HOTEL CHAINS PIONEER SUSTAINABILITY

Commencing with a slow growth at the start of the millennium, the Indian tourism industry
has performed quite well in the last couple of years. The Hotel Industry comprises a major
part of the Tourism industry. Historically viewed as an industry providing a luxury service
valuable to the economy only as a foreign exchange earner, the industry today contributes
directly to employment (directly employing around 0.15 million people), and indirectly
facilitates tourism and commerce.
Hotels are resource intensive and in order to reduce their impact, it is imperative to go
"green!" Many greening initiatives are not expensive to implement and provide substantial
benefits to the business. Across Asia, many independent hotels have also embraced green
practices as one of their core strategies. In India, an independent business hotel, pioneered the
initiative in the country by being established as Asias five star ECOTE certified hotel in
1977.
Unlike developed countries such eco-friendly initiatives are still largely hoteller driven as
Indian customers are yet to consider as concepts as significant value drivers. However,
growing entry of global brands and entry of foreign travelers is likely to propel such
international concepts in the midterm.

CHARATERISTICS OF HOTELS FOLLWING ECO-FRIENDLY PRACTICES

Landscape is done with minimum concrete structures.

Less water consumption.
Less electricity consumption.
Less AC load.
Improvement in ground water level through rain water harvesting.
The above factors help in reducing the cost and consequently improve the bottom line.
Greater emphasis on usage of natural eco-friendly materials.

ADVANTAGES
Long-term

Attract a large number of tourists to opt for green properties

Larger employment opportunities to local people
More deserted areas will become green
Use of alternate energy sources will lead to sustainable and responsible tourism
GREEN CONCEPT

Hotels across the globe are going green. They are adopting environmental friendly practices
to be carbon positive, water positive, among other things.

Eco hotel is a term used to describe a hotel or accommodation that has made important
environmental improvements to its structure in order to minimize its impact on
the environment. The basic definition of a green hotel is an environmentally-responsible
lodging that follows the practices of green living. These hotels have to be certified green by
an independent third-party or by the state they are located in. Traditionally, these hotels were
mostly presented as Eco Lodges because of their location, often in jungles, and their design
inspired by the use of traditional building methods applied by skilled local craftsmen in areas.
Today, the term has developed to include properties in less natural locations that have
invested in improving their green credentials.
An eco hotel must usually meet the following criteria

Dependence on the natural environment

Ecological sustainability

Proven contribution to conservation

Provision of environmental training programs

Incorporation of cultural considerations

Provision of an economic return to the local community

Environment-friendly hotel operation

Is the future trend.
Is increasing governmental regulation
Comprises of greater proportion of green demanding guests
Ensures sustainable profit: Good business in the long term.
More and more hotels are billing themselves as "eco- friendly," in response to a growing
consumer desire to make more ethical purchasing decisions.
CORNELL STUDY

Consumers, particularly those in the higher income, higher education demographic

(according to the Cornell study), continue to be concerned and cognizant about the
environmental impact of their own behavior as well as that of the businesses they patronize.
This represents an opportunity for hotels that are engaging in green practices to use these
aspects of their operations to draw in valuable customers. It also acts a spur to those
businesses that do not execute- or have suspended due to cost- sustainability initiatives. For
these hotels and restaurants, the first step is to get back into the green game. Its the right
thing to do, and the Cornell study shows that consumers are willing to reward

responsible behavior. For those hotels and restaurants that have already gone green, the
question becomes how to effectively market that facet of their operations, or how to relaunch
a marketing campaign centered on their environmental record.
Positioning a hotel or restaurant as environmentally conscious or green requires a marketer to
identify and publicize individual aspects of the businesss operation. Simply announcing that
an enterprise is green is not enough; consumers are receptive to details about your supply
chain, specific practices and those green solutions that most affect them as guests, and which
ones can mitigate whatever effect the consumers themselves are having on the environment
as patrons. In hotels, where green initiatives can sometimes rankle guests (water conservation
efforts that entail reducing linen changes come to mind), taking a cue from restaurants and
focusing on the supply chain and local sourcing might be an effective way to communicate
environmental priorities.
The Cornell study recommends joining recognized green groups or adhering to guidelines set
by industry groups with environmentally friendly goals and best practices. This is an
excellent way to align your hotel or restaurant with other like-minded enterprises and to
leverage the marketing reach of trade groups without making a sizable investment in an
internal campaign. Speaking of internal campaigns, its important to remember that front-line
employees can be the best ambassadors for going green. If your hotel can create buy-in for
environmental initiatives among staff, that can go a long way toward convincing your
customers that your establishment is serious and committed to creating environmentally
sustainable operating procedures.

