Does your hotel offer meeting and/or conference rooms? Have you noticed a trend in the RFPs you receive from groups asking about your “green” or “sustainable” initiatives? All signs point to a broad increase in this trend.

Even in the current recession, business meetings represent a staggering $175 billion industry in the United States alone, and Americans undertake more than 400 million long-distance business trips each year. Don’t let your hotel miss an opportunity to win its share of the group business.

Despite a global recession, investment in energy efficiency has remained high, according to the Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) released June 3, 2010 by Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI). As found in this report, cost savings are the primary motivation for sustainable Hotelberatung investments, which 97% of respondents consider significant. Or, as Dennis Quaintance , CEO of Proximity Hotels (the first LEED Platinum certified hotel), said, ” Going broke is not sustainable.”

What is a Green Meeting?

The Convention Industry Council (CIC) presented this definition: “A green meeting or event incorporates environmental considerations to minimize its negative impact on the environment.” There are nearly limitless ways to make a meeting greener—and many of them offer ways to save money and increase efficiency.

Event planners will look at many aspects of your hotel’s sustainability efforts, including such areas as:

• Food and Beverage: Are you maximizing the use of reusable rather than single-use glassware, cutlery, tablecloths, etc.?
• Registration and exhibitions: do you use electronic communication on paper as much as possible? Do you encourage exhibitors to do the same?
• Location: Do you offer shuttle service or local transport? Are attractions and entertainment nearby to reduce vehicle emissions?
• Do you currently have an energy and water conservation program?

Why are green meetings becoming more common?

There are many reasons why this green trend is growing exponentially around the world. Consumers and businesses are becoming more aware of their “carbon footprint” and as more businesses feel the pressure to set sustainability goals, they are increasingly asking their employees to stay in green certified hotels. Companies under scrutiny from the public sector (e.g. government agencies) don’t want to convey a mixed message to the public – they want to help the planet but ignore a hotel’s approach to sustainability when planning a company meeting. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a staggering 93,000 federal employees travel to 8,000 locations across the country every business day. Travelers from the state alone use 24 million hotel room nights in the United States each year. Now add to that number companies big and small that are striving for sustainability and the totals can be staggering.

Are green meetings an example of ” greenwashing “?

When a product or building (e.g. a hotel) advertises its merits as ‘green’ but does so in a misleading or exaggerated manner, this is known as ‘ greenwashing ‘. This can be a difficult label to break as guests and/or groups may feel they have been misled, or worse. Many green standards are still in their infancy and are therefore poorly defined . No need to try to fool meeting and event planners as many of them are looking for sustainability efforts and will be pleased with your progress, goals made so far and the goals you have set for yourself. Similar to social media, it is important to be transparent.

Green meetings can have a huge impact on our environment. Most hotels buy more products in a week than 100 families typically buy in a year. By initiating green goals like recycle, reduce, and reuse, you can feel confident that you’re helping the environment in a big way, improving your revenue stream, and reducing many of your operational costs.

Who supports Green Meetings?

Depending on where in the world your hotel(s) are located, various government, for-profit and non-profit organizations step in to support and encourage hoteliers to go green. There is a wealth of information available to help you (you can find some excellent websites at the end of this publication) and the number of green experts available for advice or engagement is Hotelberatung growing every month.

Through such collaborations, some hotel brands have now “pre-certified” some of their prototypes. For example, Marriott has launched such a prototype for its Courtyard hotels. By taking advantage of “volume certification” or “portfolio certification,” Marriott can save property owners approximately $100,000 in design and other costs and approximately six months of design time. Other prototype brands are to follow.

As Michael Kawecki , LEED AP, GA and owner of Axiom Sustainable Consulting, LLC, states, “With volume certification, each credit is documented based on region, and then further documentation is provided during construction. For example, instead of energy-modeling each business, a prototype is modeled in each climate zone, and then that model is good for all future business.” It’s easy to see how this type of certification could save hotel owners a lot of work and incorporate it into their group meetings .

Hyatt Hotels also undertakes numerous green initiatives. Jim Milkovich , corporate vice president of purchasing at Hyatt Hotels Corp., explains that Hyatt has won its convention hotels in part because of its green initiatives for group business. In an interview with Buyer Interactive ‘s Beth Kormanik , Milkovich says , “If you can show a meeting planner how you reduce, recycle, and reuse products throughout the hotel and how your employees are involved in the process, then don’t do it for this meeting, but it’s in your culture – that’s what’s really obvious to these meeting planners.”