A hotel or resort consists of divisions operating together, In other to go green, we should make policies for the whole hotel and there are rules for each division with the following ideas:
Energy and Water saving
- To reduce water use, consider using rainwater harvesting, greywater system, and/or air conditioner or refrigerant condensate for needs such as irrigation, toilet flushing, or fire suppression systems.
- Switch to drought resistant native plants in garden areas
- To reduce operational costs, water and energy consider installing an ozone laundry system.
- Switch to low flow or dual flush toilets.
- Make sure all waste-water is being properly treated either through an onsite or municipal sewage system.
- Follow 5 ways to save water in the restaurant kitchens
- Start a linen (both towels and sheets) reuse program in all guest rooms.
- Switch to LED regular and tube lights in guest rooms, lobbies, and hallways.
- Install keycard master switches or occupancy sensors in guest rooms that control lights, electronics, blinds and temperature settings.
- Use an energy management (or building management system) to tie in air handling units, HVAC, and lighting to prevent conditioning space when it is not necessary.
- Use daylight exclusively in your lobby, bar, and restaurant for as much of the day as possible.
- Consider using geothermal technologies, waste heat recovery, cooling tower. Set the indoor cooling setpoint to 23° C or higher and heating setpoint to 23° C or lower and put limits on cooling and heating ranges throughout the building and guest rooms.
- Replace old washing machines with both water and energy conserving models.
- Install window film to lower heating and cooling loads and reduce glare in guest rooms.
- Plant shade trees or add overhangs on south and west facing walls to reduce energy use for heating and cooling.
- If the hotel has a pool or hot tub that requires heating, install a solar PV system and air-source heat pump.
- In hot and sunny climates, use insulation for roofs.
- Install an inverter equipment for exhaust fansin the kitchen.
- Install a renewable energy system onsite.
Fume, waste disposal and recycling
- Install fume purifier, sound absorption device on the kitchen exhaust system and fan.
- Install grease trap in the kitchen drain.
- Provide guest room recycling baskets for newspaper, paper, glass, aluminum, cardboard, metal and plastic.
- Provide recycling bins in public areas, in the kitchen, and in the back office to make recycling as easy as possible.
- Learn about local regulation and rules of hazardous waste collection ( printer cartridges, batteries, electronics, paint, coating, …) and keep a separate bin to store these for drop off.
Food & Beverage division:
If your hotel has F & B division that runs a restaurant, consider transitioning it into a green restaurant:
- Buy organic, locally-grown food to provide fresh produce for customers.
- Take steps to reduce food waste.
- Train kitchen employees to turn off ventilation hoods when the cooking appliances are off, or adjust inverter equipment for exhaust fans when reducing cooking capacity to save energy.
- Provide reusable items such as cloth napkins, glass cups, ceramic dishes, etc. with all food and beverage services.
- Follow 5 ways to save water in the restaurant kitchens
Garden
If your hotel has a garden, consider fllowing ideas:
- Purchase plants that are native to your area.
- Build a small lake with fishes, a stream.
- Learn how to attract hummingbirds, butterflies and birds
- Consider creating an organic food garden for the kitchen.
- Use public solar lights.
F.O and Rooms Divisions
- Provide local green guides, biking guides and hiking and information about the local environment and conservation efforts.
- Provide guests bicycles, walking maps, and information on public transportation.
- Provide glass cups and ceramic mugs (instead of plastic) for in-room beverages. Place cups and mugs upside down on paper doilies (instead of covering opening with a plastic wrapping).
- Offer free battery charging for green vehicles.
Sales & Marketing Department
- Get hotel certified through local or country government, or other environmental organizations. It can help promote your work.
- Promote the hotel’s green programs to guests, online and offline.
- Post informational posters in break rooms and guest areas as a format for communicating your green practices to your guests.
- Offer discounted rates to environmental organizations who would like stay or hold meetings at hotel.
Back office
- Purchasing division should create a sustainable and green purchasing policy throughout the hotel.
- Minimize the amount of paper used in the office
- Buy furniture that has recycled content, rapidly renewable materials, locally produced.
- Buy office and guest amenity products that contain recycled material.
- If offering dry cleaning services, use nontoxic, biodegradable dry cleaning solvent substitutes.
- Buy nontoxic, biodegradable cleaning, laundry and dishwashing products
- Buy organic, biodegradable, fair trade, locally-produced, cruelty-free guest amenity products with minimal or recycled, plastic-free packaging whenever possible.
Staff
- Create a ‘green team’ at Hotel with the goal of continual improvement and scheduled re-evaluation and reporting. Provide yearly staff training on green practices throughout the buildings
- Create an incentive program to encourage staff to participate in and improve upon environmentally-friendly practices.
