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THE CASE FOR GREEN HOTELS
Before you begin your journey to transform your hotel into an environmental operation, or develop an environmental management system it is critical to understand some of the motivators to embracing the environment in your business.
The following discussion will present the case for an environmental shift in the hospitality industry. From this background information and the explanation why, proceed to the next sections to learn how to become environmental.
Please register and join other environmental professionals working in the hospitality industry. By registering and adding your hotel's information, you contribute to the growing collection of environmental success stories. Many of these are available here as case studies on our database.
 Buildings and Their Impacts |
Buildings are the structure of the modern world. They represent society's ingenuity and ability to manipulate our environment into forms that serve our purpose. In many ways, building form and functionality is a reflection of our greater human culture. William McDonough describes a modern advanced building as:
Today even the most advanced building or factory in the world is still a kind of steamship, polluting, contaminating, and depleting the surrounding environment, and relying on scarce amounts of natural light and fresh air. People are essentially working in the dark, and they are often breathing unhealthful air. Imagine, instead, a building as a kind of tree. It would purify air, accrue solar income, produce more energy than it consumes, create shade and habitat, enrich soil, and change with the seasons. [1]
If we are to transform our society toward a sustainable future, it requires demolishing the current unsustainable façade of economic growth and ultimately addressing the inefficiency and waste that supports it. Buildings are a major component of this transformation.
In 1995, a succinct summary delineating the impacts of buildings on the environment in no more than a paragraph was published by Roodman and Lenssen [2]. This simple yet provocative piece has become a keystone for green building documentation. It is cited in no fewer than 177 online documents .
The WorldWatch Institute authors note simply that buildings consume two fifths of world energy production . This does not include the energy that is required to harvest, manufacture, and transport all the materials used to construct and maintain buildings. One sixth of all water pumped out of natural flows are consumed in buildings [2]. One quarter of all virgin wood harvested ends up in buildings [2]. And this does not account for all the interior wood furniture. Combined, buildings form one of the major catalysts for environmental degradation on the planet.
FIGURE 1: Percentage of world energy consumption by buildings.
Source: ROODMAN, D. AND N. LENSSEN. "A Building Evolution: How Ecology and Health Concerns Are Transforming Construction". World Watch Paper #124, March 1995.
FIGURE 2: Percentage of world water consumption by buildings.
Source: ROODMAN, D. AND N. LENSSEN. "A Building Evolution: How Ecology and Health Concerns Are Transforming Construction". World Watch Paper #124, March 1995.
FIGURE 3: Percentage of virgin wood consumption by buildings.
Source: ROODMAN, D. AND N. LENSSEN. "A Building Evolution: How Ecology and Health Concerns Are Transforming Construction". World Watch Paper #124, March 1995.
By the turn of the millennium there were 81 million buildings in operation in the United States with another 38 million to be commissioned by 2010 [3] . This represents a 47 percent increase in only a decade. Buildings represent 50 percent of the nation's wealth or an 800 billion $US a year industry employing over 10 million people. In Canada, the construction industry is expected to grow annually by more than 2 percent (see Figure 4). This sector comprises 12.5% of national GDP or 140 billion $CAN [4]. The importance of buildings to the present and future economy is clear.
FIGURE 4: Canadian construction industry growth projections, 2002.
Note growth in the Canadian construction industry is divided
50% residential and 50% commercial.
Source: http://www.cca-acc.com/factsheet/factsheet.html
Considering the flooding urban sprawl [5], strain on non-renewable energy supplies , decline in water resources [6], declining availability of large dimensional lumber [7], and the alarming incidence of sick building syndrome [8], changes to the largest consumer of natural resources are necessarily imminent. Combined buildings are the accumulation of what is wrong with society today. They also represent the answer to radically reducing our impact on the planet.
| Hospitality Industry Growth - Sustainability? |
The tourism sector of the world economy is growing. World international arrivals are expected to grow at a rate of 4.1% a year through the first two decades of the new millennium [9]. The Asian region's tourism industry is growing faster than all other regions [10]. Southeast Asia's annual growth of 8% (1986-1999) is only surpassed by China (11.5% 1986-1999) [11] (see Figure 5). Air passengers to the region are forecasted to reach 1.1 billion by 2010, or equivalent to the total world air passengers in 1995 [10]. The region's share of world scheduled passenger volume will increase from 16.5% in 1985 to 42.5% by 201012 [10].
FIGURE 5: Regional forecasted air traffic annual growth rates 2000-2019.
Note the large growth rates in the least developed regions of Asia and South America that are all well above the world average.
| REGION | GROWTH RATE % |
| China | 7.4 |
| SW Asia | 7.0 |
| South America | 7.0 |
| NE Asia | 6.8 |
| SE Asia | 5.4 |
| World Average | 4.8 |
Source: Excerpt from Boeing, 1999.
"The highest rates of growth in traffic between 1995 and 2010 will be achieved by Vietnam and China," forecasts the Air Transport Action Group (1997). "Vietnam's total traffic will increase from 3.6 million in 1995 to 28.4 million in 2010, a staggering 689% increase" [10]. In the least developed countries like Indonesia, forecasts are similar with annual growth rates of 8.2% through 2010. In Vietnam where tourist arrivals are growing at close to 30% a year (see Figure 6), the country's infrastructure including the hospitality industry must expand to meet demand.
