NEWH - Spring 2012 - (Page 20)

Q&A Meet Dina Belon principal, Rush Hospitality, and NEWH’s VP sustainable hospitality Did you always know you wanted to go into design? and Change the World Today.’ I think this is the most innovative brand in the market today, and we are really excited to be involved. I had three di erent majors in college before I settled on interior design, however, the day I graduated from college, my mother told me she always wanted to be an interior designer and had never told me, so I guess it was my destiny. When I was looking for my rst job, I wanted to work in hospitality and was lucky enough to get hired right out of school by a PTI (Pamela Temples Interiors); Pam gave me lots of responsibility early on, and I learned so much. What are some of the challenges in the industry today? You worked at both Wyndham and Marriott. What are some of your greatest lessons learned? At Marriott, one of the senior executives told me once the most successful managers of people are ‘service managers,’ where they see their job as supporting the people that work for them; doing what it takes to make their direct reports’ jobs easier. I remembered that and when I was managing 40 people at Wyndham, I tried to be that kind of manager. Truly sustainable hotels that not only protect the environment and support their local community but also improve the economic viability and stability for the owner is the biggest challenge I believe the hospitality industry is facing today. With the current economic environment, hotel owners are looking for an alternative that makes economic sense. Research from the USGBC shows green buildings can reduce electricity consumption by 24-50 percent; water consumption by 40 percent; and green buildings average eight to nine percent operating cost savings and seven and a half percent average building value increase. With these kinds of gures the economics of sustainable renovation is clear. Energy and water are huge part of the operating cost of any hotel; these kinds of savings drop a lot of pro t right to the bottom line. Why did you start Rush Hospitality? I have always felt a con ict between working in the development business and my personal ‘tree-hugger’ ethos, so when I left Wyndham I took a few months o to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I decided I needed to do something that aligned with my beliefs and Rush Hospitality was born. I found great partners, Rush Construction, that also believed in sustainability and we have created a business that provides sustainable renovations to all of our clients; it is just the way we do business. I truly believe success for any business should be based on the triple bottom line—people, planet, and pro t, not just Wall Street’s version of capitalism. Check out an organization called B Lab; it is a nonpro t organization dedicated to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Lab, certi es B Corporations, the same way USGBC certi es LEED buildings. B Corps, unlike traditional businesses, meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards; meet higher legal accountability standards; and build business constituency for public policies that support sustainable business. As the incoming VP of Sustainability, what are some of your initiatives for the year? We are going to be putting on a one-day, online sustainable hospitality conference with great educational content in September. We are also continuing with the great support of our sponsors JLF/lone meadow and Valley Forge Fabrics the Sustainable Design Competition and Scholarship award, which will be announced at the Hospitality Design Exposition & Conference (HD Expo) in Las Vegas; we are also developing a portion of the sustainable content for the tradeshow. e NEWH Leadership Conference, January 25-26th in San Francisco, will also have sustainable educational content, so education is really the top of our priority list. We are also working on improving the NEWH Sustainable Hospitality directory, which will be merged into the main NEWH directory, with the sustainable vendors getting a special green leaf that you can click on and see their answers to a sustainable questionnaire. You also are on the Hospitality Advocacy Committee for USGBC’s Central Florida chapter. What is one recent project you are most proud of? We are currently the sustainability consultant for a new hotel brand called Adoba, and we are working on their rst conversion project in Rapid City, South Dakota. e Adoba Eco Hotel & Suites brand exempli es the best green hotel concept the industry has to o er and will become the new standard to which the next generation of hotels strive to emulate. It is innovative and pushing the hospitality industry standards on gainful, environmental responsible buildings. e brand’s tagline is ‘Travel with a Purpose 20 www.newh.org We have created a bold program to make Orlando the greatest green destination in the world by creating a total sustainable experience—from the moment a visitor steps o the plane, to the transportation to their hotel, their stay at local lodging, their daily activities (be it a conference or family vacation), and back to the airport. e program is called Green Destination Orlando (GDO), and the pilot program, which we completed at the end of 2011, has already garnered national attention and has become the basis for the pilot of a national USGBC program that will encourage other hospitality destinations to follow suit. ❙❘❚ http://www.newh.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - Spring 2012

NEWH - Spring 2012
Contents
News
Who’s Who
Sustainability: Point of View
Q&A: Julia Marks
Q&A: Dina Belon
Have You Seen?
Product Know How
On the Scene
On The Cover: ISG
Project: Best Western Plus
Project: Westport Inn
Save the Date
New Members
Partner Profiles
Ad Index

NEWH - Spring 2012