How to calculate your hotel’s carbon footprint

L to R, Valerie Sheppard of ETHOS, Michelle Bonner of Climate Smart and Barry Johnson of Delta Vancouver Hotel & Suites are all dedicated to reducing carbon emissions from hotels.

VANCOUVER—Just how does a hotel go about calculating its carbon footprint?  

According to Michelle Bonner of Climate Smart, you need one person at the hotel end with an Excel spreadsheet, and at the other end, you need a knowledgeable consultant, like Climate Smart.  If you’re the hotel person, you attend a preliminary workshop which teaches you how to use a rigorous greenhouse gas management tool. Then you roll up your sleeves and come back one month later with some data.

At a second workshop, you make a short list of your best opportunities.  You have phone and e-mail access to the experts.  They review your inventory thoroughly.

“To date, more than 150 companies and organizations are learning more about their carbon footprint, and saving an average of 650 tonnes carbon equivalent a year,” Bonner says.

At a third workshop, the groups reaffirm their commitment, receive a Climate Smart member certificate, seal and letter.  They have access to the experts and to quarterly webinars.

There are many reasons for measuring greenhouse gas emissions, says Bonner. The most obvious are the cost savings, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and curbing carbon emissions.

But measuring emissions can also give your brand a lift and a competitive advantage.  Clients and customers — particularly Europeans — say that going green is a strong differentiator.

It also helps with employee recruitment and retention. One coffee house that embraced sustainability, now keeps staff for an average of two years, rather than having to train new staff every few months, Bonner adds.

Regulatory changes are coming—large users are already regulated and capped.  With the shift in what’s happening, small and medium enterprises can be early adopters.

Science shows a need to stabilize the global climate, and Climate Smart believes that what gets measured gets managed.

People are asking questions.  In a recent survey, ninety-six per cent agreed that customers prefer businesses to be environmentally friendly.  Resorts at Whistler got pointed questions on sustainability from Olympic visitors.

Climate Smart has a greenhouse gas corporate accounting and reporting standard, which is compatible with ISO 14064, the international greenhouse gas protocol.  It measures the “Kyoto six” main greenhouse gases—CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons.

Emission sources measured include vehicles, heating and cooling, lights, electricity, paper consumption, waste, transportation, filtration and distribution of water.  This includes direct measurements such as purchased electricity, and indirect measurements of things like paper consumption or taking a flight.

“Our tool has been voted No. 1 in terms of suitability for small and medium enterprises,” says Bonner. “It’s quite easy to use.”

Hotels establish which facilities and locations are to be included, decide what to include in the measurement, and take inventory.  

Then they can make reductions which can be anything from a hybrid heating system that saves 400,000 pounds of carbon per year, to issuing transit passes for employees.

Jamie’s Whaling Station in Tofino, BC cut the fuel used by its inflatable boats by replacing old propellers.  Sunrise Soya Foods installed a boiler economizer that cost $24,000 with a 1.5 year payback.  Tinhorn Creek winery designed a glass bottle that was 40 per cent lighter than normal glass bottles.  They saved 65,000 lbs. in raw materials, and could fit more bottles on a truck.  This meant there were fewer truck trips with empty bottles going from the Okanagan to Seattle or San Francisco, amounting to $28,000 per year in savings.

ETHOS BC is an independent, not-for-profit society established in February 2009 and was formed out of a desire by the tourism industry within BC to become more sustainable.

ETHOS is partnering with Climate Smart in BC to provide the workshops at a cost of $1,500 per company.  

ETHOS has a vision of a tourism industry in BC that is healthy, vibrant and thriving, and is there to facilitate collaborative efforts. ETHOS is focusing its efforts on the 18,000 small and medium sized tourism businesses, supporting and guiding the work of individual operators through a collaborative and educational approach. Information on upcoming workshops is available on their website: www.ethosbc.com/educational-programs.

Barry Johnson of Delta Vancouver Hotel & Suites says that three Delta Hotels—his property, Delta Sun Peaks and Delta Vancouver Airport have committed to the Climate Smart program.

The hotels’ efforts are part of a national green strategy for Delta.  Forty of the chain’s 42 hotels are Hotel Association of Canada Four Green Key certified.  President Hank Stackhouse drives a hybrid car, and all Delta GMs will be driving hybrid cars by the end of 2010.  

“It’s not mandated,” says Johnson. “It’s something the GMs have chosen to do themselves.”