FIGURE 6: Vietnam tourism growth rates 1991-2000.
| YEAR | # TOURIST ARRIVALS | GROWTH RATE % |
| 1991 | 200,000 | 12.4 |
| 1992 | 227,679 | 13.8 |
| 1993 | 458,000 | 101.2 |
| 1994 | 638,000 | 39.3 |
| 1995 | 815,000 | 27.7 |
| 1996 | 907,614 | 11.4 |
| 1997 | 1,150,000 | 26.7 |
| 1998 | 1,400,000 | 21.7 |
| 2000 | 1,800,000 | 28.6 |
Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Trade Data Bank, June 22, 2000
Growth in tourist arrivals translates into construction of accommodation. In the US 185 billion US$ is spent on travel annually, of which 37 billion is spent on accommodation [12]. Large hotels are the most common type of buildings being constructed in Vietnam [13]. Building materials used in the Vietnamese market are sourced mainly from the Southeast Asian region of which 6.5% of building materials are manufactured domestically. During construction and demolition, waste is produced and disposed of off site. In all, construction waste makes up approximately 30% of total waste stream in North America and similar percentages are inevitable in the Southeast Asian region if changes are not implemented. With each new hotel building, comes all the environmental impacts of conventional construction along with the increases stresses of inefficient, polluting operational practices. And the impacts are not restricted to national borders.
Indonesia is suffering from a rapid decline of rainforests due to foreign demand for wood products. In the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia it's no different, with original forest cover disappearing, and water pollution damaging coastal mangrove swamps and other sensitive ecosystems. Building construction and operation (including hotels) is a major contributor to these environmental problems. However, solutions exist to minimize many of the problems faced by the Southeast Asian region today.
Tourism consumers are oblivious to these impacts as well even though, twenty to sixty percent of them are travelling to engage in nature-related activities [9] (see Figure 7).
Two major obstacles typically frustrate purchasers from communicating their preference for environmentally responsible hotel services: (1) a lack of information about environmental options and (2) a lack of time to research the environmental performance of hotels. While institutional purchasers are inclined to use green hotel services, they need improved access to environmental information in order to include such considerations in their purchasing decisions. [12]
This market has begun to influence hotel operation but is only beginning to influence the overall net environmental impact of the hospitality industry.
FIGURE 7: Nature tourism as a proportion of World tourism.
This table illustrates the proportion of international tourists that include environmentally related activities in their travel agendas.
| NATURE & WILDLIFE TOURISTS | TOTAL INTERNATIONAL TOURISM ARRIVALS | |
| # OF TOURISTS | ||
| 1988 | 177 Million | 323 Million |
| 1994 | 207 Million | 528.4 Million |
| DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT | ||
| 1988 | 126 $US Billion | 388 $US Billion |
| 1994 | 166 $US Billion | 438 $US Billion |
Source: Ecotourism Society, Ecotourism Statistical Fact Sheet, 2000.
It is clear that the tourism development in the Southeast Asian economy is creating the potential for extensive environmental damage to the region. The number of hotels required to facilitate this growth is staggering. If design and construction of these accommodations ignore environmental principles and technologies, the region risks significant damage to the main source of development income. Environmental design of hotels can reduce many of the environmental impacts of rapid tourism development.
| Environmental Practices in Hotels |
Although the majority of hotels built today utilize conventional design and operation methods common to North America, many of the hotel operators are beginning to respond to environmental trends in the industry. This is evident upon any visit to a North American hotel room where one will inevitably find a notice asking the client to reduce laundry pollutants by identifying the towels used each day. However, the environmental operating procedures often do not extend beyond this gesture. Moreover, only a handful of hotel buildings have been specifically designed with environmental efficiency in mind.
See Case Studies
Kandalama Hotel - Sri Lanka -
- 59K
| References |
1. McDonough, W. The Next Industrial Revolution (55min). Earthome Productions, USA, 2001.
http://thenextindustrialrevolution.org
2. Lenssen N. and D.M. Roodman. Worldwatch Paper 124. A Building Revolution:
How Ecology and Health Concerns are Transforming Construction. WorldWatch
Institute, 1995.
http://secure.worldwatch.org/cgi-bin/wwinst/BWP124?eaDFqvkQ;;104
3. Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development. Green Building Intro
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/buildings/gbintro.shtml (Apr. 3, 2002)
4. Canadian Construction Association. Industry Statistics.
http://www.cca-acc.com/factsheet/factsheet.html (Aug. 20, 2002)
5. Brain Food Newsletter.
http://www.dieoff.org (Oct. 10, 2002)
6. Villiers, M. DE. Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource. Houghton Mifflin Company, Canada, 2001.
7. Natural Resources Defence Council.
http://www.nrdc.org (Oct. 10, 2002)
8. US Environmental Protection Agency. Indoor Air Facts No. 4 (revised): Sick Building Syndrome. 1991.
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/sbs.html (Oct. 10, 2002)
9. The Ecotourism Society. Ecotourism Statistical Fact Sheet, 2000.
10. Air Traffic Action Group. Asia/Pacific Traffic Growth and Restraints, 1997.
http://www.atag.org (Oct. 20, 2000)
11. Boeing. Current Market Outlook, 1999.
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/cmo/3at11.html (Nov. 20, 2000)
12. Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. Green Hotel Initiative.
http://www.ceres.org/our_work/ghi.htm (Oct. 10, 2002)
13. US Department of Commerce. National Trade Data Bank, June 22, 2000.
http://www.destinationvietnam.com/business/biz08e.htm#B.STATISTICALDATA (Nov. 20, 2000)
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