Dive Brief:

• Chatham Lodging Trust has published a supplement to its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report that includes environmental reduction targets for 2030.
• The hotel real estate investment trust has also committed to increasing the percentage of females on its board of trustees to no less than 30% by the end of 2025; female representation is currently 29% of all trustees and 33% of all independent trustees.
• Chatham, in conjunction with its management company, Island Hospitality Management, is able to promote ESG initiatives across its portfolio of hotels that includes Residence Inn by Marriott, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn.

Dive Insight:

Chatham Lodging Trust, a hotel real estate investment trust that focuses on investing in upscale extended-stay hotels and premium-branded select-service hotels, aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and to be net zero by 2050, according to a recently published supplement to its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report.

Its portfolio-wide environmental reduction targets include greenhouse gas emissions, energy, water and waste. The company plans to reduce both energy intensity (the amount of energy used to produce a product or service) and water usage by 30% by 2030.

With a portfolio of hotel brands, Chatham is responsible for capital expenditures related to major renovations, efficiency improvements and equipment replacement at the property level.

In conjunction with Island Hospitality, it can then impact the overall ESG initiatives at its hotels. For example, Island Hospitality has control and influence over daily energy and water consumption and maintenance activities that could affect consumption and efficiencies. Chatham currently owns 39 hotels totaling 5,914 rooms and suites in 16 states and the District of Columbia.

According to its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report, almost half of Chatham’s portfolio was considered at high to very high water risk, meaning those properties have a greater chance of experiencing water-related challenges like water scarcity, flooding and drought. The top five properties with the highest water risk were in Colorado, Texas and California, with baseline water stress being the most significant issue. (Baseline water is determined based on the amount of water demand as compared to the amount of water available in the location.)

Examples of property-level initiatives that Chatham has implemented to improve efficiency or reduce water consumption include installing auto sensors, leveraging water-saving technologies such as low-flow showerheads and adopting a linen and towel reuse program.

In 2022, for the first time, Chatham participated in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark, an organization that assesses the ESG performance of real estate assets. It earned three of five stars and received an overall score of 75 out of 100, ranking 48th out of 112 listed companies in the Americas region and sixth of 14 listed companies under the hotel property sector classification.