VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA— CHIP Hospitality, a Canadian hotel management company, reported that its the first hotel chain in Canada to have 29 of its hotels receive a national eco-friendly certification. Each property has received a “three-leaf or higher certification” from the Hotel Association of Canadas Green Leaf Eco-Rating program. The program rates hotels to five Green Leafs based on a checklist of environmental best practices. Five smaller CHIP properties are not included in the Green Leaf program; however, they all have energy efficient programs in place. To date, CHIP has spent roughly $3.5 million on new equipment and conservation programs to bring its hotels up to three Green leafs, and three hotels up to four. Energy consumption, including electricity, natural gas, propane, oil and steam, has dropped 7% at participating hotels between 1999 and 2002, noted the company.
