Malaica Hotels Decarbonising Strategy: Energy Efficiency & Sustainability

Malaica Hotels Property CO2 Emissions

Discuss about the Malaica Hotels Decarbonising Strategy.

Energy is responsible for 60% of  many organizations’ carbon footprint, and hotels can reduce this percentage by using low-cost but highly efficeint green energy initiatives that will produce excellent results (“How to reduce energy”, 2015). Hotels are taking action to keep their hotels in business and reduce the impact of their activities on the environment but they do not have enough tools to make sure their structures are constrained regarding their sustainability standards. One way in which they can strengthen the value of their brands’ sustainability policies is by including sustainability clauses in their operating agreements that define the measures that can be included, and their mode of regulation (Ricaurte, 2011). Energy is easy to monitor, control and reduce. Hotels can calculate their carbon footprint using the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HMCI) tool (“Carbon calculation”, 2014). Green hotels are properties that can be sustainable environmentally, with the management being willing to put measures in place that save on water, energy, and reduce waste accrued form solid matter as it saves money to protect the earth (“Green Hotels Association,” n.d).

Malaica Hotel understands that bold steps in energy conservation have to be taken in order for the hotel to rise above its competition and stay relevant in the industry. One of its goals is to decarbonise hotel operations and use energy saving measures. It is a 4-star hotel that has many facilities and amenities, all using a lot of energy. The hotel has 100 rooms, 3 restaurants and kitchens, 1 laundry outlet that is attached to the housekeeping department, 2 swimming pools, a spa, gym and quad biking within its large parcel of land. The hotel plans to increase its room capacity by 50% either by adding a storey to existing structures, or by building on the acreage available. It plans to increase its room capacity in line with energy saving standards. As the Project Manager of the hotel, I have been tasked with reviewing its carbonizing strategy by 2020. I will explain Malaica Hotel’s property CO2 emissions and how we will achieve energy efficiency in pursuit of this goal.

The reduction of the hotel’s energy costs will create significant increases in revenue because energy prices and consumption rates are high at the moment. Malaica Hotel is a large business, with a huge consumption of energy. The facilities are in different buildings, leading to a less energy efficient mode of energy conservation. If the facilities had been constructed in one building, the cost of energy would have been lower. The local energy policies have affected the price of energy and the CO2 emissions, leading to high prices and consumption. The growth in hotel occupancy and new standards of living and consumption has led to an increase in our energy consumption. More facilities and services have been added over the years, with more intensive use of appliances and operating equipment. There are over 1,000 light fixtures in the hotel and they all consume a lot of electricity.

Energy Efficiency Measures

Malaica Hotel consumes a lot of energy through temperature regulation for heating, hot water and air conditioning. It can reduce this overuse by setting temperature levels that are moderate inside the properties to avoid the extremes of temperatures being either too hot or too cold. Thermostats should be installed in the rooms to regulate the heating and water temperatures. The air conditioning systems will be renovated to include thermostats that are cooled down when no guests are using the facilities. Many of the rooms in the hotel have light bulbs that are high-consumption. We will install low-consumption bulbs and energy saving mini bars and TVs. Motion sensors installed in the guest rooms will automatically turn lights on or off when a person walks into a room or leaves it, and key cards will also be used for the rooms to stop usage when rooms are vacant. Our kitchen cookers use an average of 0.45 kg CO2 per kWh, therefore energy efficient stoves should be installed. The refrigeration systems are vast in the hotel due to the many activities undertaken that create a demand for cold drinks. Their use should be minimized and energy rated in order to reduce the CO2 emissions (Gill et al., 2012).

