Name: Bennett Thomas
Title: Vice President of Finance & Sustainability
Organization: Hersha Hospitality Group
Years with Hersha Hospitality Group: Five
Primary responsibilities: Bennett is responsible for corporate finance and EarthView, Hersha Hospitality’s sustainability program.
Organization’s most significant environment-related accomplishment so far: “We have a program in place to cut carbon emissions and water consumption by 7 to 10 percent and waste by 30 to 40 percent.”
Organization’s most significant environment-related challenge: “Largely, when you have more than 80 hotels and [almost 11,000] rooms it is about implementation and engagement. Continuing to educate and reiterate what the message is. We try to reach out to properties as often as possible. When team members understand the core principles and mission of EarthView, they are more likely to make an even greater impact.”
PHILADELPHIA—As initiator and overseer of Hersha Hospitality’s EarthView program, Bennett Thomas makes sure that his company’s environmental and conservation programs positively impact the company’s bottom line while simultaneously improving the environment, well-being of its guests, employees, and communities. For the Hersha Group, with more than 80 hotels and almost 11,000 rooms across many brands and its own independent hotels known as the Independent Collection, EarthView is part of a larger strategy to deliver a positive internal rate of return on the company’s investments—a strategy not only good for Hersha but for its stakeholders as well.
Hersha piloted EarthView from 2009 to 2010. “We launched it in late 2010, early 2011 in corporate offices and at the property level,” Thomas says.
EarthView is focused on reducing energy and water consumption as well as waste. An important component of EarthView is also community—helping to enrich the communities in which its hotels are located through activities such as tree plantings and other volunteer efforts focused on community stewardship, arts, education and wellness.
In the areas of energy, water and waste, the emphasis of EarthView initially has been on taking care of the low hanging fruit at each property—energy-efficient lighting, towel and linen reuse programs, digital thermostats, energy management systems, and in-room recycling.
Preventive Maintenance Formalized
“We are getting the basics down first and the cultural changes in,” Thomas says. Other green steps include discontinuing the use of Styrofoam, eliminating guestroom phone books, using “green” key cards, formalizing preventive maintenance, and purchasing only appliances that are Energy Star rated.
In some cases Hersha will pay for one green program with the savings incurred from another green program. That happened in the case with its partnership with Clean the World, a nonprofit that donates soap and shampoo to those in need. The modest cost of sending partially used soap and shampoo to Clean the World was paid for with the savings from a switch to more eco-friendly paper products.
Unlike some companies that have set specific reduction targets for emissions, water, waste, etc., Hersha is concentrating first on entering two years of emissions data for its 80 hotels into the Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
While part of Thomas’ role at Hersha is in the area of finance, he is also focused on EarthView. He is assisted by Eco Leaders at each property and one full-time person in Hersha’s corporate office.
“One hundred percent of the time we have people focused on it,” Thomas says. “In our efforts to institutionalize sustainability, it is becoming a part of all of our roles.”
Facebook Page for EarthView Participants
EarthView participants share news of their activities that reflect a focus on the triple bottom line of people, planet, profits on a Facebook page set up especially for EarthView. “This has not only been a great showcase of our community efforts, but it has also created even more of a community amongst our associates at all of our properties,” Thomas says.
Regarding LEED, Thomas says, “Any future ground-up projects will strongly be considered for LEED certification as well.”
Industry More Collaborative Than Competitive
When asked how well the lodging industry is doing in its efforts to reduce its environmental impact, Thomas said, “I think we have room to grow. While the economic downturn set us back, the silver lining is that our industry is much more collaborative than competitive when it comes to sustainability. This will positively impact our progress going forward.”
On a personal level, Thomas says sustainability is something he has always been interested in. He studied civil environmental engineering as an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech and “giving back” was something that was emphasized during his fellowship in the Johnson School MBA program at Cornell University where his focus was on finance and hospitality.
Click here for more information on EarthView. Click here for related column.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
