T
he well-known tradition of Peabody Hotels’ March of the Peabody Ducks evolved from an idea presented by a hotel associate and his friend. And for more than 70 years now, it has become a much-anticipated experience for guests staying at the brand’s properties in Memphis, Little Rock and Orlando. It is this spirit of creativity and employee participation that continues at The Peabody Orlando, where management has created a culture that values associate input in enhancing day-to-day operations. This is especially true when it comes to implementing sustainability initiatives that help operate The “Greener” Peabody Orlando.
Serious commitment
The Peabody Orlando has been committed to sustainable operating practices since its opening more than 25 years ago. Recently, sustainability has become a hot topic in the hospitality industry as we continue to find new ways to provide our guests with exceptional luxury experiences that are eco-friendly as well. Developing sustainability initiatives that will both improve operational efficiency and guest experience is a challenge for many hoteliers.
This year, The Peabody Orlando ramped up its efforts to become one of the most eco-friendly hotels in the world while, at the same time, being recognized as the nation’s top-ranked meetings hotel on Cvent’s annual list of the “Top 100 Meetings Hotels in the United States.” How did we become more green, more efficient and earn such a tremendous honor? Strategic community partnerships and associate engagement.
Communication and education in our local community and with our associates is critical to sustaining our success. The Peabody Orlando has a Sustainability Committee, several sub-committees, and Department Ambassadors who promote eco-friendly practices within the hotel. Our Sustainability Ambassadors utilize their daily departmental meetings to educate and train associates on sustainability practices both at home and at the hotel, as well as solicit ideas for new initiatives. In fact, it was an associate’s idea from one such meeting that helped us find a new way to conserve water in the Peabody Ducks’ fountain. Feedback from our associates prompted the engineering team to retrofit the lobby atrium fountain to recycle water when the Peabody Ducks are not in the fountain, saving 4,800 gallons of water each day.
Engagement with our associates led to another opportunity for us to provide a unique service to our guests with the installation of our first ChargePoint electric vehicle chargers in our self-parking garage. ChargePoint stations offer a convenient location for guests to charge electric vehicles during their stay, and further enhance our robust sustainability program. Through our participation in the ChargePoint America program sponsored by Coulomb Technologies and NovaCharge, The Peabody Orlando will be part of a growing network of forward-thinking Orlando hotels to offer ChargePoint electric vehicle charging stations. The Peabody Orlando was selected as one location in Orlando, which is one of nine regions in the country that is receiving this infrastructure as part of the objective to accelerate the development and production of electronic vehicles to substantially reduce petroleum consumption, reduce greenhouse gas production and create jobs through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the Department of Energy. Both our guests and local community have truly embraced the new ChargePoint stations at The Peabody Orlando. Ford Motor Company actually chose to reveal their new Focus Electric, the auto manufacturer’s first zero-emissions, all-electric passenger car to the Orlando market with a Local Discussion on Electrification at The Peabody Orlando.
Through our green-thinking culture, we have been able to nurture such collaborations and create innovative solutions that improve efficiency for our guests. Professional meeting planners have found enormous value in our sustainability measures as well. Progress Energy, another strategic partnership that developed through input from our associates, created an algorithm that calculates the cost of “carbon neutral” meetings. Additionally, meeting planners enjoy the abundance of natural light in The Peabody Orlando’s expansive meeting space. The widespread use of glass allows for the maximum amount of natural light in the building thereby reducing daytime energy consumption. Further, “Low-e” insulated glass was used throughout the hotel to reduce incoming heat and the need for air conditioning.
Broad appeal
Both business and leisure travelers enjoy the benefits of the hotel’s culinary commitments to sustainability as well. The Peabody Orlando’s chefs purchase locally grown and organic products whenever possible, including organic and biodynamic wines and fair trade coffees, creating a truly farm-to-fork dining experience for guests. As part of the hotel’s dining experience, guests are also served water by Eco-Spring, an eco-friendly bottled water company, which helps save 33 1/3 sq. ft. of rainforest per bottle, through our partnership with Cool Earth. The Eco-Spring water bottle actually even covers its own carbon footprint over 200 times. Our chefs also follow Marine Stewardship Council guidelines for purchasing wild-caught fish and seafood. And these are just the sustainability measures in our culinary department that guests can actually see in action. Behind-the-scenes, we have partnered with Waste Management to implement a successful pre-consumer organics diversion program. Recently, we added post-consumer organics to this program. Due to the high-level of diverted food products that have less than one percent contamination, Waste Management allows us to supplement their program with post consumer foods and proteins. Since its inception, our Organics Recycling Program has diverted more than 46 tons of food waste from the general landfill in only a few short months.
As we continue to grow our sustainability program and share our strides with the hospitality industry, we must continue to support the creativity of our associates. Just as the March of the Peabody Ducks grew from a two-man idea to an endearing attraction known all over the world, we have learned that encouraging open communication with our associates invites them to share ideas that can make a huge impact on our hotel operations, our guests and our environment. Together, we can create a sustainable hospitality industry—one creative idea at a time.
Michael Jueds serves as the director of engineering for The Peabody Orlando, where he’s responsible for maintaining the building, grounds and physical plant with particular attention towards safety, security and asset protection, while also managing the budget, capital expenditure projects, preventative maintenance and energy conservation of the hotel. Prior to joining The Peabody Orlando, Jueds served as the director of property operations for the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, CA, where he directed onsite operations for the hotel since it’s opening in 2008. In this role, he successfully structured and implemented the first hotel-based food recycling program in San Diego, along with a guestroom amenity and linen diversion/donation program. In addition to his directorial role at the hotel, Jueds served as an engineering operational support specialist for 21 Hilton Hotel properties in three states.