Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Builds on ISO 14001 Registration

The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village, Wyoming, is building on its successful environmental program by hiring an outside firm to generate a Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Management Plan. The purpose of the inventory and plan is to assign quantitative values to the resort's current environmental health, and to aid in the implementation of measures to further reduce energy usage. Businesses use inventories to better understand sources and trends in emissions. The resort recently celebrated its five-year anniversary of ISO 14001 registration. For those of you not familiar with ISO 14001, it is a standard for environmental management systems that is applicable to any business. According to the resort, it is one of only two ski resorts in the United States to have achieved ISO 14001 registration.

For its fifth year of registration, the resort was recognized for its Vendor Assessment Scoring, a custom score chart developed to identify and score food providers whose practices and distribution are aligned with the resort’s environmental goals. This score chart highlights the emphasis that food and beverage has placed on sourcing and purchasing sustainable products. The resort's Vehicle Maintenance department was recognized for their modification of a Ford Excursion van to operate on waste vegetable oil, which recycles 100 percent of the used oil from all the dining facilities. Plans are also underway to implement the program in other vehicles. Mountain Facilities was acknowledged for the successful modification of a number of heating furnaces, as well as the addition of “programmable building automation controls” which resulted in a 20 percent reduction in propane usage. Recycling efforts were also applauded as Vehicle Maintenance now recycles all used motor oil, as well as batteries, antifreeze, and snowmelt. To learn more about the resort's environmental initiatives, click here.

Also be sure to check out Green Lodging News for other organizations that have obtained ISO 14001 registration.