I will be attending the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s third annual Responsible Stay Summit on Thursday, March 27. Be sure to watch for coverage on Green Lodging News. The event is being held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, D.C. Up to 150 are expected to attend. I attended the event last year as well. I am looking forward to this learning and networking opportunity. (Click here for preview article.)
AHLA has been very active in recent years in making it as easy as possible to run a sustainable hotel. At the core of its Responsible Stay initiative is a focus on energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, and responsible sourcing. The AHLA website is filled with examples of hotels and hotel companies acting in these four areas. Here are some examples:
Energy Efficiency: By converting from fluorescent to LED signage, approximately 4,000 Choice Hotels reduced the use of signage electricity at each hotel by an average of 50 percent.
Water Conservation: MGM Resorts have saved over 5.6 billion gallons of water going to waste through their conservation efforts, including water optimization systems, water efficient operations, and water recycling.
Waste Reduction: IHG eliminated the use of 200 million plastic bottles a year by switching to larger bottles and bulk dispensers in all 843,000 of its guestrooms.
Responsible Sourcing: The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Downtown SoMa rates the environmental and social impact of manufacturers and their products when sourcing products for the hotel.
Green Key Global Certification
Responsible Stay is just one way AHLA is supporting the sustainability efforts of its members and others. A little more than a year ago, AHLA and the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) announced their formal partnership to operate the Green Key Global sustainability certification program in the U.S. and Canada. This partnership has resulted in many new hotels and hotel companies committing to Green Key Global certification.
The Hotel Kitchen platform on the AHLA website is a one-stop resource for food waste prevention needs. Helpful tools include a 16-Week Champions Guide, a Fighting Food Waste Checklist, and Food Waste Audit Guide.
AHLA has partnered with IncentiFind, the go-to database of green building incentives. IncentiFind is a connection to easy-to-use data and streamlined action steps for incentive capture. With AHLA Membership, you can access IncentiFind products at a special rate and add value to your properties.
It is great to see our industry’s leading national association supporting efforts to lessen impact on the global environment. Be sure to also check with your local and/or state association for additional resources. The Hotel Association of New York City, for example, provides access to useful resources on its website.
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