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“ For hotels , the nonsense about sustainability performance starts in the rooms ,”
Onno Poortier , a longtime hotelier and co-founder of Now , an initiative calling for accountability around sustainability , said in a speech at ILTM Cannes in December . “ Greenwash and poor environmental and social performance are no longer acceptable . If our customers and guests have to tell us to be sustainable , then we ’ re too late .”
Many hotel companies track such items as water usage and energy performance in different ways and to varying degrees . But for many others , good intentions around laundering the bathroom towels are belied by the thermostat and the source of the power that chills the room ( even when the guest isn ’ t there ).
Measurement and benchmarking , backed up with increasingly cost-effective and innovative alternatives in building materials , design and operations , and leveraging the Internet of Things , are critical . Just as critical , say the firms that help hotels track that data , is starting the sustainability discussion early .
“ Smart businesses do get the fact that if you do not address these issues they will come back and hit you on the bottom line ,” says Stewart Moore , CEO of EarthCheck , a benchmarking and certification advisory group . “ It ’ s always been difficult because these issues have never been mandated . You don ’ t have to be a good operator . You don ’ t have to ‘ do ’ sustainability , even though there are some compliance obligations depending
28 hotelsmag . com January / February 2018