Sustainability Issues Course
Blog Presentation
Climate & Air Quality –
Fairmont Hotel’s Carbon Footprint Analysis
The Fairmont Hotels has worked extremely hard over the past two decades to become one of the most sustainable hotel chains in the world. They launched a program called the Green Partnership Program in 1990, which was a “a comprehensive commitment to minimizing our hotels’ impact on the planet, which was accompanied by a guidebook on sustainable best practices in the lodging industry.”1 They have built upon that philosophy and become well known worldwide for their sustainability efforts. They focus on waste management, energy and water conservation, outreach to local groups, and offer education to the public through tours and providing through example. The Fairmont published this press release with reference to what their goals are when starting their sustainability movement:
“Our Promise
As part of our commitment to addressing Climate Change within the context of our environmental programming, Fairmont partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (“WWF”) to develop a Climate Change Strategy.
As part of our commitment to addressing Climate Change within the context of our environmental programming, Fairmont partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (“WWF”) to develop a Climate Change Strategy.
As part of the WWF’s Climate Savers Program, Fairmont has measured it’s total CO2 footprint according to the UN protocol and has set a corporate wide target to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 20 % below our 2006 levels by 2013.
Reducing our emissions by 20% is the equivalent of removing 19,777 cars from the road annually, avoiding the burning of 174,775 barrels of oil, or avoiding the consumption of 1,004 tanker trucks of gasoline.”
Green Partnership Program
The Fairmont’s sustainability effort not only includes limiting waste but includes:
- purchasing reusable materials
- growing their own organic food and cooking products
- converting waste into energy
- using low wattage fixtures
- increasing recycling rates by 30-40%
- reusing discarded food as compost as natural fertilizer for on site, roof top gardens
- installing energy efficient appliances in the kitchens and laundry facilities
- using underground irrigation systems that make less an in impact on the water supply
- -they even have a property in Newport Beach that is creating sustainable fashions for its employees made of recycled materials.
In 2004, Fairmont Hotels had achieved recycling an average of 1,262 tons of paper, cardboard, cans and glass, dramatically reducing the 65% of the hotel’s waste that was produced by hotel guests. In recent years, the hotel chain has installed water-efficient fixtures that have reduced water usage by 31%. The Fairmont San Jose in California has “installed a cogeneration, or combined, heat and power plant, recycling waste heat generated by conventional power. Cogeneration now produces 60% of the hotel’s electricity and 100% of its hot water.”3 The Fairmont is Orchid in Hawaii, has created a project called, Room to Reef. This project utilizes sustainable principals by cleaning rooms with non-toxic, biodegradable products and incorporates organic landscaping as well.
The Fairmont Hotel has made huge changes in the last 20+ years to improve the environment and make less of a carbon footprint on our earth, and now they are working towards spreading that word by educating their employees, customers, and the local community around them. The Fairmont Resort and Hotels have joined a program called WWF’s Climate Savers Program. This program, developed by the WWF, the World Wildlife Fund, that “is a collaboration among some of the world’s leading corporations and WWF to show leadership in voluntarily reducing emissions and heading off the environmental impacts associated with climate change.”2 They have set high goals and are making the necessary changes to meet those goals.
In 2009, Fairmont stated, with the WWF’s Climate Savers Program, “agreed to a brand wide carbon emissions reduction plan and pledged to reduce operational CO2 emissions from its existing portfolio of hotels by 20% below 2006 levels by 2013”.
- Within this program, the Fairmont pledged to finalize a Green Procurement Policy and Supplier Code of Conduct by 2009, which they achieved.
- They set out to educate and encourage suppliers, which is 25% of the top supply chain, to provide products that meet the Green Procurement Policy by 2010, which they achieved.
- They set to update current construction and design standards to incorporate LEED standards by 2011, which they achieved as well and now includes LEED standards in all Fairmont hotels across the world; and lastly, they set out to relocate the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Corporate offices to Toronto and achieve LEED NC Gold certification by 2011, which they achieved as well.
Over the past 20 years, the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts chain has become a sustainability pioneer for not only other hospitality chains, but other large companies within our community. It’s important to start by taking a good look at your operations, and ask yourself several questions:
What products do you use in your daily operations?
How do you use them and where are they provided from?
How do you operate your hotel or business on a daily basis?
What is your largest expense, and are those materials,
products, and operations being used, saving energy or wasting it?
It’s possible to take your current methods of living and operating, and make subtle changes to those methods and not only become more sustainable, but safe money and increase profit margins in the long run. Even we, as individuals, are also able to take note, and make chose changes to our own daily lives, and start making a difference for a greener world.
Resources for this Blog Entry
3. Building Strategies and Sustainability Magazine - http://www.bssmagazine.ca/FairmontUnmasksItsOwnTeamofGreenheroes.aspx
The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver - http://www.fairmontmeetings.com/waterfront/location_04.html
1. The Fairmont Hotel Website – Green Partnership Program - http://www.fairmont.com/EN_FA/AboutFairmont/environment/GreenPartnershipProgram/Index.htm
The Fairmont Hotel Website – Greening our Operations –
The Fairmont Hotel Environmental Policy - http://www.fairmont.com/NR/rdonlyres/E5B6682A-668F-4108-A573-2531A530CE62/0/Environmental_Policy.pdf
2. Fairmont Climate Savers Fact Sheet - http://www.fairmont.com/NR/rdonlyres/1C17A8A0-52E0-4FBC-ADD3-9BBF86C10683/0/Fairmont_FactSheet.pdf
The Fairmont Hotels Environmental Stewardship - http://www.fairmont.com/NR/rdonlyres/EAB55F14-A593-4CA8-BB42-CCF963AE4A8E/0/fhr_greenpartnership.pdf
World Wildlife Fund - http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/index.html
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