Enhancing environmental performance is a method of differentiating a hotel, and forward

thinking hoteliers can successfully use this differentiation to deliver a competitive advantage
and increased revenues. It enables them to generate additional positive publicity and engage
with existing and new target customers. Having an effective environmental management
system in place is becoming crucial for any business seeking to win business from the
corporate business and public sector markets many of whom will screen suppliers for proof
of environmental policies and performance.

It is possible for every hotel to measure their ROI from green initiatives, both in terms of the
sales/marketing benefits and cost savings.
Whether the cost savings focus on water, waste, electricity (or almost anything else used or
produced in the hotel), environmental management will measure these, before, during and
after steps are taken to reduce the associated environmental impact. The most important
measurement will then be visible directly on the bottom line how much is financially being
saved. The Carbon Trust point out that with a few no-cost measures hotels could save 10% of
business energy costs in the short term; and with a few low-cost options this could improve
still further to around 20%.

ECOTEL
MORE and more hotels and resorts across India are now adopting eco-friendly concept of
hotel construction and management and are going in for Ecotel certification. It is estimated
that more number of hotels are likely to develop this concept in the next five years. In recent
times, more hotels are going for Ecotel or Green Certifications. The Ecotel or Green
certification is a concept of environmental responsibility for the hospitality industry, as ISO,
CMM are for manufacturing, software or other industry, laying down norms for conducting
business with a particular method. There are agencies which audit and certify hotels for these
certifications, like the Green is certified by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) etc.
However, it is not merely a marketing tag and by applying and adopting these standards, one
has to adhere to environment-friendly practices. The process begins even before the laying of
the foundation stone of the property, whereby one tries to slant the property against the sun,
so that it does not heat up the interiors and utilize less energy for cooling.
FEW HOTELS THAT ADOPT THE GREEN CONCEPT IN INDIA

TAJ-EARTH CHECK
Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, today a global hospitality chain with over 75 properties in
over 60 locations, has been a steward of social responsibility since its founding in Mumbai,
India, in 1903. As part of India's premier business house, the Tata Group, Taj Hotels and its
holding company, the Indian Hotel Company Co Ltd, are committed to serving its many local
communities by furthering education and skills training, particularly among rural
populations; preserving Indian art, culture and wildlife, and promoting sustainable,
environmentally sound operations.
In an endeavour to reinstate its vision and efforts to boost sustainable tourism and integrate
environment management in all business areas, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces came up
with EARTH (Environment Awareness & Renewal at Taj Hotels), a project which reiterates
the conscious effort of one of Asia's largest and finest group of hotels to commit to energy
conservation and environmental management. EARTH has received certification
from EarthCheck, the only worldwide environmental certification program for travel and
tourism.
Taj Hotels has joined the internationally-recognized EarthCheck benchmarking and
certification system as an extension of its existing environmental policies. Taj Hotels has long
recognized that as a leader it has an important contribution to make and a responsibility to
demonstrate to others how they can be part of the fight against climate change. Having
implemented the Environmental Awareness and Renewal (EARTH) programme, a project
which began as a conscious effort to commit to energy conservation and other sustainability
strategies, Taj Hotels was one of the first groups to join the tourism industry in its efforts.
With environmental management gaining utmost importance across sectors and industries,

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces will consciously focus on spearheading several efforts
primarily in the engineering and energy conservation areas.
Currently driven by several initiatives under the Eco Taj Policy, Taj Hotels map the best
practices under EARTH and drive them across all areas of operations and new product
development in the group. This also marks the Group's efforts in continuing to build and
sustain awareness of discerning customers who are socially conscious.
EarthCheck will provide the EARTH project with independent and comprehensive proof of
their environmental commitment through the monitoring and improvement reports
EarthCheck will produce for Taj Hotels each year as part of the certification procedure. Taj
Hotels commitment to sustainability has its pragmatic purposes as well. With a vision to
create sound environment management in its operations as well as product development
strategies, Taj Hotels has always believed in improving the quality of life of the communities
and has been committed to environment conservation. Caring for and protecting the
environment is an essential part of corporate ethos.

