WASHINGTON, D.C.—Since issuing GS-33, the Environmental Standard for Lodging Properties, in 1999, Green Seal, Inc. has certified many lodging properties in a number of states. The standard has been revised in minor ways twice, and remains a leadership standard that challenges the lodging industry to operate more sustainably.
After reviewing its Green Lodging Program and the progress it has made over the years, Green Seal has decided to propose a provisional revision of GS-33. This revision will primarily enable properties to be certified at three different levels to reflect the range of performance and the difficulty in achieving a high level of sustainability in the industry. The main change being proposed is to incorporate into GS-33 an entry level of challenging but more readily achievable requirements, comprising a subset of the criteria that is selected from the existing standard. The second level comprises all the criteria currently in GS-33, while a third, elite level has been added to recognize and reward truly outstanding environmental performance.
The proposed revision is designated as provisional because it is intended primarily to restructure GS-33 into the three tiers, yet does not attempt to review and revise the standard comprehensively. A more complete revision will be attempted after the restructured program has a chance to operate. Green Seal is, however, proposing some minor, mostly clarifying changes in the current criteria in this proposal where appropriate.
Properties currently certified under GS-33 will automatically be re-designated as certified at the second level. Certification to the different levels will all use the basic Green Seal Certification Mark, along with appropriate text and/or additional graphics designating each level. Green Seal is still evaluating the appropriate designations for the tiers and may decide to use a different classification system than the levels proposed here, such as silver/gold/platinum. Green Seal invites suggestions on the most comprehensible and useful ways of designating the three tiers of certification.
To participate in this project you will need to register to the online forum. Once registered on the forum for this project, one can post comments. All registered users will be able to view all the comments and the name of the commenter. Go to www.green-seal.org/standards/. The Provisional Revised Standard is open for comment until August 11, 2008. No additional comments will be accepted after this date.
