IHG Hotels & Resorts has launched a best practice initiative to help decarbonise its hotels. The Low Carbon Pioneers programme will help test, learn and share new findings, in a bid to help owners and operators deliver a greener stay for guests, while also driving down carbon intensity and operating costs.
The programme has launched with three hotels selected as shining examples of positive ways to build and operate hotels with a smaller carbon footprint. All three use no fossil fuels in their on-site systems, majoring on the use of green electricity instead. They are the Holiday Inn Express at Madrid airport, Iberostar Waves Cristina in Palma, and Kimpton BEM in Budapest.
Starting the journey
“This is an important next step in IHG’s sustainability journey, but it remains one of many we must continue to take,” said IHG CEO Elie Maalouf. “Accelerating change at scale for both IHG and the wider industry also requires broader support from governments ranging from greater access to renewable energy and incentives for owners, to a reduction in the cost of technology that speeds up the industry’s transition to a greener, more resilient future.”
IHG says its Low Carbon Pioneer hotels will feature heat pumps and fully electric kitchens, and will have a recognised accreditation from Green Key, LEED, BREEAM or EDGE, all of which are approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. IHG has its own environmental platform, Green Engage, to allow hotels to monitor and measure their energy performance.
Hotels will be marked for their green credentials across the IHG booking platforms, allowing guests who are interested in sustainability to check a hotel prior to booking, if they wish. The issue is likely to become of interest to corporate accommodation bookers, as larger organisations pay attention to their supplier carbon emissions.
Holiday Inn Express at Madrid airport features an electric only kitchen, plus extensive solar panels on the roof. The highly insulated exterior walls also feature high quality glazing. The hotel’s operational team also uses constant energy usage monitoring, to look for ways to reduce consumption across the whole building. At the Iberostar property, a heat pump is used to warm the indoor pool.
Lowering embodied carbon
Meanwhile, developers of new build hotels can also step up to deliver lower carbon buildings. In Exeter, UK, developer Zeal Hotels is nearing completion of what will be IHG’s first lifecycle net zero carbon hotel. Voco Zeal Exeter Science Park has been designed from the outset to minimise embedded carbon in its construction, by careful selection of building materials. In addition, the structure will feature low energy design touches that minimise energy loss through the building fabric. Hotel operator Valor Hospitality has been appointed and will be tasked with training their team to make the most of the building’s smart control systems to drive down the hotel’s carbon footprint in use. Guests, too, will be supported and encouraged to do their bit for the environment with the provision of electric vehicle charging points.
Zeal believes many of the elements at the Exeter hotel will be able to be replicated at other new build hotels around the UK. By partnering with Zeal, IHG has the potential to add more exemplar hotels, with minimized carbon footprinting over their life cycles.