ITC HOTELS
ITC has emerged as a global green leader in the hotel industry. When ITC luxury hotels group
got the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum rating recently, it
became the greenest luxury hotel chain in the world. The status was earned on the back of the
groups commitment to green buildings, which are energy efficient, utilise renewable energy,
conserve and recycle water, and manage waste. Saying that the LEED platinum certification
of ITC's luxury hotels is a further endorsement of their repositioned credo of responsible
luxury and a noteworthy recognition of their two-decade old sustainable development
endeavours, Nakul Anand, executive director, ITC Ltd, adds, The LEED platinum rating
reflects our conscious effort towards demonstrating environmental stewardship. It is a source
of competitive advantage not only because it subserves a larger national priority but today
guests also prefer to endorse environmentally friendly hotels. Even the headquarter of the
ITC hotel division located in Gurgaon near Delhi is in the ITC Green Centre, which is the
first amongst large buildings in the world to earn LEED Platinum rating. ITC Sonar is the
world's first hotel to get carbon credits. ITC Maratha, ITC Windsor, ITC Gardenia and
WelcomHotel Sheraton Rajputana get their power supply from off-site wind turbine
generators. Delhi's ITC Maurya has deployed paraboloid solar concentrator on its roof-top to
cater to its thermal requirements. Besides, all ITC premium luxury hotels claim to consume
18-29% less energy than what has been recommended by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA) for large size luxury hotels.

WelcomEnviron is ITC Hotels' vision for a green world. It's a multi-faceted programme
started in order to propagate environmental causes in the cities where ITC Hotels' hotels are
located. With the guiding principle of 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle', each hotel has its own
programme, encompassing local participation, creating awareness among employees and
internal conservation. All ITC's luxury hotels have been accorded the highest rating: LEED
Platinum (leadership in energy and environmental design) making it the `greenest luxury
hotel chain in the world'. This distinction is an endorsement of ITC Hotels' credo of
`Responsible Luxury' -an ethos that integrates world class green best practices with
contemporary design elements to deliver the best of luxury in the greenest possible manner.
ITC's luxury hotels have been accorded the highest rating of greenest luxury hotels chain in
the world for their environment-friendly efforts.
All eight luxury hotels of ITC two each in Mumbai and Bangalore, and one each in New
Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Agra have been rated LEED Platinum (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) for their
performance to the highest standards of energy, water and waste efficiency.
This uniquely positions ITC as the first hotel chain in the world to have all its premium
luxury hotels accorded this highest rating. It exemplifies the credo of responsible luxury'
adopted by ITC's Hotels Division delivering globally benchmarked quality, services and
luxury in the greenest possible manner.

KAMAT HOTELS INDIA LTD

The basic frame structure is in puzzolana cement, which contained recycled fly ash. They
have also used maximum recycled material in all our interiors. Even the hangers in the rooms
are made using pure saw dust and not wood or plastic.

LEELA PALACE
The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts may be one of the youngest hotel groups in the
country, but its approach towards the environment has been quite seasoned. There is an
endeavour to slash the environmental impact of products and services. Eco-friendly practices
ensure higher energy efficiency, and optimal use of raw material, which are obtained from
sustainable or renewable sources wherever possible. The Leela Palace, Bangalore, heats its
swimming pool water with the help of solar panels installed on the roof of the porch. Even its
newest property The Leela Palace, New Delhi, has joined other group properties in the
environment journey. State of the art sewage treatment plants treat wastewater through a
multi-stage process before reusing or recycling it.

