Web Site Helps Intercontinental Hotels Group Go Green
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Replacing a regular lightbulb with a compact fluorescent one will cut half a ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during that bulb’s life, says David Jerome, senior vice president of corporate responsibility for global hotel company InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG), which reported 2008 revenues of $1.85 billion from property brands that include Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza. Replacing lightbulbs in its more than 4,200 hotels is just one of the efforts IHG says it is exploring in its drive to be an environmental leader in the tourism industry.
The company plans to capture ideas through Innovation Hotel, a new interactive Website that lets users suggest how hotels can get more green and also provide feedback on others’ ideas. IHG executives review comments from the site, Jerome says, and make evaluations based on two key criteria: ROI and customer acceptance. The best ideas will be released to the company’s hotel owners and managers through a new software system called Green Engage, explains Jerome.
IHG reports that trials have shown potential energy savings of up to 25 percent per hotel. If fully adopted by all IHG hotels, the savings in annual operational costs could be as much as $200 million companywide, explains IHG CEO Andrew Cosslett. “The real impact comes from doing more than just one or two of those things, and doing them across 4,200 hotels,” he says. “That’s how we’re going to make a real and sustainable impact.”
