Sustainability in hospitality: Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
Exploring how changing attitudes towards the environment will change the industry for the better
Sustainability is a key driver for the hospitality industry, with a growing number of suppliers and investors looking for ways to be part of something bigger and more sustainable. According to Saxbury, a company that specialises in finding suitable real estate for serviced apartment, co-living and hotel operators, there is a pressing need for governments, policymakers and corporations to be accountable and part of the solution, rather than the problem. The pressure for change is coming from Generation Z, whose members care about everything and everyone, and this is beginning to flow upwards to other generations.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is being replaced by Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG), which is being used to communicate what businesses are doing to mitigate the damage they are inflicting on the environment. Companies like BlackRock and BNP Paribas are leading the way in sustainable investments, but the real focus should be on the operations of the hospitality industry, as this accounts for around 85% of the carbon footprint of one such building over its lifespan.
Independent operators in the co-living, co-working, and aparthotel space are starting to lead the way in the adoption of sustainable business practices. Companies like room2 and Base Nyon are pioneering revolutionary practices that will have a profound impact on how operators do business in the future. According to Robert Godwin, the founder of room2, there is no greater threat to the world than global warming, and neither businesses nor governments are doing enough to limit temperature rises. He is putting sustainability at the core of what room2 stands for, leading by example in creating a carbon-neutral space.
The new room2 Chiswick project is a beacon for what is achievable and should be pursued in the hospitality sector. The project has installed a fully thermal heating system that significantly reduces the site’s energy dependence for heating and cooling from the grid. The remaining electric needs will come from a renewable source, meaning the building’s energy will be zero carbon and zero emissions i.e. producing no carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide from the gas boilers, which are some of the most notorious contributors to greenhouse gasses.
Sustainability is a sliding scale, and by using broad brush strokes, it is easy to underplay the work that has been done. However, there is a whole tick list of options available to operators along the sustainability scale. Base Nyon is another company that is fighting the good fight, with its founder, James Fry, launching a new venture, Beyond Aparthotels, which will challenge all preconceptions of what sustainability really is. Fry believes that the hospitality industry is very slow in embracing change, and there is only a select one to two per cent of the industry trying to create a change for good.
Fry thinks there are two very separate sustainability elements at play: sustainable operations and sustainable health. The operations side is easy, he says; switch to a renewable energy provider, remove all single-use plastics, and only clean towels once a week. These are quick and easy wins that all hotels should implement as common practice. Base Nyon implemented these changes, and although there may have been some hesitation from guests initially, the overall experience was incredibly positive.
Fry is excited about the sustainable health benefit, which is a big part of the Base offering. Hotels use a lot of heavy chemicals in their cleaning products, which can not only have a negative impact on people’s health, but also be dangerous to the people handling the products. Base Nyon uses a product called Aquama, which uses tap water and sea salt and passes an electric current through it to create an antibacterial product that kills 99.9% of bacteria.
Indeed, according to Fry, sustainability is a multifaceted issue that needs to be addressed from multiple angles.
