Meeting News - February 16, 2009 - (Page 19)

Green Beat By Terri Hardin terri.hardin@nielsen.com Uncle Sam Tells Hotels to Fall In with EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program to set green hotel standards The Environmental Protection Agency has tapped the Convention Industry Council (in conjunction with the American Society for Testing and Materials) to develop national standards for green hotels. The standards would both serve as authoritative, voluntary guidelines for suppliers and as binding regulations for all federal travel. Harry Lewis, attorney adviser in the EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, estimates the standards will be in place by the end of the year. For fiscal-year 2008, the Office of Management and Budget said government employees spent $14.8 billion on official travel. “When it comes right down to it, what’s really going to motivate a company to change its practices is the prospect of losing [government business],” Lewis said. It’s not yet clear how hotels would be certified. They might complete a computer-automated questionnaire (such as one would for a tax filing) or be vetted through a third-party verification process. Also up in the air is how standards might evolve as green technologies advance; one possibility is instituting quantifiable standards that would result in suppliers receiving a percentile grade, similar to the Energy Star program. The green effort came from executive order 13423, which former president George W. Bush signed in 2007 and mandated better performance on environmental and energy issues by federal agencies. The order expanded and amended aspects of the EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program, which began in 1993 and sets standards for government purchasing on everything from office supplies and carpet to food and landscaping—and now hospitality. Lewis said the EPA’s meetings standards should alleviate confusion for suppliers and subvert greenwashing with “narrow, focused, and comprehensive” benchmarks for all areas of sustainability, upon which consumers can make informed choices.“From the government’s point of view, that’s what it’s all about,” said Lewis. MeetingNews Q&A: DC’s Willard Hotel Embodies Green Herve Houdre, general manager of the Willard InterContinental Washington, has a triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit, resulting in acts of social corporate responsibility leadership Herve Houdre joined the Willard InterContinental Washington as general manager in 2004 and quickly set to work on establishing the “Three Ps”: People, Planet, and Profit. Houdre’s programs are notable for their comprehensiveness—going beyond initiatives like linen reuse and recycling—and have defined the Willard InterContinental as a good local, regional, and global corporate citizen. Examples are supporting cleanup of the Anacostia River, which flows through Washington, DC; getting 100 percent of the hotel’s electricity from wind power through renewable energy credits; maintaining Pershing Park, across the street from the hotel; and even encouraging employees to improve their health through exercise, weight loss, and smoking-cessation. This year, the hotel will sponsor a school in Ethiopia to help students access clean water. Q A What initiative do you personally feel most connected to? Our programs for kids . . . My favorite might be the Cinderella Ball, a prom for teens with significant disabilities. We hosted it last year and assumed 50 percent of the cost, and it was beautiful. This year, we’ll take on 100 percent. It is really so moving, it gives me goose bumps. H —Section by Brad Crawford Houdre’s Six-Step Plan For Green Momentum 1. Be a responsible GM. 2. Create committees. 3. Choose passionate people to sit on these committees and pick dynamic champions to head them. 4. Have regular meetings and participate actively in the choice of projects. 5. Create a roadmap with deadlines and measurements. 6. Celebrate successes and communicate them to employees. Q A Green experts recommend taking baby steps toward sustainability, but you seem to do a lot at once. How? I worked very hard to find things that made sense, and the staff was really behind it from the beginning. You can’t do it without that support . . . And I formed what I call a “new team of transients”—key people here who eventually move on to other hotels. My chief chef went to the Ritz-Carlton. One of my hotel managers is moving on to Kimpton Hotels. I encourage them to adopt similar practices in their new jobs. Q A And are you seeing some of these other hotels follow your lead? The Hay-Adams hotel (in DC) is now 25 percent wind-powered. The general manager, who is a good friend, told me,“We see what you are doing, and we want to do the same.” It does seem to be spreading. We publish an annual sustainability report (available at http://willarddc.com/sd) that I send out first to my colleagues, the GM of the Mandarin, the GM of the Fairmont, the GM of the Park Hyatt, and so on. My goal is to have everyone in our industry do this. www.meetingnews.com February 16, 2009 MeetingNews 19 http://willarddc.com/sd http://willarddc.com/sd http://www.meetingnews.com

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