OTHER HOTELS

Some of the younger hospitality companies are even building their businesses on the
environment plank. For example, Concept Hospitality's new brand The Fern is aiming to
become a trademark for environmentally correct hotels in the country. Since it's a new chain,
the Fern hotels are built keeping in mind optimization of consumption of natural resources.
Besides, energy conservation is taken care of right from the initial stages. More importantly,
the staff is trained in environmental practices for six months. Green teams have been set up in
each hotel. Innovation is at a premium. For example, an eco-button has been installed in each
room. Pressing the button pushes up the temperature of the room by 2C, thereby cutting
energy usage. The energy saved is calculated in rupee terms and mentioned on a certificate
given to guests at the time of check out. Embracing sustainability is becoming increasingly
important in today's world with its high eco-awareness levels. Going green even gives us a
competitive advantage in a fiercely competitive world.
Concept Hospitality has also joined hands with HVS Eco-Services to promote eco-friendly
hotels or Ecotel concept, which is a globally recognised hallmark of environmentally
sensitive hotels, in the country. Ecotel certified hotels have to meet stringent criteria on
energy conservation, water conservation, solid waste management, employee environmental
education, and environmental commitment, denoted by five globes.
Radisson Blu Hotel, Delhi, too, has got silver certification from EarthCheck, which is the
official green certifying agency for parent company Carlson Hotels. Following the parent
company, the hotel also subscribes to the UN Global Compact, which is a UN initiative to
prompt businesses pursue socially and environmentally responsible practices. The hotel has
installed energy saving cold cathodes, CFLS, LEDs and tube lights. Similarly, the rooms have
double glazed windows to cut down energy consumption on air-conditioning, says Javed Ali,
vice-president & general manager, Radisson Blu Hotel Delhi. He adds, There is a financial
advantage in lower energy bills resulting from using energy efficient technology. Customers
prefer and encourage hotels that adopt eco-friendly practices. Conforming to recognized
green business practices also helps the hotel to incorporate quality business practices.
Similarly, The Imperial in Delhi is undertaking conservation of electricity by dimming lights
in common areas when not in use, providing natural products like herbal soaps, harvesting
rain water and using drip irrigation. Going green is an ongoing endeavour at the hotel.
Besides, the hotel is focused on creating eco-awareness amongst all its stakeholders by
holding art competitions, undertaking cleanliness drives and hosting green luncheons. The
future plans include putting up CFC-free equipment in cold storage and refrigeration plants,
upgrading pumps to cut down energy consumption, installing solar lighting fixtures and solar
water heating systems. Going green makes business sense because it enables in optimizing
the use of resources.
With the awareness about the environment only rising by the day, the hotel industry will have
to constantly keep on reinventing itself to optimize the use of resources for that competitive
edge.
CONCLUSION

BENEFITS:
Today the word Green associated with anything tangible or intangible implies sustainability
of that entity. Green Building is a science which follows the concept of constructing buildings
using processes which are environmentally and economically responsible throughout a
building's life cycle right from the construction to the maintenance and later on its demolition
as well. Green buildings results in efficient usage of energy, water and resources. It creates an
environment that keeps in mind the inhabitants health are designed in such a way which
helps in reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation.
There are various economic as well as environmental advantages of a green building:

Green building process helps in increasing the life of the building

Demolition and construction wastes are minimized

Incorporate water and energy efficient technologies

Indoor air quality is better

Include renewable energy as a source of energy in the building besides the

conventional energy

Ensure sustainable profit: Good business in the long term. $ and cents!

Other Benefits include,

Gaining competitive advantage by being a leader in the sector;

Customer loyalty;

Employee retention;

Awards and recognition;

Regulatory compliance;

Risk management;

Increased brand value.

CHALLENGES

The challenges of going green is that,

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Ignorance and indifference.

Lack of information and awareness on environmental issue.
Lack of motivation.
Not much incentive from government to assist in going green.
Most environmental-friendly products are imported, thus high cost and more
effort
needed in sourcing.
Many new green technology not yet introduced in Malaysia, thus one need to
be
innovative and creative.
Effort not well appreciated by certain guests.
Achieve international recognition.
Hotel is not designed right from the beginning.
Architect & engineers not knowledgeable in green/eco planning and design.

Hotels and restaurants should be prepared to deal with these challenges with solid green
practices. Now that it seems clear that consumers are willing to pay a premium to enjoy the
fruits of such practices, there is little excuse not to engage in them; in fact, it is advantageous
to promote them and publicize them. We may not be in the going green heyday of the early
00s, but for those hotels and restaurants that position themselves like they still are, the
benefits can be great.