Green Plus Issu 14

ARCHITECTURE
By SARAWUT BURAPAPAT
Ahead of schedule
Wyndham Worldwide reaches carbon emissions goal six years earlier
Tourism and hospitality
business is considered as
the world’s largest consumer
(Lam & Ng, 1994).
The large amount of
energy has been consumed
through transportation, travelling, accommodation
and related tourism and hospitality
business. In addition, forms of tourism
have been changed, since people prefer to
travel according to their interests. Therefore,
there are the emerged of new tourism forms
to support the various needs of tourists, or
called ‘Special interest tourism’, for example,
eco-tourism is one of the tourism forms that
preferred for people who interest and care
about the environment, wild life, nature and
also the incoming concept of ‘Sustainable
tourism’.
Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN),
one of the world’s largest hospitality companies
announced recently it reached its carbon
emissions goal six years ahead of schedule.
The Company achieved a 20 percent reduction
in carbon emissions (measured on a per
square foot basis), well-surpassing its goal.
The reduction is equivalent to saving more
than 14 million gallons of gasoline.
“This is a huge achievement for a company
with such a wide and diverse global portfolio,
and especially one in the hospitality industry,”
said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and chief
executive officer, Wyndham Worldwide. “Our
commitment to sustainability as one of our
top strategic priorities is critical to the longterm
success of our business, and our continued
drive is the result of an incredible commitment
that aligns sustainability with effective
business operations.”
As one of the largest hospitality companies,
Wyndham Worldwide accommodates millions
of travelers every day through its hospitality
portfolio that includes everything
from hotels to vacation ownership resorts
to vacation rentals to holiday parks in nearly
100 countries. This news follows the signings
of 26 managed and franchised properties
for Wyndham Hotel Group so far this year
in South East Asia. With operationally controlled
assets including owned, managed and
leased properties in all of its business units,
the Company tracks, measures and reports
on more than 50 million square feet across
its global hospitality portfolio.
As further proof of its industry-leading
best practices, Wyndham Worldwide was
once again named to the Dow Jones North
America and World Sustainability Indices
for the third consecutive year. The Company
is one of three hospitality companies, and is
the Index Leader for the hospitality sector for
both the North American and World indices.
The Company showed strong performance
across the assessed criteria, specifically in the
areas of its Environmental and Economic programs.
The Dow Jones Sustainability Index
is one of the most recognized sustainability
performance rating tools, with the Index
identifying leaders in the areas of sustainable
economic, environmental and social
performance.
“Our progress has earned us industry distinctions
that recognize the value we aim to
create for our shareholders, our associates, our
partners and communities, and is a reflection
of our dedicated teams and partnerships that
deliver tangible and meaningful results,” said
Faith Taylor, senior vice president, corporate
social responsibility, Wyndham Worldwide.
“These accolades validate our ongoing
journey. But, we never rest on any success,
and we continue to build on our success and
raise the bar. Today, we are announcing our
new goal to reduce our energy and water by
25 percent by 2025.”
Since setting its goal in 2010, Wyndham
Worldwide has reduced its carbon emissions
through:
the Wyndham Green Toolbox, a proprietary
state-of-the-art eco-software program
that tracks and measures environmental
impact for the Company’s wide range of hospitality
and office properties;
becoming more efficient in energy and
water usage. Energy production and consumption
(electricity, natural gas, fuel oil,
propane) is the leading cause of carbon
emissions. Water conservation reduces the
amount of water used, and therefore reduces
the energy demand to produce and move the
water;
an environmental certification program for
the Company’s participating timeshare properties,
a first for the hospitality industry.
Additionally, in the Company’s fifth
year of formal sustainability reporting, its
recently released 2014-2015 Corporate Social
Responsibility Report details its strong,
industry-leading commitment to socially
and environmentally responsible business
practices.
Ramada Plaza Bangkok Menam Riverside,
Thailand, part of Wyndham hotel group,
recipient of Green Leaf Award and Nonsmoking
hotel award, the property demonstrates
a range of green practices for sustainability.
Green policies and procedures
are entrenched in day-to-day activities on
site, and are an important factor in management’s
planning. Tracking and measuring
the utility consumption, contain costs, and
manage detailed information that will allow
it to see trends and from that target strengths
and opportunities. Larger scope - external
(RFPS) and internal (educate our employees)
communication becoming more efficient
and really reducing the environmental
impact created by our hotels’ operation.
This system called CA technologies for this
Environmental Management Systems that is
internally called the Wyndham Green Tool
Box .
Examples of this hotel’s sustainable actions
include: using high-efficiency lighting technology
on more than 75 percent of light fixtures; providing
shuttle boat passes to guests and employees
to promote public transportation use; and
implementing a linen and towel reuse program
for guests.
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Greenplus TM MARCH 2016