Download Foodservice Footprint Issue 9 - January 2011

hotel’s carbon emissions in the long term
by 3,000 tonnes of CO 2 per year and its
energy consumption reduced by at least 40
per cent. Major initiatives have included
replacement of four 35-year-old boilers with
new high efficiency, low temperature hot
water boilers. A combined heat and power
(CHP) plant has been installed to reduce
the hotel’s reliance on the national grid
by about 50 per cent. Patterson explains:
“Basically the CHP plant becomes the lead
boiler and uses natural gas to produce
electricity, with the bi-product being hot
water which is used to heat the domestic
hot water and the building.”
Another initiative is the Inncom system
which is designed to switch off the lighting
in guest rooms when guests are out of
the room. “When the guest returns the
lighting is restored as the guest left it,” says
Patterson. “It also allows the temperature
in the guest room to deviate by up to 3°C
each side of the preset temperature of 21°C
when the room is not rented.”
Another innovative system reclaims the
heat from all kitchen appliances to preheat
hot water. “The central compressor plant
for all kitchen fridges and freezers releases
the heat drawn off the refrigeration cycle to
preheat the domestic hot water through a
heat exchanger,” explains Patterson.
The Green Butler
Nicolas Ollivier is the hotel’s first Green
Butler. His services are part of the new
environmental package ‘Elements’ enabling
customers to experience the ‘green’ side of
London. “The butler is there to offer advice
on interesting ‘green’ areas of London,
the best eco restaurants and eco bars,
environmental architecture and eco retail,”
she says. “He is also able to talk about The
Savoy’s own environmental initiatives.”
There’s been so much interest in the
Green Butler concept, that Patterson is
devising a training programme for all the
Savoy’s 14 butlers. “I’m compiling it at the
moment and then it will be rolled out to all
Fairmont hotels,” she says.
Green Partnership Scheme
Patterson has worked for the Savoy for
13 years as PA to the general manager.
When the Fairmont Group took over the
Savoy in 2005, it gave a presentation
and mentioned its green partnership
programme. This was something that
caught Debra’s attention, so she asked the
general manager at the time if she could
run it, becoming the hotel’s Environment
Manager, an additional role.
She says: “There was an enormous
learning curve and it took a year to launch
with lots of trial and error. One of the
biggest problems was finding suppliers with
an environmental background – this was a
huge hurdle. In the last three years, there
has been an explosion in awareness.”
Under the green partnership programme,
Fairmont encourages all its properties to
adopt environmentally-friendly practices to
GREEN ADVICE
FOOTPRINT FEATURE 17
help reduce the carbon impact of the local
environment. All of its hotels are audited on
a quarterly basis.
Green Team
An integral part of the hotel’s environmental
programme, says Debra, is the Green Team.
This has a representative from every hotel
department who has a passion and interest.
“In the early days I was lucky to get anyone,
but now the interest is overwhelming and
we have up to 15 members – sometimes
two people from one department,” she says.
The Green Team holds meetings and goes
through projects such as the herb garden
which will be launched in March 2011. “It
depends on where people’s passion lies – it
could be admin, ideas, poster campaigns,”
she says. “Without the Green Team I couldn’t
manage it. You need a team – it can’t be
a one person job. The Green Team has to
ensure a department acts responsibility and
feeds back information, carrying out training
if necessary. Each team member has a
different role and teaches the rest of their
colleagues.”
She adds that as part of job descriptions,
staff must follow the hotel’s environmental
policy and best practise. Patterson holds staff
inductions where she talks about the Green
Team and the hotel’s environmental policy.
Here is Debra Patterson’s advice on how to be more sustainable and green
• For businesses planning substantial financial investment into carbon reduction
strategies and programmes, my advice would be to engage the services of a
leading environmental consultancy, who will also provide advice on legislation and
regulation.
• At colleague level, every company needs a champion so find who in your company
has a passion for the subject, make them your champion and give them all your
support, including financial where needed. The Engineering or Technical Services
Director is a must on the team as they have the energy usage data.
• Have a small team of representatives from all departments and support their
involvement. Have them set achievable targets and aims.
• Encourage colleague ideas and solutions and act swiftly to solve problems to keep
momentum and interest.
• Keep your colleagues motivated, as they are what makes any programme a
success, so reward successes and make it fun.
• Culture – The Savoy includes environmental-responsibility in job descriptions and
introduces the theme at the induction stage and in departmental training – this
builds awareness of best practices into the culture and daily operations.
• It is important to keep records and data for auditing purposes as this will help you
to monitor your progress year on year and highlight areas that need attention.
Further information: The Savoy www.fairmont.com/savoy
www.brewsterswaste.co.uk www.pdm.group.co.uk www.ukosplc.com
ww.thames21.org.uk www.evolveenergy.com