Engineers: Work safety into sustainability
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NATIONAL REPORT–In the rush to go green, hotels may not plan properly for the new way of doing business—which may cause more issues than what can be anticipated.
"We want people to understand that these are not simplistic solutions," said Fay Feeney, editor of the white papers for the American Society of Safety Engineers titled "Safety Implications of Greening: Hospitality Executive Leadership Opportunities."
"If there could be a tagline it would be, 'It's not just the planet but the people on it,'" she said.
For the most part, green business operations have few down sides, but any change to the way a hotel conducts its operations can bring new risks or concerns to the employees. As for implementing those solutions, patience is a virtue, Feeney said.
The ASSE report offers suggestions for getting started with green business practices and provides more intensive solutions for the next generation of eco-friendly operations, like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
"These changes, once you make them, are difficult to manage," said Feeney. "The management doesn't always understand the pressure put on operations people."
Training helps buy-in
For the Hotel Carlton, a Joie de Vivre Hotel in San Francisco, the green revolution came suddenly, and staff had to catch up.
"A couple of staff members here at the hotel were really passionate about it," said Pam Flank, g.m.
The hotel started with simple solutions like installing low-flow toilets and showerheads. With each green change, the staff found it progressively easier to add more eco-friendly practices. As the hotel moved into recycling, however, it received some uncertainty from the staff about the additional amount of work. Management turned to training to get employees up to speed, which alleviated their concerns, Flank said.
 Hotel Carlton, a historic hotel in San Francisco, started with simple green efforts, such as low-flow toilets and showerheads. (JOIE DE VIVRE HOTELS) |
"Once it was in practice, they realized it wasn't much more work," said Flank.
Hotel Carlton now is carbon neutral and has recently installed solar panels to provide all its electrical energy.
"We're just waiting for [Pacific Gas & Electric] to connect the hotel to the grid," said Lydia Rubalcaba, director of sales. In the lobby, there will be a monitor that shows how much energy the hotel is using, how much energy the solar panels generate and how much energy will be put back into the grid. It's a great feature, but not without a price: The return on investment for the solar panels is seven and a half years.
Home to hotel
At the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, green practices simply are a part of doing business. To motivate employees to participate in eco-friendly business practices, the hotel encourages its staff members to practice green habits at home. Through a contest for its employees, the hotel will pay for one month of the winner's electric bill.
"If you can show employees it affects them where they live, they can see it at work," said Roger Martin, director of engineering, Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.
To keep the momentum going, the hotel has a Green Team, composed of employees from all levels of the hotel charged with coming up with environmentally hospitable operations ideas.
Although the hotel has been implementing green operations for several years, early attempts were stifled by a lack of complimentary services. As early as 2001, the hotel started a compost heap but had to abandon the effort. The problem was getting someone to pick up the material.
"No one wanted to come into the city," said Martin. Now, the hotel found a company that will haul the compost, and the operation will resume this year.
Employees must be involved for sustainable operations to take hold.
"It's a combination of getting a significant emotional experience [from the staff]," said George Vizer, g.m. "And it also takes doing the right thing, as opposed to the easy thing."
