February 14, 2000 - HVS International’s Christopher
J. Balfe, president of the firm’s Eco Services Division, has just announced
that Hilton International in Japan has become the first hotel chain to
attain ECOTEL® Certification for its five properties in that country.
All five properties -- the Hilton Tokyo Bay, the Hilton Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya
and Otaru are now “Three Globe” members of the ECOTEL collection of hotels
worldwide.
| “The Hilton Tokyo Bay became East
Asia’s first ECOTEL®-certified property in April 1998,” says Balfe.
“Over the course of the last year, it helped its sister properties implement
and perfect the environmental initiatives required to pass their ECOTEL®
inspections.” All five of these Hilton hotels earned awards
in the categories of Environmental Commitment, Solid Waste Management,
and Employee Education & Community Involvement.
The ECOTEL® Certification was established in 1994 by HVS Eco
Services, an environmental consulting firm dedicated exclusively to the
lodging industry, with the assistance of hospitality and environmental
experts, including the Rocky Mountain Institute. HVS Eco |
The Tokyo Bay Hilton, an official hotel
of Tokyo Disneyland, is located on the eastern shores of Tokyo Bay adjacent
to the Magical Park, 30 minutes away from Tokyo. The crescent building
has 743 guest rooms, 9 restaurants & bars.
|
Services creates practical, cost-effective programs to upgrade the environmental
performance of existing and developing hotels and resorts. The ECOTEL®
certification requires such high levels of accomplishment of the criteria,
that to date, only 39 hotels and lodging facilities worldwide have been
awarded ECOTEL® certification.
The ECOTEL® Certification consists of five Globes, each individually
awarded for excellence in the areas of: environmental commitment,
solid waste management, energy efficiency, water conservation and preservation,
and employee environmental education & community involvement.
There are only three hotels in the world which currently hold all 5 Globes:
The Benjamin in New York City, and the Arco Iris and Lapa Rios in Costa
Rica.
In Japan, each of the five Hilton hotels had designated “Green Teams”
to implement the numerous initiatives for environmental awareness.
To maintain their ECOTEL® designation the hotels will be inspected
every two years. As ECOTEL® certification keeps up with the rapid
pace of environmental efforts in the hospitality industry, the hotels must
meet more rigid standards with each consecutive, and unannounced, inspection.
Eco Services
HVS International
| Eco Services is the environmental consulting division of HVS dedicated
exclusively to the hospitality industry. The company helps hoteliers develop
property-specific environmental programs. These programs successfully
lower operating expenses and increase revenues by optimizing energy efficiency
and water conservation, and by streamlining solid waste management through
recycling, reusing and conserving costly resources.
HVS Eco Services specializes in designing, implementing and monitoring
comprehensive environmental programs for both existing and developing hotels.
Because each lodging property has different needs and goals that are driven
by cost, return on investment, program visibility, guest expectations,
employee involvement, community influence, and other factors, HVS Eco Services
tailors distinctive programs for each property. Hotels that are able to
demonstrate a heightened level of environmental sensitivity are awarded
the ECOTEL®. This seal is the standard by which lodging facilities
can measure their environmental performance and on which environmentally
conscious travelers can base their lodging decisions.
Evaluation
HVS Eco Services provides an in-depth, professional environmental assessment
of the property’s equipment, facilities and operating procedures, and prepares
a summary report that identifies problems and opportunities, outlines recommendations
and implementation strategies and details a cost-benefit analysis to illustrate
the savings. The evaluation includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Solid Waste Management - Solid waste reduction, reuse, and recycling
strategies will be evaluated; waste disposal service and equipment suppliers
will be selected; and the procurement of waste storage facilities will
be addressed.
Energy Efficiency - A detailed energy audit will be conducted
by certified engineers to identify energy and cost-saving tactics, isolate
the most viable rebate programs and to establish standard operating procedures.
Water Conservation - Conservation and preservation efforts, consumption
patterns and rates, and related equipment will be analyzed; standard operating
procedures will be established.
Project Coordination & Employee Education - On-site program
implementation and education seminars will be performed to facilitate program
start-up, efficiency and payback.
Community Involvement - Relationships between the client hotel
and various community organizations will be established.
Legislative Review - Federal, state, and local environmental
regulations will be addressed to ensure that the property complies with
all applicable environmental laws.
Special Events - Distinctive, memorable environmental and cultural
events such as Earth Day celebrations, charitable fundraisers and guest
lectures will
be designed and coordinated.
|
HVS Eco Services is a division of HVS International, the leading global
hospitality consulting firm. HVS International was established in
1980 to satisfy the growing demand for reliable and well-documented hotel
market studies and feasibility reports. Today, with a staff of more
than 100 specialists in 11 offices around the world, HVS offers a truly
comprehensive range of hospitality consulting services, including asset
management, food & beverage, timeshare consulting, investment services,
marketing communications, executive search, and operational and management
strategy development. |