Appliances in the kitchen should be changed to the energy-efficient kind and the kitchen grease generated should be turned into bio-dynamic fuel. The laundry department generates high CO2 emissions, so towels and linens should be reused, if guests allow it, with energy efficient equipment being used to clean all laundry. In our offices, electronic appliances will be used minimally and computers will be switched of when not in use. Renewable energy technology produces energy received from nature like the sun and wind, resulting in less dependence on fossil fuels (Yalcintas & Kaya, 2009). Solar panels will be installed in all of Malaica Hotel’s facilities, especially for water heating, in order to reduce on electricity consumption. The panels will be used continuously and exclusively during the warm seasons of the year. The hotel staff should be trained on energy saving measures, and guests’ awareness on the same issue is to be raised.

Huge savings can be realized by asking guests who are staying for more than one night to reuse their towels and bedding. This will save energy for the hotel, water and staff time. However, the program of reuse, if it is to be successful, must be followed through. The hotel is paying almost 40% of the energy bill towards reheating water. Its steam and hot water needs are huge, and the laundry system should provide an opportunity to reduce energy costs. Washing machines should be loaded to the nominal capacity. In the plans to build 50 more guest rooms, Malaica Hotel will use green energy. The new rooms will adopt new cost saving methods of heating and lighting. The building design technique used will maximize on the available sunlight and incorporate natural ventilation to reduce on the energy use. The building will have lots of shade for the periods when the temperature is too high.  All of the above are goals that Malaica Hotel plans to implement by 2020, to help in the reduction of our carbon footprint, save energy and make more profits due to a reduction in expenditures (Schmidt, Schneider & Hoffmann, 2012).

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Waste is a useful resource that can be used to reduce energy requirements. Malaica Hotel can use it to generate energy, thereby reducing its carbon emissions. Composting of waste would also reduce the hotel’s carbon emissions to a huge percentage. Bottled water, which is preferred by all of our guests, takes up a lot of energy in its processing and transportation. The bottles used for the water are mostly non-degradable, leading to a destruction of the environment. Therefore, Malaica Hotel should have two options. One is to ask the clients to use our tap water which is very clean and safe for consumption. The other would be for the hotel to bottle its own water with recycled bottles, in order to reduce the environmental impact.

Malaica Hotel will engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in order to adopt sustainable measures that will contribute to sustainable economic development. CSRs are defined as the basic principles by which a hotel can practice sustainability (Bohdanowicz & Hawkins, 2011). The initiatives instituted voluntarily by Malaica Hotel will help the hotel to practice responsible business practices and improve on service performance by the use of standardized responsible business policies. The measures used will also increase the efficiency of the services offered in all the facilities. The hotel clients will also have a better experience, if they cooperate, towards lessening the carbon footprint of the hotel as they enjoy the services provided.

The dependence by many organizations on fossil fuels needs to be reduced; therefore an alternative energy supply is critical in shifting the energy supply to more sustainable options. Energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies should be used to reduce the carbon footprints of hotels (Cabrini, 2009). There are some experts who have accused hotels of green washing (Abraham, 2009). There has been a rise in the number of hotels that are using green energy but some of them are accused of using it only as a marketing ploy to attract customers without providing the actual green measurements. Yet, there are hotels that actually implement the green measures to reduce costs and for their social responsibility (Abraham, 2009). Energy conservation saves costs, and studies indicate that 20% energy savings can be instituted by adding energy conservation and energy-efficiency measures in hotels (Bohdanowisz & Hawkins, 2011; Kok, McGraw, & Quigley, 2011; Simpson et al., 2008).

There has been an existing gap between the motivations for companies to adopt sustainable energy measures, and the actual use of these measures. These motivations have been studied with perspectives on what prevents hotel managers from adopting sustainable measures (Graci, 2008). Some managers avoid implementing the measures because they see them as being an unnecessary expenditure, while others see the measures as being too expensive to implement. Many prioritize cost-effective measures with the aim of bringing recognition to their efforts at work. They invest in sustainable practices that will be visibly seen and appreciated by their guests as they facilitate marketing of their green efforts.

References

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Yalcintas, M., & Kaya, A. (2009). Conservation vs. renewable energy: Cases studies from Hawaii. Energy Policy, 37(8), 3268–3273.