Good for Business & the Environment

For more information, contact: Mary Deatrick DPR
(407) 332-5212 mary@deatrickpr.com
Photography available at http://www.rosenhotels.com/media

Built on a commitment of environmental stewardship, the Florida Green Lodging Program encourages properties to preserve the state’s natural resources and prevent pollution, but owners are finding what is good for the Earth is also good for the bottom line.

 

“These are great ways to cut costs while helping to protect the environment,” said Peter Goren, program manager of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Green Lodging Program in Tallahassee.

 

Florida launched the Green Lodging Program in 2004 to recognize and reward environmentally conscientious facilities.

 

“We’re interested in showing the hospitality industry how they can reduce their energy [use], water consumption and waste generation, and improve their indoor air quality,” Goren said. “These are essential to help the industry become not only more environmentally sustainable, but also more economically sustainable.”

 

Conserving electricity and water saves operating costs; however, leaders of Green Lodging properties consider that a secondary benefit.

 

“For us, it’s back to the heritage of the company and who we are,” said Kevin Myers, vice president of resort operations for Walt Disney World Resort. “We always point back to Walt [Disney] and the original foundations he had in the company.”

 

Myers indicated that Disney always had an interest in nature. And as WDW set about achieving Green Lodging status for all of its properties, company officials also realized that guests were becoming more interested in conservation.

 

“We feel it is the right thing to do,” said Tom Roditus, a Windermere resident and regional director of operations for Loews Hotels. “We have a corporatewide good neighbor policy and program in which we look for ways to give back to the communities we operate in.”

 

Loews’ three Southwest properties — Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, and Hard Rock Hotel — have received Green Lodging status. Roditus indicated investments in things like programmable thermostats and other green initiatives provide long-term economic paybacks.

 

“I’ve always believed if you do good things you will be rewarded,” added Harris Rosen, a Cypress Point resident and president and chief operating officer of Rosen Hotels & Resorts.

 

Rosen has found that implementing green practices at the Rosen Plaza Hotel, Rosen Centre Hotel and Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel has improved the bottom line. But that was not his initial motivation.

 

After purchasing property for Shingle Creek and learning about the waterway’s significance as a headwater to the Everglades, Rosen became interested in conservation and environmental stewardship. 

 

“We’re business people, but because of our little creek acting as a stimulus for us, we’ve discovered nature,” Rosen said. “We discovered what other businesses will discover — that it makes good business sense to do these things. Our hope is we will be an example.”

 

Green Lodging Status
About 450 lodgings throughout the state — 26 in the Southwest area and 23 WDW hotels in Lake Buena Vista and Vero Beach — have received at least One Palm designations, having met basic minimum requirements in areas of communication, water conservation, energy efficiency, waste reduction and clean air, and operate in compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations. To achieve the designation, top management must support the initiative, and the property must agree to form an active multidisciplinary “Green Team.” About 440 additional properties statewide have applied to become Green Lodging properties.

 

In 2004, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn was the first hotel in Florida to receive green status.

 

To achieve the designation, properties complete a self-assessment. State DEP assessors walk through the applying facility and check to ensure it meets the set standards. They look for, among other things, recycling bins in guest rooms and public areas; use of compact fluorescent light bulbs and green cleaning products; whether the property is equipped with low-flow toilets, shower heads and faucets; and if it utilizes Energy Star-rated appliances and electronics.

 

The state designates Two Palm status to properties that have maintained a One Palm status for a year and developed and implemented projects in energy, water and waste, and monitored their programs. Fifteen properties have achieved this distinction, including the three Rosen properties, the first in Central Florida to merit Two Palm status.

 

Properties maintaining Green Lodging status for three consecutive years can earn a Three Palm designation.

 

Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, California and Virginia operate similar programs.

 

Green Initiatives
Groups of employees serving on Green Teams are responsible for ensuring environmental improvements. They conduct assessments of existing practices and opportunities to conserve, set goals, and monitor and evaluate progress.

 

“They take the message out to staff in the rest of the buildings,” Roditus said.

 

Rosen began by educating his management team and then held fun meetings to bring associates onboard, said Dee Dee Baggitt, associate director of engineering at Rosen Hotels & Resorts. One property held a scavenger hunt so team members could learn about initiatives outside their departments.

