By Jeff Fagan
Five years ago, Marriott International received NYSAE's Social Responsibility Award for its conservation efforts worldwide. Marriott's 2014 sustainability report indicates that its conservation measures are well on track to meet its 2020 goals.
Marriott's 2014 Sustainability Report indicated a nearly 13 percent decrease in water intensity, 11 percent decrease in energy intensity, and a 12 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions intensity. One of Marriott's key environmental goals is to achieve a 20 percent reduction in energy and water intensity by 2020.
The Green Hotels Global tool used by Marriott worldwide helps drive the company's sustainability efforts and transparency and was made a brand standard in 2013. The tool tracks the environmental footprint of each hotel in the company's portfolio, including water and energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, recycling and more than 100 property-level environmental practices.
"We're pleased that our sustainability performance is continuing to improve globally. In the U.S. nearly 50 percent of our portfolio recently earned TripAdvisor GreenLeader™ status thanks to our work and the use of tools like Green Hotels Global," said Denise Naguib, Vice President of Sustainability and Supplier Diversity. "Our supply chain focus, which ties to our sustainability and commitment to diversity and inclusion, has also progressed with our achievement of 75 percent spend with sustainable suppliers through MindClick Global's Sustainability Index for furniture, fixtures and equipment and $468 million in spend with diverse suppliers."
In addition to covering environmental performance, Marriott's Sustainability Report covers: workforce development; stakeholder engagement and policy advocacy; global diversity and inclusion; health, safety and wellbeing; responsible sourcing; business model and sustainability strategy; business ethics and human rights; community engagement and natural capital. Among its conservation achievements:
- Marriott partnered with Cintas to purchase associate uniforms made from recycled polyester from post-consumer plastic bottles. Nine brands in the Marriott portfolio have incorporated Regeneration Suiting as their uniform of choice. As a result of choosing these eco-uniforms in 2013, Marriott helped divert 2.3 million bottles from landfills.
- In partnership with Siemens, Marriott is implementing an energy optimization program in Europe. During the first phase of the project, which includes 20 hotels, Marriott and Siemens will audit energy usage and optimize management systems to monitor energy consumption. In a trial at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Marriott Hotel, the property's energy costs and CO2 emissions fell by 15 percent during the first six months of participation. In addition, during that same period, electricity and gas consumption was reduced by 6 and 17 percent, respectively, compared to the second half of 2012.
- In the U .K., a pilot project at four Marriott properties saved a combined 995 kWh of electricity through KiWi Power's DR program. Marriott plans to roll out the program to 30 additional hotels in 2014 and is the first international hotel group to adopt KiWi Power's DR program in the U.K.
- Together with energy supplier Constellation Energy, Marriott has developed a demand response (DR) program across the U.S., enrolling 167 properties across five regions . During a one-year period, Marriott reduced its overall energy usage by 83.5 MWh through participation in the program.
- LED lighting retrofit projects were a 2013 priority for its managed hotels in Asia Pacific and Middle East/Africa to help reduce electricity demand and costs.
- Marriott's Caribbean and Latin America properties have numerous water-savings projects, including sea water cooling, which eliminates fresh water and chemical needs, repurposing treated guest room water, recapturing rainwater for irrigation, reverse osmosis water treatment, and condensate capture from property HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems for reuse in cooling towers.
- From 2012 to 2013, Marriott's pounds of landfill waste per occupied room decreased by 3.9 percent in North America. In 2013, more than 14,000 tons of landfill waste was diverted to recycling.
- Marriott continued to grow its partnership with Clean the World®, a nonprofit that collects partially used soaps and other hygiene amenities, recycles these items as source material then manufactures and distributes new bars of soap globally to communities in need. With more than 60,000 rooms participating, Marriott's managed and franchised hotels donated more than 91,000 pounds of soap and 61,000 pounds of amenities to Clean the World.
For more information about Marriott's sustainability and social responsibility initiatives or to download the 10 issue reports individually or as a full sustainability report with GRI Index, visit www.marriott.com/socialresponsibility.
For more information about how your association, nonprofit, or company can win NYSAE's 2015 Social Responsibility Award, visit www.nysaenet.org/nysaenet/awardsapplications/socialresponsibility.
Jeff Fagan, CMP CASE, is Global Account Executive, Marriott Global Sales, Marriott International; 212-589-1335; jeff.fagan@marriott.com.