SAN FRANCISCO—Approximately 20 San Francisco hotels are now participating in the San Francisco Green Business Program, a program of the City and County of San Francisco. At least nine hotels have been recognized as San Francisco Green Businesses. In order be recognized as a San Francisco Green Business, a hotel must meet environmental standards in five areas: waste reduction, water conservation, pollution prevention, wastewater, and energy conservation. Businesses must also be in compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations. To get to the point of recognition, which is valid for three years, one must complete an online application and provide supporting documentation. An on-site audit is also conducted to verify the information provided about a hotel.
According to Anna Frankel, Green Business Coordinator, Toxics Reduction Division, San Francisco Department of the Environment, the Green Business Program was launched in 2006. Unlike some hotel certification programs that have multiple certification levels (e.g., bronze, silver, gold), San Francisco’s program has just one recognition level. There is no fee to participate; it is a free service provided by the City. Those businesses earning recognition benefit from access to city rebate programs and have the right to use the San Francisco Green Business Program logo in marketing and publicity efforts. There is an annual award reception at which a certificate is presented, and recognized businesses are listed in multiple business directories.
“Our program standards are very stringent and it takes a lot of work to be a green business,” Frankel says. “But in the end there are many benefits.”
Many Items Covered in Application
The San Francisco Green Business Program standards for hotels, available here, show that hotels must meet at least three measures in solid waste diversion, nine in source reduction, nine in energy conservation, three in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, six in lighting, two in energy management, one in water conservation, three in water management, nine in water conservation, four in pollution prevention, four in janitorial cleaning, one in pest management, seven in storm water pollution prevention, seven in general/staff education, and 16 in environmentally preferable purchasing.
Environmental performance data is being collected from each participating business in the San Francisco Green Business Program. “Hotels” is just one of the business categories.
“We are interested in doing a lot of things with the data,” Frankel says. “We are in the process of creating an online report card for each business. We also want to use the data to see how much effect we are having as a program.”
Those interested in participating in the program for hotels have access to workshops where application completion assistance is provided. An online toolkit that addresses waste diversion, source reduction and environmentally preferable purchasing is available. The City and County of San Francisco also produce a green business newsletter.
The San Francisco Green Business Program is one of many green business programs in the San Francisco area. Nine Bay Area counties have similar programs. Click here for more details.
“The California Green Business Network has a baseline of standards that we all follow,” Frankel says.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
