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Assignment 2: Environmental Policy Development
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Table of Contents
Introduction and Background 1
Resource Implications 1
A) Solid-Waste Management 2
B) Water Conservation. 2
C) Energy Conservation 2
Auditing Issues 2
Management Issues 3
Time Scale for Implementation 4
Immediate actions 5
Short term actions 5
Long-term actions 5
Recommendations 6
References 7
Introduction and Background
This report will discuss the benefits and constraints of introducing and implementing an environmental policy for my organisation HUSA Hotel and Catering Group. HUSA Group is a private Limited Company based in Barcelona, Spain. On the Hotel side there are 33 Hotels, one third of which are owned and managed by HUSA and the rest managed only but owned by various groups of investors. On the Catering side HUSA manages about 15 Hospital Kitchens to provide catering for the infirm and/or Staff Canteen.
In Spain, environmental concerns are relatively recent. After some ecological disasters occurred in Spain, Spanish citizens have started to be become environmentally aware. The Environmental Ministry was only created in the last government. This lack of general environmental awareness in the country includes the hospitality industry. In HUSA Hotels, the Company where I worked, there was no hotel environmental management programme.
On examining the state of the earth, we arrive at one conclusion very rapidly. Either we take good care of the world or soon it will be almost impossible for us to breathe. Perhaps our great grand children will not enjoy the world that we will leave them. Arguably this day has already arrived in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia aggravated but not caused by forest fires. Even first world Athens has polluted air.
Resource Implications
The resources implicates in a hotel environmental programme, are:
A) Solid-Waste Management
The Maurya Sheraton Hotel &Tower, New Delhi, is an excellent example about a very aggressive initiative in contributing to the cause of environment. All the slid kitchen waste is treated through the Hotel's Effluent Treatment Plant; surplus food is distributed to local orphanages.
In the same way, The Hilton Budapest realised the benefits of economies of scale for solid waste management through co-operation wit others major hotels in the capital city. (Environmental Action Worldwide).
"This is just one area where hotels are going to be increasingly squeezed in the waste-reduction vice. Kitchen wastes, paper, plastics, glass: many hotels now have their own mini recycling centres, and it's amazing how quickly attitudes can be turned around" (1996, Waste Matters)
The environmental programme will determine how the hotel can reduce, reuse and recycle paper, glass, metal wood, organic water and toxic materials.
Furthermore, the environmental programme will set which environmentally safe cleaning products will be used instead the traditional biodegradable detergents. Also the purchasing department following the instructions programme, will purchase for the guest bathrooms, the environmental - friendly amenities refilled dispensers which don't be contrary to customer expectations.
B) Water Conservation.
The Developers of the Embassy Suites Resort South Lake Tahoe, water was a key design. It was the area to be able to clean and percolate its own water back into the groundwater. It collects and pre-cleans storm water, eliminating pollutants. All guestrooms have low-flow toilets and have water-saving devices. A recirculation system throughout the hotel provides hot water reheating. (Rowe, 1992)
Is not necessary to mention that water is one of the most precious values that we possess. Maybe for this reason and knowing the unnecessary waste of water that exists in the various areas of the hotel such as guestrooms, kitchen and the toilets, water-saving conservation equipment and strategies have been widely implemented in the hospitality industry.
C) Energy Conservation
Up to 40% of the total energy used in the Hotels, is wasted. There are many conservation measures that can easily be incorporated into employees' daily routine as switch off unnecessary lights or monitoring temperature controls.
Forte (1994) explains that " Much of the energy wasted results from heat loss, especially from refrigeration and air conditioning plant. Most of this heat can be recovered and use, for example, to pre-heat water for the hot water system o for the swimming pool. The reduction in heating cost is substantial and plat tends to become more efficient, needing less maintenance and saving more energy."
Another important waste source in the hotels is the lighting. Through energy-efficient lighting is possible to reduce lighting cost by 60% to 80%.
