Our first Many Shades of Green blog shared no/low cost ideas to help
you get started on the journey to greening your lodging property. If you now
have a Green Team in place and made an investment in a little staff training; you
can see that developing a green policy wasn't that difficult. In fact, you’re undoubtedly curious about
additional ways to be kind to both your bottom line and Mother Nature!
May we suggest; to start on Part 2 of your Shades of Green journey
first you need to take a walk.
That’s right. With your Green Team take a walk around your property.
Let them individually point out possible areas for improvements. Listen to your staff. Their insight will be valuable
in creating employee engagement and in implementing improvements. Be careful
not to blame or point out a person who might be at fault. Remember that as
Jeffrey Liker in his book, The Toyota Way,
states, “It is the people who do the work who can improve the work.”
HG has a Walk Thru Assessment
Guide Book that helps staff define, find and prioritize areas for
improvements. The guide is an easy to follow series of check lists that
quantify and evaluate sustainable water, energy, waste, and purchasing practices
and systems throughout a property. If nothing else, take notes as you see areas
for improvements.
It is easier to make improvements if you have a guide to follow. We recommend
using either Trip Advisors Green Leaders Survey or HG’s Green Concierge (GC)
Certification Standards? Either of these will give you a point at which to
begin and a matrix for improvements. TA’s Survey and the GC Certification Standards
provide a comprehensive guide for looking at water, energy, waste, purchasing,
employee and customer engagement, and policy improvements.
#2 the Employee Assessment
Assign members of your Green Team to assess and evaluate improvements
in areas of your property where they spend most of their time working.
Administration employees are best suited to improve practices within their
area. Other team members and outside expertise can be brought on once the
original employee assessment has been completed. By engaging the employees
first, you will find that they are much more willing to accept modifications and
changes, both large and small to products and systems. They initiate the change
by conducting the walk thru assessment.
#3 Evaluating the Assessment
Before investing in costly upgrades and new products, first address all
maintenance issues that you haven’t already done. More importantly make sure
that employees are assigned to areas of maintenance that needed improvement.
Add items to housekeeping’s check list like setting back thermostats and
checking for leaking faucets. How often
and who is assigned to cleaning all sconces and hall lights? Who checks for
water leaks in the property system and how often? There are numerous areas that can save money
and improve the overall appearance of a property. Guests notice leaky faucets and stained and
dirty fixtures. Work through each maintenance item and create check lists or
assign people to each task.
#4 Track Energy Use
Do you know how much energy you use? Free on-line tracking tools such
as the ENERGY
STAR Portfolio Manager make it simple to manage your energy and water
use. All you need to get started are
your most recent energy bills and basic information about your
building(s). Within a few months of
tracking you’ll see patterns of energy waste that can be corrected quickly and
easily. Reducing energy consumption will
not only result in significantly reduced operating costs but will also lead to
safer conditions for your staff and guests
#5 Track and Record your Waste
and Purchasing Inventories
Even if it is not scientifically perfect, you need to at least estimate
how much garbage and recycling is being collected. HG has a Resource Tracking
Tool available for use that allows you to track everything from small
containers to rolls offs. Read your bills and see if tonnage is provided. If
not, how big is your dumpster or are they toters? Start with at least a decent
estimate of what you are doing right now. How else can you make and manage
improvements? “You can’t manage what you can’t measure….” Peter Drucker
#6 Evaluate your Cleaning Program
Start small by examining the cleaning products used by housekeeping. The most successful green cleaning programs
combine both green cleaning products and high performance cleaning
equipment. Rely on your third party certifiers, Green Seal and Eco-Logo for green
validation. These certifiers have an in depth understanding of the federal
regulations for chemical compounds. Let their chemists do the work for you.
Remember to evaluate your cleaning equipment. Training will need to take place
when adopting new products and procedures.
With input from your staff, data
on current resource use, basic maintenance issues assigned, you are now ready
to make decisions on new products, and systems.
#7- Approach all upgrades comprehensively
·
Utilize the services of good energy consultants
who will pair state incentive programs to their services. A good resource for
state energy incentives for energy efficiency upgrades and the installation of renewable
energy systems is http://www.dsireusa.org/
Before making major upgrades or re-lamping the property, seek the advice
of a lighting consultant who is familiar with new products and potential state and federal
incentives. Speak to your energy
consultant and ask for a few referrals. Today it is more than changing a bulb. Many
of these services are free and or required for incentive programs. Don’t just
purchase from a catalog. Before making any purchase, make sure that the lamps
and fixtures are compatible. Use the
services of a reputable licensed service provider.
·
Work with cleaning product providers who will
test product with you and provide staff training. Buying off the shelf from
your local food co-op or a big box store is throwing money out the door.
·
Consider working with a consultant to evaluate
and modify energy, waste and water contracts. This is money well spent. Often
their contracts are based on the savings that they are able to provide through
contract re-negotiation.
#8 – Let your guests know that
you are “Going Green”
By making outward guest sensitive improvements first, guests will readily
see them. Your return guests can be involved in the process. If done with
authenticity and comprehensively, Going Green can:
·
Solidify your credibility as a green lodging
property
·
Increase tourism revenue
·
Engage your employees
·
Decrease operating costs
·
Increase financial returns.
Economic and environmental sustainability can easily be achieved by
recognizing and applying the Many Shades of Green!
