Owners and developers face a never-ending challenge of building or retrofitting properties to the greenest, most environmentally friendly standards when costs and financing often lead to “value engineering” to make things pencil. But an innovative, low-cost financing tool is gaining popularity for hotel properties. Called Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE), this multi-billion-dollar sector of finance is already in use on hundreds of hospitality/mixed-use properties from Washington, D.C. to Washington state. What is C-PACE? Available in 37 states and growing, C-PACE is a low-cost, long-term financing vehicle that makes investing in energy efficiency, water efficiency, renewable energy, and resiliency projects more...

It remains more important than ever for a hotel to offer a product that stands out amid the competition. Hotel maintenance, which can be considered the combination of all activities necessary to keep hotel facilities and assets in prime condition, is an excellent and hands-on way to set a hotel apart. Unfortunately, many hotel guests don’t appear happy in the post-COVID era, as found by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Travel Study 2021-2022. Hotels fared worse with their score of 71 in overall satisfaction than did online travel agencies, car rental companies, and airlines in the study, and had the...

The topic of climate change and sustainability has reached a fever pitch. The WHO predicts a $2 to $4 billion cost to public health, and it’s viewed as a national responsibility. From battery-powered cars to eliminating single-use plastic and embracing a more climate-friendly lifestyle, a worldwide commitment to sustainability is taking shape. As green initiatives continue to take the world by storm, we quickly realize that no industry is exempt from its duty to reexamine and—where necessary—reimagine practices which may pose harm to our ever-fragile environment. Hospitality, as you might have guessed, is certainly no exception. Right now, hospitality brands...

Nine in 10 consumers say they are looking for sustainable options when traveling, according to Expedia’s Spotlight on Sustainable Travel. And the 2022 Booking.com Sustainable Travel Report reveals that 63 percent of travelers want to make more effort in the next year to travel more sustainably, up 10 percent from 2021. These decisions are setting the pace for hoteliers’ sustainability efforts for 2022 and beyond. Green initiatives can result in tax breaks, government subsidies and more for properties willing to reduce their carbon footprint. One way to step up a hotel’s sustainability game is to work with their property-management system provider to identify new ways...

As a double immigrant who worked his way through high school and university, I’m a big believer in the lifelong benefits of working on the front line of a service business, early in life. One of my first jobs was front-line in the retail sector working at one of the biggest sports stores in Toronto. This job taught me how to work with diverse colleagues and adjust to the grueling demands of store managers trying to hit their numbers while handling dissatisfied customers wanting a better deal. After an initial test period, the store manager, a tough but fair...

Two recent initiatives announced by the White House will help spur additional energy efficiency and decarbonization upgrades in new and existing buildings. President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to expand domestic manufacturing of a number of critical clean energy technologies, including heat pumps and building insulation. The White House also recently debuted its National Initiative to Advance Building Codes, which will bring together federal agencies to help lower energy costs for families, while making homes and buildings more resilient against the effects of severe weather. Taken together, these policies are a great start toward strengthening the market for important clean energy technologies such as heat...

As the pace of commissioning commercial PV systems increases while in parallel current systems mature, the market is looking at PV systems as more than just a source of clean energy. Instead, PV systems are now being viewed as long-term investments that need to be closely managed to improve their ROI and bottom line. As with any investment, the two main ways to improve the ROI of a commercial PV system is to increase energy production (and therefore annual revenue) and decrease lifetime costs. Let’s take a deeper look at how this can be done in commercial PV installations. A...

Washington and Colorado recently took exciting steps to ensure new buildings in their states are built ready for the all-electric future. Washington State’s policy, that just passed the state’s building code council, requires all new commercial buildings to use high efficiency heating equipment that can run on 100 percent clean power. The Colorado bill that is on its way to the Governor’s desk requires that any municipality that chooses to adopt or update building codes also update to the latest international energy conservation standards. These are two states that have recently felt the devastating consequences of the climate crisis and are now taking...

Wellness, like most ambitions, has multiple layers to it. The term has been used in many ways to describe a desire to enhance one’s body, mind, and soul. But it is still only the exceptional hospitality programs that encompass the complete desire for wellness. There are simple ways that your portfolio can provide your guests with the right level of wellness to match your overall experience. Lina Batarags’ indictment of hospitality’s wellness programs as shallow acknowledgement of a lack of cleanliness (Insider, March 29, 2021) was harsher than necessary. She seemed to think that hotels were lagging the norm of...

The wellness industry is transforming into a booming trillion-dollar market with plenty of potential for new entrants in the sector, be it new products or services. EHL has compiled a list of the top 10 global spa trends for this year. The spa experience is no longer simply about pampering; spas are now required to offer an extensive menu of healing therapies for the mind, body, and soul. The COVID Impact on the Wellness Industry & Spa Trends Today, spas may answer most of the desires of an older generation expecting to be offered additional pampering services or a health and...