The Inter-Continental Hotel at Hyde Park Corner was able to reduced an important quantity of energy because it was done a mixture methods including changing lighting, recovering heat from refrigeration equipment, energy management systems on boilers and staff awareness campaigns (Kirk 1995).
Auditing Issues
The term environmental audit is now widely used to describe management tools developed by both private and public sector organisations in response to a growing concern about the impact of their activities on the environment. The European Commission's definition (1994), describes environmental audit as "a management tool comprising a systematic, documental, periodic, and objective evaluation of how well organisations, management and equipment are performing with the aim of contributing to safeguard the environment by facilitating management control of environmental practices and assessing compliance wit company polices, which would include meeting regulatory requirements and standards applicable."
Organisations may be concerned to ensure compliance with the growing body of environmental legislation to improve market competitiveness and to satisfy the demands of investors. Audits must be done at regular intervals to asses the environment performance of the company in relation to the company's own stated objectives, environmental policy and documented environmental management system.
Environmental auditing, however, leads to tangible benefits. The first of those will be to know if the environmental measures are satisfactory and they satisfy legislation and company policy. Another important factor is that green consumerism has been grown and has challenged companies to demonstrate that their products and processes are environmentally friendly. The environmental auditing is some kind of verification over all the levels of the organisation and can provide more awareness of environmental policies and responsibilities, giving credit for good environmental performance. The Environmental Audit is promoted as part of the process of greater public consultation and more open and accountable government. During the late 1980s and 1990s there was an increasing in the number of consultancies performing environmental audits. External independent help is necessary because normally other than the largest firms, hotels do not have any expertise to cover the legal, scientific, technical and management required in the audit process. The heads of the different departments must be asked to run a campaign to encourage his staff to start with all of those attitudes that are environmentally friendly. In the same way that it should be a internal auditing issues, there is a environmental auditing which it offers a methodology to evaluate the environmental performance of companies and is likely to become increasingly widespread as more and more environmental regulations and codes of practice have to be adhered to in industry. (Environmental Management Systems and Auditing, 1995). Bergstrom and Gummesson (1996) comment: 'Under the label of environmental auditing, big companies check actual and potential conflicts between company practice and environmental laws and regulations. Typically such work is strictly internal and constitutes proprietary and confidential information.'
Management Issues
Membership of environmental groups is growing every day because the concern about the environment. The issue is no longer a matter of hippies or of revolutionary students. The issue is ever stronger because it is a real problem and disasters are reported with increasing frequency. Concern about the environment first reached heavy industries. All sectors of industry are now required to take suitable measures to damage the environment as little as possible. Forte (1994) exposed his particular vision of the third world: 'The world at large cannot afford to ignore the environmental issues now facing humanity and, as today's custodians of the planet, this generation will be judged on its contribution towards its safekeeping.'
Although the hospitality industry is not fundamentally a "dirty" industry that produces a relatively large degree of pollution or release toxic materials, there are a large number of small activities that added together amount to pollution. The hospitality industry must face some problems to conciliate the guest requirements with environmental management. According to research done in the USA, frequent travellers say they want to stay in Hotels that show concern for the environment but they wont to pay extra for green policy implementation. Clients agree with some environmental policy but the only three strategies which were accepted, and only by a few, were: no daily changing of towels; installing automatic taps; and installing low-flow showers. In my opinion, in the Hospitality industry the resource implications of an environmental policy can and should dominate the entire business. They affect the hotel's very existence on an operational and financial level.
In terms of resourcing the very edifice of the hotel, the team of Architects and Engineers can help the property owner to install all of those new technologies that are considerate with the environment, like combined heat and power, or use energy-efficient lighting, non-smoking rooms, etc. Even employing a good landscape architect who has knowledge of the native flora and fauna of the locality, it is possible to achieve a good impact for the visitors. Perhaps installing new techniques can be more expensive than the traditional methods but even in a middle term horizon of 3 years, there can be a significant reduction in cost or an increase in the profits. Shareholders will soon have a good return on their investment. Like Kirk Iwanowski and Cindy Rushmore (1994) asserted "A careful examination of existing systems and operational procedures, especially in the areas of solid-waste management, will reveal an abundance of possible modifications that cost nothing or will pay for themselves in a few years."
