (2006) Hilton Environmental Reporting as a tool of Corporate Social Responsibility. In: Proceedings of the BEST Sustainable Tourism Think Tank VI: "Corporate Social Responsibility for Sustainable Tourism", 13-16 June 2006, Girona , Spain - nominated for an Outstanding Paper Award by the BEST Education Network.Downloaded 6_4_08 http://www.besteducationnetwork.org/documents/ttvi/pdf/Paulina%20Bohdanowicz.pdf
3. CorporateRegister.com (2008) Statistical Chart: Global Report Output by Type 1992-2007. Downloaded 6_4_08 http://www.corporateregister.com/charts/bytype.htm
4. Fox-Przeworski, J. (2004) Remarks at the Multistate Working Group: Environmental Innovation and EMS Workshop June 27-29, 2004 Charleston, W.VA. Steps to building a green program in a property or group of properties Preliminary research for this article was done by Rani A. Bhattacharyya, Executive Assistant to the CEO, Green Seal, Inc. She holds an M.S. in Recreation Parks and Tourism Management from Western Illinois University and has assisted rural communities in the United States and internationally with tourism development projects.

Arthur B. Weissman, Ph.D., is President and CEO of Green Seal, Inc. He has experience in environmental science, policy, and standard-setting in public and private sectors. He has led the non-profit's resurgence as a force to make the economy more sustainable. He served as an international convener in developing the ISO 14000 standards for environmental labeling, and was the first Chair of the Global Ecolabeling Network. He has developed policy for the Superfund waste-cleanup program, served in the U.S. Senate as a Science Fellow, and worked for The Nature Conservancy. Mr. Weissman can be contacted at 202-872-6400 or aweissman@greenseal.org Extended Bio...

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