NATIONAL REPORT—Data provided in McGraw Hill Construction’s Green Retail and Hospitality: Capitalizing on the Growth in Green Building Investments report suggest significant recent growth in green building in the hotel sector. According to the report, hotel owners highly involved in green building rose from 28 percent in 2011 to 48 percent in 2013, and that growth is expected to rise to 64 percent in 2015. This growth is not confined to new construction activity. Nearly three quarters of hotel owners also expect to have green operations and maintenance activities by 2015.
The reason for the increased interest? Green building asset value increased by 11 percent, on average, for hotel owners. Building ROI increased by 14 percent, on average, and there was a decrease of annual operating costs of 1 percent (often a much larger percentage reduction in energy costs). A large percentage of owners (83 percent) also reported increased worker health and well-being.
Building owners (55 percent) reported a significant percentage of their portfolio will be green in five years. The aspect of green building reported as important by the highest percentage of hotel owners (93 percent) is improving energy efficiency. Seventy-three percent of hotel owners require their contractors to have green waste handling practices.
Becoming the Norm
Report findings suggest that green building may soon be the norm in hospitality sector. According to the report’s authors, the pattern of more green building adoption suggests there are strong pressures driving the hotel market to adopt green building. New buildings may need to be green to attract investors. The promotion of green hotels to consumers on sites such as TripAdvisor, Expedia and Travelocity may also be driving consumer expectations.
The report found the top three obstacles for hotel owners to green retrofit/operations and maintenance implementation are: high capital investment, lack of planning and execution resources, and lack of leadership interest.
Research was conducted through a telephone-based survey with owners between April 15 and May 17. The owner survey had responses from 30 hotel owners. Respondents must have conducted at least $5 million in projects in 2010, 2011, or 2012. The respondents work for large, international, multi-brand hotel companies.
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