In the framework of t British Standard BS 7750: Environmental Management Systems has been established the principles of environmental management that outlines a number of stages in establishing the procedure in any organisation. The stages are:
Ø Formulating an environmental policy
Ø Ensuring total commitment of all in the organisation
Ø Carrying out an environmental review
Ø Determination of responsibilities within the organisation
Ø Preparing a register of environmental effects
Ø Establishing objectives and targets
Ø Implementing management systems
Ø Commissioning periodic environmental audits
Ø Performing regular systems reviews based on performance.
The first step in the process is usually considered to be the development of a written environmental policy. This should cover general principles including a total commitment at all levels of the organisation. It will include: strategies for complying with laws, codes and company standards; the identification of responsibility within the organisation; and the involvement of partners including suppliers, servicing companies, customers and the local community.
To be totally effective, the adoption of environmental policies must come from the top and the staff will need to be made aware of the issues and be trained in new methods of work. All staff must be involved. Forte (1994) recommends the appointment of an expert senior manager who will responsible of all aspects of environmental management in the organisation. This senior manager with other experts' help will form a special environmental practices committee to plan and implement in- house staff education and motivation programmes, such as awards for significant contributions to the campaign. This senior manager also will supervise the environmental policies for each of the different Hotel areas including purchasing, maintenance and engineering, housekeeping, building, and design, training, food and beverage and public relations and marketing. Once the Company's President and the Board of Directors has accepted the general direction, this senior manager should inform the customer base, staff and the public at large of the aims of the business in respect of the environment.
This environmental management programme should develop all the details about Waste Management, Food waste, Energy plan, Energy conservation, Energy efficient-lighting, Heat recovery, Water conservation, Solar and wind power, Landscaping, etc.
Through environmental policies, "Going Green", the Hotel Companies can introduce active ecological campaigns to encourage hotel staff and guests to adopt environmentally friendly practices in their day-to-day activities. This campaign should involve measures such recycling of garbage disposal and paper, water and electricity conservation, reduction in the usage of chemicals, gradual replacement of synthetic items with natural materials, use ozone friendly bromine instead chlorine in the treatment of the swimming pools, and the preservation of the natural environment in and around the hotel grounds.
Time Scale for Implementation
We can establish a time scale for implementation of environmental measures by separating out the various actions into: Immediate actions, short term, medium term and long term. Immediate actions will covert a period of one month, short term, three months, medium term, one year, and long term, three years.
Immediate actions
This includes all staff behavioural patterns. Management should make them aware of the problem of energy waste and involve them in its resolution. This action will automatically result in savings such as switching off unwanted lights or delaying turning on equipment until it is needed and turning it off when no longer required.
In the same way, and in relation with the water conservation, chambermaids, staff and even customers (washing they hands for example) can do much to save all the water wasted in the Hotel
Short term actions
We include activities like:
Ø Guidance on energy, water and waste management
Ø Staff campaigns to develop an environmental culture with training programmes for them.
Ø Environmental information for guests and to the local community. Purchasing
Ø Provision
Ø Laundry
Ø management actions
Medium term
This will include:
Ø Sewage Treatment
Ø Waste disposal
Ø Water supply
Ø Water savings measures
Ø Energy Supply
Ø Energy Saving Measures
Ø Food + Beverage Department
Ø Health and Hygiene
Staff internal meetings to discuss environmental issues, asses the effectiveness of the current practise and review staff suggestions on new environmental protection initiatives.
Long-term actions
Will include
Ø Heating, ventilating and air-conditioning.
