DALLAS—Approximately 185 people, including hoteliers, exhibitors, speakers and others, attended the first annual Lodging Green + Sustainability Conference & Expo. The event, organized by Lodging Magazine, was held at the LEED Gold certified Omni Dallas Hotel from October 1 to 3. The conference offered many educational and networking opportunities with highlights including a tour of the 1,001-room host hotel and a keynote presentation by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
James Cannon, Director of Engineering at the Omni Dallas, toured attendees through guestrooms and back of house areas, pointing out the ways in which the $500 million hotel is saving energy, water and reducing waste. Guestrooms feature a keycard system that activates some lighting, certain outlets, and the HVAC system. High-performance fixtures save water in guestrooms, a food waste decomposition system reduces waste volume in the banquet kitchen and a highly efficient tunnel washer minimizes laundry costs.
The hotel collects and reuses condensate from the HVAC system in the cooling tower and also collects rainwater in a 25,000-gallon cistern for reuse for irrigation. There is a reflective roof, recycling program, large windows that allow for significant natural day lighting, close access to public transportation and many other green features including the Texas Spice restaurant that offers food items grown within 200 miles of the hotel.
Larry Magor, Managing Director of the Omni Dallas, told those on the tour that the hotel should hit 70 percent occupancy by the end of this year and revenue is 20 percent above projections.
Kennedy Presentation Highlights
Throughout his presentation, Kennedy, professor of environmental law at Pace University School of Law, told stories of his work on behalf of the Hudson River and outlined the big picture obstacles to the de-carbonization of the global economy.
“Good environmental policy is identical to good economic policy,” Kennedy said. “Environmental injury is deficit spending.”
Kennedy said there is a lot of money behind preventing de-carbonization.
“There’s a battle today between the old energy economy and the new energy economy,” he said. “Our addiction to carbon is the principal drag on our economy.”
Kennedy explained how pollution is harming wildlife as well as humankind before outlining a path away from dirty energy toward more reliance on renewables.
Green Certification Addressed
In the panel discussion entitled, “What You Need to Know About Becoming Green Certified,” Faith Taylor, Senior Vice President Sustainability and Innovation, Wyndham Worldwide, said her company does not favor one certification program over another.
“We have to have a menu of options available,” she says. “Certification gives us a method to capture information within our portfolio.”
As part of Wyndham’s goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020, it is encouraging certification.
Jenny Rushmore, Director of Responsible Travel, TripAdvisor, updated attendees on the progress of GreenLeaders, TripAdvisor’s green certification program for hotels. Rushmore said 11,000 reviews of green hotels have been submitted through TripAdvisor and more than 150,000 people have used the green hotels search button. “We think this is going to get much bigger,” she says.
In the research TripAdvisor has done since its GreenLeaders program launched in April of this year, the company discovered that green hotels have about a 20 percent higher rating than non-green hotels.
In regard to the benefits of participating in a green certification program, Taylor said, “There are marketing benefits. There are operational efficiencies and bottom-line results. The property’s green team takes pride in what is going on.”
Rushmore added, “You have the ability to benchmark what you are doing. Where is your chain in relation to other chains? A lot of hotels are using our list of actionable items as a roadmap.”
“Your sustainability program has more of a backbone if it is tied to a third-party certification program,” said Michele Machado, a panelist and Sustainability Coordinator for Hostelling International USA.
Soap Donation Programs Represented
During the conference Sam Stephens, Executive Director of Global Soap, and Shawn Seipler, Executive Director of Clean the World, shared progress on each of their organizations’ soap collection and repurposing programs. Stephens said Global Soap this year will recycle 250,000 pounds of soap. Seipler said his organization, which now has 2,000 hotel partners, is preparing to expand into Europe and will open collection points soon in Mexico, Singapore and China. More than 1,000 Clean the World hygiene kits were assembled during the conference and will be distributed to those in need in the Dallas area.
During a panel discussion on corporate responsibility, Andrea Pinabell, Director of Sustainability, Global Citizenship for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, said her company’s Make a Green Choice program, which allows guests to opt out of housekeeping, has had 4 million participants since the program was launched in 2011. Pinabell said her company has an internal Sustainability Resource Center to assist hoteliers.
During that same session, Mark Hickey, Executive Vice President for Destination Hotels and Resorts, described his company’s Destination Earth program—a program without a Director of Sustainability that relies on green teams and green team champions at each of the company’s 42 properties.
In the session entitled, “Maintaining Sustainable Practices,” Mark Schneider, General Manager of the HI-Washington, D.C., said one of the ways he keeps employees excited about sustainability is by scheduling events at which they celebrate accomplishments. He added that to keep employees engaged you have to find out what they most like to do in the area of sustainability and then create opportunities for them to do that. Scott Larsen, General Manager of the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, also on the panel, said it is important to have a cross-section of staff involved. Chris Brophy, Vice President, Corporate Sustainability, MGM Resorts International, said his company holds green fairs for employees to encourage interest and participation.
Guest Comfort is Focus of Session
In a session on “Sustainable Guest Comfort,” Jeff Laster, Director of Business Development at PURE Solutions, N.A., described his company’s allergy-friendly PURE Room concept—a type of room that can now be found in more than 300 hotels globally. Amber Gapinski, Marketing Manager for Valley Forge Fabrics, the largest textile supplier in the world for hospitality, described the environmental upside to her company’s many different products. Also on the panel was Jeffrey Smith, General Manager of the Omni Dallas who discussed his hotel team’s approach to material selection (carpet, fabric, adhesives, etc.) and its impact on indoor air quality.
Wrapping up the conference was Scott Parisi, president of EcoGreenHotel. Parisi highlighted current and future technologies such as lighting and irrigation controls, variable speed motors and pumps, and other items that are or will be having a huge impact on energy and water conservation.
Prior to the close of the event, Bill Corsini, publisher of Lodging Magazine, said October 7 to 9, 2014 are the most likely dates for the next Lodging Green + Sustainability Conference & Expo. It will also be held at the Omni Dallas Hotel.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
