Show me the green - ecofriendliness vs cost-effectiveness

6 April 2017



For newbuild hotels, finding an equilibrium between ecofriendliness and cost-effectiveness is a perennial challenge. Hotel Management International and Iris Ceramica invited European hotel development and design sector leaders for lunch at the Savoy to share their solutions.


Sustainability is always about balance – not only between human needs and the natural world, but also between profit and environmental responsibility. Historically, profit has won out, but the hoteliers of Europe must now find a way to balance ecodesign with the needs of their guests, employees and partners as well as their own bottom lines. Green-conscious designers and operators, meanwhile, may find themselves at a loss as to how to convince developers and owners to invest in sustainable hotels.

Leading hoteliers, architects and designers met at the Savoy, London, in February for a hosted lunch by Hotel Management International and event partner Iris Ceramica, an Italian-based ‘ecoactive’ ceramics producer. With the theme of ‘Active Hotel Brands’, event producer Monica Palmas moderated the discussion ‘Developing Profitable Green Hotels in Major European Cities’. Jonathan Sheard, senior vice-president of development in the UK and Ireland for AccorHotels, shared the group’s approach to sustainability, while PJ Gilbert, project director for design, construction and engineering in the EAME region for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, called on the gathering to work together towards the common goal of green design. Delegates from IHG, Dorchester Collection, Foster + Partners and HBA were also in attendance.

Discussion was dominated by the challenge of incorporating sustainability in the face of the other pressures a hotel project must deal with. Designers spoke of the difficulties of convincing developers that green design was worth it, while hoteliers were keen to demonstrate the wins they had achieved thus far. In a post-lunch roundtable discussion, delegates from all sides spoke of what they still hoped to achieve.

“Sustainable development goes hand in hand with operations,” said Sheard as he opened proceedings, highlighting the fact that Accor develops and operates hotels. “AccorHotels, as a global presence, has the same impact as a city does in the world today – so we have to act responsibly.”

He outlined Accor’s two major environmental goals: reducing food waste and achieving 100% carbon neutrality. Since the goals were set in 2012, Sheard said, Accor’s water consumption had decreased by almost 10%, energy by 5% and carbon emissions by more than 5%. He used the midscale Novotel brand to illustrate the new design ethos, which included rooftop vegetable gardens, grey-water systems and planting trees to offset carbon emissions.

Elsewhere, he said of the new 315-room Novotel Canary Wharf: “The challenge about this site is that Canary Wharf is a postage stamp. We had to fit all of the normal services into a very, very tight footprint. We weren’t able to do it, and we challenged ourselves to look at it differently and ask, what can we let go of?”

The solution included moving bars and restaurants to the top floors, reducing restaurant capacity to 75 covers, replacing the breakfast buffet with an on-trend coffee shop, and switching to an online check-in system. “In our latest openings, we have achieved at least a Very Good REEM certification. In Canary Wharf, we hope to be able to achieve Outstanding,” said Sheard.

He concluded: “Profitability is not a bad word to use when you talk about sustainable development because we are a business; we have to make a profit – so every action must tick those boxes.”

Work in other areas

Andrew Linwood, head of hospitality design at Areen Hospitality, asked: “We do a lot of business in what you might call developing markets, where it is difficult to convince owners [to build sustainably]. How successful are you in convincing would-be developers of that argument?”

“There has to be a trade-off,” Sheard responded. “That’s the message that we have to send: if we’re going to give off carbon emissions, what are we going to do to reduce them in an equal manner?”

Kicking off his own presentation, Gilbert said: “I don’t believe in green design. There is good design and there is bad design.”

An architect by trade, Gilbert emphasised that everyone involved in the creation of a green hotel needed to work cohesively from the beginning, including talking to owners, sourcing materials locally and ensuring designers understood operational requirements and guest comfort.

He appealed to his audience of “key influencers” to use their power to make an impact. “If we all do our own little bits, hopefully those projects in Africa or Russia where the owner might be saying, ‘I’m not spending money to be green’ [will result in] the building becoming well designed and green by definition.

“We should be designing green from the ground up or, if it’s an existing building, from the existing fabric in,” he continued.

To illustrate, Gilbert pointed to Starwood’s Element brand, which is designed to fill the green gap in the extended-stay market, with 22 now open in the US and two in Europe.

“It’s been incredibly hard to get them launched within Europe,” he admitted. “But I want you to understand that green hotels don’t need to look terrible. You don’t need to be aware of staying in a green building. It should be a well-thought-through holistic design narrative that addresses all the sustainable, and environmental and social aspects.”

Points of interest

Gilbert addressed concerns regarding developing markets with an explanation of Starwood’s approach to its expanding portfolio. In 2008, Starwood committed to reducing its energy consumption by 30% and achieving a 20% reduction in water use by 2020. At the same time, Starwood brands are experiencing robust growth in the Middle East and Africa.