Ø Noise Protection
Ø Green Spaces
Ø Pool Area
Ø Location and immediate Surroundings
Ø Quality of the Sean near Hotel
Ø Quality of the Beaches near Hotel
Recommendations
To succeed an environmental management system in necessary the full co-operation and involvement of staff. Staff will need to be made aware of the issues and trained in new methods of work. They need as well an incentive in the form of targets to aim for a simple monitoring system to show how well or badly they have performed against the target set. Monitoring and targeting in one of the most useful management tools. Moreover it can be very convenient to create a Committee to address issues relating to energy efficiency, waste management and water conservation. This Committee will be composed of five members with all the key departments represented. It will meet once a month.
The Committee position will be advisory and strategy. It will operate between management and department levels. The presence of the Senior Manager on the committee will shows the commitment of senior staff to environmental management. The Committee will report to members of staff through notice board, announcements, articles in the staff newsletter and meetings with the various departments.
Responsibility for energy and environmental issues with each department will lies the departmental head or an assigned staff member.
The following is a checklist of energy-efficiency options developed by Environmental Hotels at Auckland (EHOA). (1997). In view of the fact that my hotel has no policy at all at the moment, rather than re-invent the wheel or paraphrase Auckland's check-list, I wholeheartedly recommend them verbatim. The top tips include:
| Space and water heating: |
Ensure only occupied areas are heated. Set water heater temperature to 60C. |
| Lighting: |
Make someone responsible for switching off lights when areas are not in use. Make the best use of daylight. |
| Ventilation | Ensure kitchen fans are switched off when kitchens are not in use. |
| Air Conditioning | Set temperature controls for cooling to 24 degrees C or higher. Ensure refrigeration plant, such as chilled water systems, runs only when required. |
| Equipment | Encourage staff to turn off equipment when it is not needed. Switch off fluorescent lights when an area will be unoccupied for longer than five minutes Remove unnecessary lamps |
| Laundry | Set washing machine temperature to 60CEncourage staff to run laundry equipment only with full loads. |
| Controls | Clearly label controls to indicate their function and their reduced settings. |
| Catering | Inform kitchen staff of start-up times for cooking equipment and discourage them from using hobs and ovens for pace heating |
| Maintenance |
Check plant operation and controls regularly. Check that thermostats and humidistats are accurate. Check calibration of controls .Look for water leaks from mains, taps and showers and carry out necessary repairs. Clean light fittings regularly. |
I also borrow from The Hyatt Regency in Chicago with respect to the recycling of materials. The hotel has 30% of its wastage recycled including cardboard, paper, glass, aluminium, Styrofoam and plastics. I recommend the adoption of a recycling centre to achieve the sort of savings that the Chicago hotel achieved.
References
European Commission (1991) Draft proposal for a Council regulation establishing a Community scheme for the evaluation and improvement of environmental performance in certain activities and the provision of relevant information to the public (Eco-Audit) Brussels (Document XI 83 93, Revision 4)
Environmental Hotels at Auckland (EHOA) (1997) Green Hotelier January 1997 p8
Forte (1994) 'Environmentally-friendly management in hotels' The Environmental Management, Pitman
Iwanowski K, and Rushmore C (1994) in their article 'Introducing the Eco-Friendly Hotel' Cornell HRA Quarterly.
Best Practice (1995)'The Munich Park Hilton Hotel, Germany' Energy cost controlled as part an Environmental Management programme. Case Study 296.
Iwnd,WM ' The ecological Programme' Hannover. Touristik Union International GmbH&Co.Kg.(TUI) Dp. of Environment
Bergstrom, S, and Gummeson E, (1996) 'Green Service Quality &Its Indicators, Service quality in Hospitality Organisations.
'Environmental Management Systems and Auditing.' (19950 Environmental Strategy and Sustainable Development
'Practice Panorama.' Environmental Action World-wide.
'Waste Matters '(1996) Green Hotelier No.2
Rowe, M (1992) ' Greening for Dollar' Lodging Hospitality.
Kirk, D (1995) 'Environmental management in Hotels'. British Standard Bs 7750:Enviromental Management Systems. Int. Journal of Cont. Hospitality Man Vol. 7 No 6.
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