Seasoned hotel hoppers now expect to find a note in their rooms explaining the property's sustainability efforts and asking them to reuse towels and sheets. While such signs of ecological stewardship are almost universal, it's harder to discern which meeting properties have gone green to the core.
For that reason, the International Association of Conference Centers has created a voluntary Code of Sustainability. The policy covers 59 practices in education, awareness and public declaration; waste management; recycling; reuse; water conservation; purchasing; energy management; air quality; and food and beverage. Member centers that are 100 percent compliant are Platinum Tier facilities; those that are at least 85 percent compliant are Gold Tier properties, and those that reach 75 percent compliance are Silver Tier centers.
Only one conference center, the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread in Racine, Wis., has achieved Platinum Tier status; unfortunately, it's a private center, unavailable for rental. "Cost is probably the biggest factor in keeping centers from being platinum," says Lois Y. Berg, director of administrative services for the foundation and chair of the sustainability committee for IACC The Americas. "These are tough times for centers, and the foundation is fortunate that we have a supporting organization, S.C. Johnson, which has a long history of being sustainable." Berg also points out that changes to energy management and water conservation require large capital outlays to bring centers into line with the code, since existing air-conditioning, lighting and plumbing systems need to be replaced.
As of press time, 32 IACC conference centers had reached 85 percent compliance. The following is a look at the eco-practices of four of those properties. (For a full list of Gold Tier facilities, go to mcmag.com/webexclusives.)
Doubletree Palm Beach Gardens Hotel and Executive Meeting Center
Palm Beach, Fla.
(561) 622-2260; hilton.com
This 279-room property recently was awarded Silver LEED certification. According to David Margolis, director of sales and marketing, the most successful green initiative has been a paper-recycling program implemented in each guest room and all public areas.
In the year-old Executive Meeting Center, which offers more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, much of the furnishings were made with recycled or sustainable materials, all sourced from within a 500-mile radius of the hotel. "Some of the more fun recycled items include bicycle-tire furniture and chairs made of car seatbelts," says Margolis. "Even our light fixtures are made from used red lenses from traffic lights."
Lansdowne Resort
Lansdowne, Va.
(877)
509-8400; lansdowneresort.com
Recycling
of all types of materials
has picked up considerably at this 296-room resort just northwest of
Washington, D.C., on the Maryland border. The property's sales teams
have been touting the program to meeting planners, and trucks now pick
up more items for recycling than trash.
Meeting planners are in
charge of how green their events will be at the 45,000-square-foot
conference center. They are asked details such as if they prefer bottled
water or ceramic jugs with paper cups for conference tables.
Water
conservation also is a priority, with low-flow faucets, toilets and
showers; drought-resistant plants around the property and on its golf
course; and laundry facilities that run on cold water.
Lansdowne
requires its suppliers to source environmentally responsible products,
including local and organic foods and bulk items.
Q
Center
St. Charles, Ill.
(877) 774-8437;
qcenter.com
With 1,042 guest rooms and 150,000 square feet of
meeting space, the Q Center is one of IACC's largest member facilities,
and its green efforts have produced big results.
"Eliminating
bottled water from our refreshment breaks has been a huge success," says
Bob Stephanites, director of conference operations and manager of the Q
Center's green program. "At one point, our guests were using about
750,000 bottles of water a year -- almost four bottles per guest per
day." In 2008, a water purification and dispensing system was installed,
along with a compostable cup-and-lid system.
Sensitive to
customer preferences, the center conducted an eight-week pilot program
and asked guests to compare the purified water to bottled, considering
criteria such as chilled vs. room temperature, taste and satisfaction
with the compostable cups. "We learned that more than 90 percent of our
guests supported the environmental aspect of what we were doing," says
Stephanites. "The remaining 10 percent liked the bottled product for
convenience."
Among other initiatives, the staff participates in
the Adopt-a-Highway program, and the housekeeping department and
business center send extra supplies and toiletries to schools and
charities.
Hamilton Park Hotel &
Conference Center
Florham Park, N.J.
(800) 321-6000;
hamiltonparkhotel.com
Initiatives at this 219-room property range
from carpooling to recycling soap and shampoo. On the tables in the
27,000-square-foot conference center, bottled water no longer is the
norm. "We have UV-filtered water coolers now for the break stations,"
says Steve Sackman, regional director of sales and marketing for
Destination Hotels & Resorts, which owns and operates Hamilton Park.
Clients who want bottled can have it, but attendees are encouraged to
save and refill their bottles at the coolers.
Hamilton Park also
has worked with the state of New Jersey to institute a shared-ride van
service for employees, to cut the number of cars on the road. Coming
soon: an electric-car charging station on-site.
The property now
is working with Clean the World, an organization that recycles hotel
soaps and shampoos for redistribution to places such as Haiti.