One of the big factors for success in any industry is customer care and satisfaction. In the hospitality industry it takes precedence over everything else. Customer experience in hospitality is what drives the popularity and hence, the revenue. So the more the customers are comfortable in the environment the better experience they will have. The biggest driver for their comfort is the feeling of being safe. However, recent incidents have marred the hospitality industry with health concerns over water safety. If the Global Risks 2015 Report by Global Economic Forum is to be believed, the spread of infectious diseases is...

Food waste continues to be a global crisis. Globally, an estimated 133 billion pounds of food ends up in landfills every year, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming while negatively impacting valuable natural resources such as land and water.   As the earth’s population continues to grow toward nine billion people by the year 2050, we continue to place an enormous burden on our natural resources and our environment while struggling to feed a growing population. In the United States alone, food waste makes up a staggering amount of landfilled waste.  Thirty-four million tons of food waste is sent...

In today’s marketplace, there is a plethora of product certifications, labels and declarations that manufacturers and builders use to communicate a product’s value to clients. However, owners, product specifiers and building occupants all have different interests and motivations. Just as each person’s background and experience varies, so do their beliefs when it comes to sustainability. The good news? Studies show we are all becoming more aware of and concerned with issues surrounding social and environmental health and sustainability. Making use of product labels, including declarations and certifications, is one way to make more informed choices; however, deciphering the claims...

Sometimes it’s great to feel like a zero. OK, maybe only when it concerns your hotel’s amenity waste program. Pursuing zero waste is a smart strategy for a hotel staff’s ability to significantly reduce the property’s carbon footprint, while reducing both waste and cost. Plus, guests are finding these programs make them happier and increase satisfaction during their property visit. Today’s consumer has a deep desire for an emotional connection with brands, and environmental transparency builds on the travel experience, increasing brand affinity. It all adds up to higher guest satisfaction scores, a more loyal customer base and less resistance...

Hospitality interiors are a shining example of the intersection of form and function. Hotel suites encourage rest; restaurants and storefronts entice indulgence; meeting and event rooms inspire interaction. But these high-traffic commercial spaces are more than “pretty spaces”—they must be as durable as they are eye-catching. Interior finishes, such as wallcoverings, serve both purposes, and continue to evolve to meet aesthetic, performance and sustainability needs. If color and design trends didn’t shift regularly, commercial wallcoverings could be installed for decades in such spaces. But color and design, as it turns out, aren’t the only shifting trends in wallcoverings. For good...

World Water Day will take place this week (March 22). It is a United Nations program which reminds us of our responsibilities to protect this vital—and limited—resource. Hotels (and their guests) are high water consumers and it is time for them to get more proactive on their water stewardship. Ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for everyone on the planet is one of the new SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) which governments and businesses are being asked to implement through combined action. With hotels often sited in exotic locations and water-scarce areas, it’s particularly important that hotel...

All our actions have a direct and indirect impact on climate change. Both consumers and businesses are actively trying to reduce their carbon footprint and one of the resulting benefits is reduced energy costs. Energy conservation is a win-win for everyone. Consumers are turning to technology to help monitor and save on utility savings. According to an article in Clean Technica, a new report by Navigant Research on the residential energy app market found that residential customers are more and more turning to energy-focused apps to make better use of their household energy usage. Apps provided by utilities, as well...

Yogurt containers have a label listing nutritional value, cars have a label listing miles per gallon, and refrigerators have a label listing their energy usage. Why not buildings? Fourteen cities have decided that they should by requiring commercial building owners to benchmark and disclose (B&D) their buildings’ energy usage. Benchmarking measures and compares energy efficiency between similar buildings using standardized metrics. Cities are banking that B&D will push the market toward increasingly efficient buildings by making a property’s utility data readily available to sellers, lessors, buyers, lenders and investors. The fourteen B&D programs throughout the United States share many of...

More than any other large properties, hotels and resorts can take advantage of the great benefits offered by LED lighting because these facilities have a fixed operating cost for heating/cooling and lighting in all their common areas. While the facility may not always be operating at full occupancy, all the lighting in their lobbies, hallways and other common areas are operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This makes these areas the best place to start either a retrofit or new installation project, as the Return on Investment (ROI) offers the quickest payback. An LED lamp or fixture...

When I established Impact Enterprises, Inc.’s environmental initiative in 2003, the word “environment” invoked a particular meaning; the physical world around us, nature. It did not include people. People, however, are central to our environment, and as such deserve protection and help as do our forests, rivers, lakes, and air. As Impact expanded its environmental initiative, it began to see the unfair challenges so many are confronted with on a daily basis. When possible, we as a community, as individuals, or as a company cannot in good faith turn a blind eye to these unfair challenges. In 2010, in collaboration...