TORONTO—The Carbon Accounting Company has officially launched Green Hotels Global, a standardized, comprehensive online source of information on the environmental performance of hotels worldwide. Standardized metrics and data on participating hotel properties are available free of charge to meeting/event planners and corporate travel professionals.
Each hotel property receives an online portal to enter monthly data from utility and fuel bills, water usage, waste disposal, air-conditioning fugitive gases, employee travel and commute, and supplier purchases. Using international environmental protocols, the online tool then automatically calculates that hotel’s current environmental metrics on a per-room-night and square foot basis, and provides that data free of charge to travel and meeting industry professionals.
The metrics are normalized for geographical differences so those hotels located in regions with higher energy demands are not penalized.
“The submitted data are monitored for accuracy and completeness,” said Ian Lipton, chief operating officer of The Carbon Accounting Company. “In addition, we engage a third party for on-the-ground audits.”
Strong Interest from Corporate Travel Managers
“The interest from corporate travel managers has been tremendous,” said Justin Raymond, president and CEO of The Carbon Accounting Company. “Since the hotel RFP season is now upon us, many corporate travel and procurement managers are incorporating Green Hotels Global as a requirement for their RFPs. Green Hotels Global simplifies the RFP’s environmental due diligence and provides metrics and consolidated reporting that until now have been unavailable.”
The system incorporates functionality that allows corporations to accurately quantify their environmental footprint from their accommodations and events at each hotel property.
“If companies are truly going to begin understanding the environmental impact of their travel, and work to incorporate environmental sustainability goals into their hotel programs specifically, there needs to be a standardized metric that allows for the measurement and comparison of property-specific carbon footprints and other environmental impacts,” said Nicholas Vournakis, senior vice president and general manager, Carlson Wagonlit Travel Canada.
