Fairmont Offers Cost Savings Guide To Hotels During Difficult Economy

NEW YORK— At a time when hotels are cutting costs and jobs in an effort to cope with the faltering economy, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is stepping up marketing efforts for its second edition Green Partnership Guide, which teaches hotels how save money and help the environment simultaneously. Originally released in February, the guide details everything hotels need to start, maintain and grow an environmental program, including information on reducing operating costs, keeping employees motivated, and tracking savings. “We’ve been marketing the book pretty consistently since February,” said Lyle Thompson, manager environmental affairs/Fairmont. “The hotel industry crisis resulting from September 11 has accelerated our efforts, because we think it’s a good way to show hotels how to save money by helping the environment.” Fairmont’s environmentally friendly initiatives stem from long before the current downturn in the economy and the highly-publicized energy crisis in California. Beginning in 1990, Canadian Pacific Hotels— now Fairmont Hotels & Resorts— undertook the development of an environmental program for all of its hotels in Canada. Phase one of the program focused on creating extensive recycling programs, donating used soaps to charities, reducing paper consumption by 30%, and installing water conserving appliances such as showerheads and toilet dams. “When phase one was completed we had 70% of all of our goals completed at our hotels,” said Thompson. Phase two of program, launched in 1998, took on broader issues like giving back to the community through its Adopt-a-Shelter program, protecting endangered species living near its hotels, diverting organic waste from landfill to compost alternatives, phasing out individual sized packages for sugar and creamer, purchasing “environmentally friendly” products, and reducing landfill and paper waste by 50% and 20% respectively. Phase two also included launching a second edition to its Green Partnership Guide. “We sold 10,000 copies of our first edition,” he said. “We found that other companies really wanted the book.” Now with the economic downfall crushing the travel industry, more companies are turning to Fairmont’s guide as a way to cut costs. “We’ve sold hundreds of copies of the new edition… We don’t see it as helping the competition. We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do,” he added. After instituting some of the green guide incentives, many Fairmont hotels have seen significant yearly savings. For example, the Fairmont Hamilton Princess began cleaning and reusing its HVAC filters and generated a savings of $25,606. The Fairmont Waterfront installed motion detectors and saved $10,075. In addition, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise saved $37,230 through a cafeteria waste audit. The property has also received a “Five Green Leaf Eco-Rating” from the Hotel Association of Canada for its many high-tech environmental programs, including using renewable energy sources. Currently the property receives 20% of its power from wind, water, and solar generated energy.