WASHINGTON, D.C.—Out of a group of more than 200 hoteliers who accepted the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) Green Guidelines Challenge, the Hilton Americas-Houston was named the winner of this national initiative. Runners-up include the Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, in Avon, Colo.; the Doubletree Hotel Burlington in South Burlington, Vt.; the Embassy Suites Chevy Chase Pavilion in Washington, D.C.; and the Westin Seattle. Notable in its selection, the Hilton Americas-Houston is the first Green Seal hotel in the state of Texas. It has implemented a robust recycling program and a comprehensive environmental awareness program that includes employees and guests.
The announcement was made at the AH&LA board of directors meeting in New York City on Sunday, November 9. The Hilton Americas-Houston also received a certificate of achievement and a green prize package from HD Supply and Audubon International.
The Challenge launched on Earth Day (April 22) urged hoteliers across the country to track and improve their green business operations by taking the AH&LA Green Guidelines Challenge via a tracking tool to aid their measurement of occupancy statistics, monetary and energy expenditures, and return on investment (ROI) from specific green practices.
Green Guidelines Challenge Benefits
• An average 200-room hotel that implemented the guidelines will have annual utility cost savings of $84,000.
• In total, the annual savings for all hotels that have implemented the guidelines is $5,600,000.
• Reduced annual CO2 emissions by 39,200 metric tons which is equivalent to taking 7,000 cars off the road for one year and offsetting annual electricity consumption of more than 5,110 homes.
Other Important Results
• Ninety percent of the hotels taking the challenge have replaced incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent lamps wherever possible.
• Eighty-seven percent of the hotels taking the challenge have implemented a towel and/or linen reuse program.
• A total of 84.5 percent of the hotels taking the challenge are managing their hotel’s environmental performance by monitoring the electric, gas, water, and waste usage information on a monthly and annual basis.
• Just over 83 percent of the hotels taking the challenge have implemented a recycling program.
• Seventy-five percent of the hotels taking the challenge have formed an Environmental Committee.
• A total of 75.5 percent of the hotels taking the challenge have installed 2.5-gallon-per-minute showerheads or less in all guestroom baths and any employee shower areas.
“The industry’s positive response to the AH&LA Green Guidelines, launched a year ago, has been just tremendous,” said AH&LA chairman Joe Martin, owner of Stillwater Hospitality in Stillwater, Okla. “With so many worthy participants, we had a lot of factors to consider, but these properties stood out for their innovation, impressive results, and maverick approach.”
Hoteliers who completed the challenge received a certificate of completion that identifies their hotels as eco-friendly establishments based on benchmarking their operation procedures against AH&LA’s 11 minimum green guidelines. Selected success stories from the Green Guidelines Challenge are featured on AH&LA’s website as new Green Best Practices.