 

Rosen Hotels staff members also created a green character called Nesor. Nesor accompanied Rosen and DEP officials on all hotel inspections. Nesor stickers placed under light switches and in other strategic areas remind employees to turn off lights or perform other conservative measures. The company held a rally in January to commemorate achieving Two Palm status.

 

As part of is green initiatives, Rosen Shingle Creek recycles its kitchen grease, converting it to biodiesel fuel to power its golf-course maintenance equipment. Guest rooms and public areas contain programmable thermostats to avoid heating or cooling empty spaces. Sensors control outdoor and back-of-house lighting. Anything viable left over by convention delegates, such as notebooks and pads of paper, is donated to local schools. Rosen also offers employees a payroll-deducted Lynx bus-pass program, as well as posts a directory of staff members interested in carpooling.

 

In addition to low-flow toilets, programmable thermostats, energy-efficient lighting systems, recycling, energy-management systems in common areas, and linen reuse programs, Disney hotels recycle office paper, purchase products with 30 percent post-consumer waste, and buy in bulk.

 

“Our cast members are one of our first contact points for our guests, so we educate them so they understand what we are doing, why we are doing it, and why it’s important to us,” Myers said. “Every cast member got involved as each property went on its [green] mission to meet the criteria Florida set aside.”

 

Loews irrigates with reclaimed water, adjusts guest room and public area heating and cooling depending on the presence of people, and has LED or compact-fluorescent lighting and low-flow plumbing fixtures throughout its properties. Loews is also adding hybrids and flex-fuel vehicles to its fleet as it replaces older models. Employees are urged to recycle.

 

Loews Hotels guests receive information about the company’s green initiatives when they check in. Rooms feature bags for guests to collect newspapers, aluminum cans, office paper and glass for recycling. 

 

“Our guests are used to doing this at home and are thrilled to see it,” Roditus said.

 

Consumer Demand
Florida law requires that state agencies hold all conferences and meetings at Green Lodging-designated properties. State and local government employees also are encouraged to book and stay at Green Lodging properties.

 

Rosen Hotels established an eco-conscious conference program, outlined online at www.rosengreenmeetings.com, to assist meeting planners. It aims to help them reduce environmental burdens normally associated with large meetings. 

 

“Many groups and meeting planners have been the first to inquire [about green practices],” Roditus said. “But we are now seeing it more and more on the individual traveler side.”

 

A TripAdvisor study released in October found that 34 percent of respondents planned to visit an environmentally friendly hotel or resort this year, up from 30 percent in 2008. Thirty-two percent said they will be more environmentally conscious in their travel decisions this year than they were the year before, an increase from 26 percent in 2007.

 

About one-third of the business travelers that responded to a survey commissioned by Deloitte reported a concern about green travel. Thirty-four percent said they seek out hotels that are environmentally friendly, and 38 percent have researched green facilities either online or through friends and relatives.

 

Twenty-eight percent said they would be willing to pay 10 percent more to stay in a green facility. Respondents expected lodging properties to recycle, use energy-efficient lighting and windows, place cards in the room to allow guests to decide if the sheets and towels need changing, and use environmentally safe cleaning products.

 

Recognizing that consumers are looking for green facilities, the state allows hotels receiving Green Lodging designations to place the program’s logo on marketing materials. The state lists the properties on the DEP Web site, www.dep.state.fl.us/greenlodging, which receives thousands of hits every month.

 

“It helps bring business to the hotels if they are designated,” Goren said.

 

The Deloitte survey found guests will pitch in and routinely follow some green practices. About 70 percent of respondents said they turn the lights off when exiting the room, and 31 percent adjust the thermostat when leaving their rooms.

 

“The vast majority of guests are thrilled to be staying in a hotel that is green, in a property where ownership and management cares about the environment,” said Rosen, adding that the occasional guest will complain about the low-flow plumbing fixtures, but those are the exception.

 

Myers said most Disney guests do not notice or comment on the green initiatives.

 

“It’s really invisible to our guests,” Myers said.

 

Although Rosen indicated a perception exists that business people are not concerned about the environment, he expects that more will become green supporters when they learn how it can benefit their companies. He said he is proud to serve as a role model.

 

“Not only is this the right thing to do, but I can show guys it will help profitability,” Rosen said.

 

For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.