New York, Aug 30 2011 1:10PM
Hotels will be able to contribute to climate change mitigation while also increasing their profits under a new United
Nations-backed ‘green’ scheme offering an online toolkit to evaluate energy consumption, find renewable sources and
improve energy management, thus cutting costs.
Testing of the toolkit, launched by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and its partners, was finalized this month
in more than 100 European properties in four different pilot destinations – Haute-Savoie in France, Palma de Mallorca in
Spain, Bonn in Germany, and Strandja in Bulgaria – with positive feedback from hotel owners and managers.
Although hotels and other types of accommodation account for only 2 per cent of the world’s global-warming carbon
dioxide emissions, UNWTO says addressing this comparatively small yet important footprint is a priority for the tourism sector. Of the world’s 5.9
million hotel rooms, over half are located in Europe, where the project has been launched initially.
The Hotel Energy Solutions (HES) e-toolkit, the main output of the Hotel Energy Solutions project, provides hoteliers with a report which shows their current
energy use and recommends appropriate renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and actions. It further sets
out what kind of savings on operational expenses hotels can expect from their green investments through a calculator
measuring returns on investment.
While Hotel Energy Solutions is a UNWTO-initiated project supported by the European Agency for Competitiveness and
Innovation under the Intelligent Energy Europe programme, it is expected to be rolled out globally over the coming
years. Once adapted for non-EU Member States, the project will benefit hotels worldwide.
The project has been implemented in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH), the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), and the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME).
Aug 30 2011 1:10PM
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