Dive Brief:

• Choice Hotels International is revamping its Room to be Green sustainability certification program — and later adding a fourth level — as part of its Commitment to Green initiative in its 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance Report.
• The hotel brand also is rolling out an automated utility tracking dashboard — Schneider Electric’s AI-assisted, cloud-based EcoStruxure Resource Advisor — with the goal to have 100% of its managed and owned hotels using the technology by 2025.
• These initiatives build on a recent effort by Choice Hotels to ramp up its environmental sustainability plans, including the installation of carbon-capture technology at its Radisson Blu Mall of America hotel earlier this year.

Dive Insight:

As one of the highest energy and water consumers per square foot, hotel brands are increasing their sustainability efforts to lower energy consumption and costs. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that across America’s 47,000 hotels, the average guest room incurs nearly $2,200 in energy costs annually.

Choice Hotels is upgrading its Room to be Green program, which has three levels that focus on energy and water conservation, recycling and waste reduction, employee engagement and operational excellence, and sustainable product usage. The criteria range from low-cost solutions to more innovative capital-intensive actions. For example, Level 2 requires tracking and management of energy and water usage.

According to a Choice Hotels’ spokesperson, the hotel brand is planning to add a fourth program level with elevated environmental certification standards focused on renewable energy, gray water management, guest transportation, integration of smart technologies and more. The three existing levels’ requirements also will change, though Choice Hotels did not provide the specific criteria. The spokesperson said the fourth level addition and other requirement changes will be announced this spring, with a rollout starting immediately after within its U.S. hotels.

Wyndham also has a sustainability certification program designed to reduce its hotels’ environmental footprints and operate more efficiently through ecofriendly initiatives. The program has five levels, with the most advanced level evaluating its properties’ water-efficient flush fixtures in guest rooms, water-efficient irrigation controls, advanced preventive maintenance, food waste composting and single-use plastic minimization.

Another part of Choice Hotels’ new sustainability commitment is the rollout of automated utility tracking dashboards. Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Resource Advisor tech will help Choice Hotels franchisees to automatically track their energy and water consumption while calculating GHG emissions, according to the report. Hotels are expected to save time and money with the new tech — which Choice Hotels hopes will be used at 100% of its managed and owned hotels and 90% of franchised hotels by 2025.

“To safeguard my investment in my hotel today and tomorrow, it’s imperative that I monitor and manage my utility usage. This new solution from Schneider Electric takes the guesswork out of allocating resources and managing energy costs so owners can spend more time focusing on what matters most: connecting with travelers and the communities in which we work and live,” Alec Rogers, owner of Maine Evergreen Hotel, Ascend Hotel Collection, said in the 2022 ESG Report.

In recent years, LEED and other green building practices have gained momentum in the global hospitality industry. According to Dodge Construction Network’s World Green Building Trends 2021 study, 42% of respondents reported that by 2024 the majority (more than 60%) of their building projects will qualify as green — up 50% from 2021. The study also found the average reduction in operating costs in the first 12 months for new green buildings is 10.5%, and five-year operating cost savings is 16.9%.