“What’s incredible is that we’re actually hitting the targets. The only way that we can do that is by ensuring that the buildings are intelligent and that we’re able to measure the buildings properly,” Gilbert explained. Accor has installed meters in all its properties and employs specialised teams to help hotels that are behind.

As questions were invited, Linwood asked: “Why is it difficult to launch [Element] in Europe?”

“They asked for LEED certification initially,” Gilbert replied. “And now LEED has changed so that we’re able to achieve Silver status within existing buildings; whereas, in the past, it was something that we couldn’t quite get our heads round in order to deliver.”

“So do your standards then reflect these initiatives?” asked Alistair Twiname of IHG.

“We only change our standards every four years on average. We rely heavily on using experienced designers, architects and MEP engineers. And we want to work in a responsible way, so of course we’re going to take on the owner. If you actually have a conversation, most owners are very easy to convince – but I think it’s a team effort,” replied Gilbert.

Third to address the delegates was Professor Claudia Letizia Bianchi, head of the Process and Plants Research Group for Industrial Chemistry at the University of Milan, and a consultant for event partner Iris Ceramica. She introduced the science behind the company’s Active Clean Air and Antibacterial Ceramic tile technology.

“We know very well the causes of air pollution outside, but, statistically, we live more or less 18 hours of our day indoors,” she explained, illustrating the potential VOCs, bacteria, allergens, dust and toxic mould to be found in a typical hotel room. “We need something to eliminate this kind of compound when we are inside.”

Active tiles are coated with non-toxic titanium dioxide, which prevents dirt particles from adhering to the tiles’ surface and provides anti-pollution, self-cleaning, anti-odour and anti-bacterial properties.

“The titanium dioxide – does it need UV light?” asked the inquisitive Linwood.

“Yes – but in a couple of months, they are patenting a new kind of titanium dioxide and, with it, the new Active tiles will also be active under LED light,” said Bianchi.

What would you do if…?

The gathering broke for a three-course lunch in the Pinafore Room, where, as Palmas explained, “Winston Churchill used to meet with the Other Club. They are still meeting here eight times a year.”

As dessert was served, Palmas opened the roundtable discussion with the question: “If you had £500 million to build a green hotel in a major European city, where would you choose, which segment and why?”

Several delegates chose London, a safe market close to potential partners.

“I think I’d invest my money in limited-service upscale hotels,” said Matt Wood, principal at HBA. “[It’s] fine to have a great room, to want fantastic F&B, but I don’t think the average business guest needs more than that in a city like London.”

Dublin was also a popular choice, with delegates expecting the tech boom to continue.

“I like the idea of a hotel that can actually offer small businesses the opportunity to work with other countries, and mixing together those models has certain things that are very interesting, so Dublin is where I would be,” said Tim Shepherd, London director of AEDAS.

“I’d go with Geneva, and I would go long-stay, select service,” said Gilbert, to knowing laughter from the former audience of his Element presentation. “Geneva is the most expensive city to live in the world at the moment, and I think that it is a market for long stay, and you have the opportunity to take advantage of the technical know-how from all of central Europe.”

Suzette Vela Burkett, UK managing director at Aukett Swanke, had an ambitious twofold plan. “I would say it’s much easier to do a hotel that is more environmentally well considered when you’ve got a lot more space. So for that reason, I would make it harder, and I would pick a luxury hotel in a very populated city – London, Paris or Rome,” she explained.

“I also thought of doing a test bed one for R&D – maybe somewhere in Scandinavia. Test a whole lot of ideas out in that market where people are receptive, and then pick the very best of them and put them into a very difficult site, and see how much you could improve a hotel in the high end.”

Sheard had two strategies in mind – the first being to buy Generator Hostels and bring the European hostel model to the US. The second would represent a new way of thinking about scale in large capital cities.

“We’ve got to get rid of our hotelier’s view where to be an economy hotel, you’ve got to have a minimum of 17–20m²; to be a midscale, you have to have a minimum of 24m²; to be a luxury, it has to be over 30m²,” he said. “We have to set
a trade-off in terms of value of location and the value the client is willing to pay. People can make some great space out of small space.

“I’d break this element of saying you’re in economy; you’re in luxury. I think if you’re in a capital city like London, there is value from being in the right location, and it isn’t all about size.”

“Maybe if we all put our £500 millions together, we can buy Airbnb,” Gilbert quipped.

 

PJ Gilbert (far right) and Alistair Twiname (left) discuss ideas over a drink.
The three-course lunch at the Savoy allowed guests to enjoy a good meal while networking.
Jonathan Sheard of AccorHotels delivered an insightful address on the group’s sustainability initiatives.
Professor Claudia Letizia Bianchi, a consultant for Iris Ceramica, presents its Active technology.


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