Green Lodging News, lodging’s leading environmental news source, and Greenview, a leader in advancing hotel sustainability, have released the Green Lodging Trends Report 2016. The report details the results of the first annual Green Lodging Survey conducted earlier this year and is available at no cost by clicking here. The report is based on data from more than 2,000 hotels in 44 countries and covers topics ranging from air quality to energy management to staff involvement. The report includes results of more than 100 questions asked in 11 categories.

Supporters of this year’s survey include The Arbor Day Foundation, Travelife, Green Key Global, Mekong Tourism Office, Horwath HTL Asia Pacific and Clean the World. The Green Lodging Survey is sponsored by Pineapple Hospitality, Aquawing Ozone Laundry Systems, PragmaTech Ltd. and reCollect2 Co.

bulk-dispensers“I am excited to announce the release of this groundbreaking report,” says Glenn Hasek, Publisher & Editor of Green Lodging News. “Since hatching the idea for the report more than a year ago, Greenview and Green Lodging News have worked hard to develop a survey that would uncover the most common, best and most innovative practices, determine what is trending, and create a mechanism for tracking continuous improvement. This report does just that. We owe a huge thank you to the survey’s sponsors and supporters for their assistance with this project.”

“If you ask most hoteliers if their hotel is green, they’ll say yes and list some basic practices or for a small portion, their certification,” says Eric Ricaurte, Founder & CEO, Greenview. “But how do they really know if they are keeping up with their competitors on the green front? The Green Lodging Survey gives us all insight into what hotels are doing, should be doing, and where to improve. And collectively, we can accelerate best practices together.”

Some 2016 Report Highlights

 Some highlights of the Green Lodging Trends Report 2016:
•Most respondents (65 percent) indicated they currently offer a 100 percent nonsmoking environment for guests.
•Seventy percent said they have moved at least 75 percent of their lighting to LEDs.
•Seventy-one percent said they practice recycling in all common areas of the property.
 One-half of respondents indicate they sub-meter water consumption.
•Sixty-nine percent said they reuse graywater (water from sinks, showers, baths, washing machines, dishwashers).
•Sixty-two percent said at least 50 percent of the green cleaning products used are certified by a third party.
•Fifty-two percent told us they grow food ingredients, such as herbs or vegetables, on-site.
•Less than half of respondents said they allocate space on their websites for the sharing of green practices.
•Among respondents in the Americas, 82 percent said they have someone in charge of green initiatives.
•Seventy-three percent said they give employees the opportunity to volunteer their time and services toward various environmental events and campaigns during regular working hours.
•Forty-four percent said they sustainability-specific requirements in their procurement of goods and services from suppliers.
•Sixteen percent said climate change has no impact at all in their decisions to make operational improvements and investments.

low-flow-toiletIn addition to publishing Green Lodging Trends Report 2016, a compare report was prepared for each survey participant, serving as a yardstick to understand the status of each specific practice within the general participant universe. Participating hotel companies also received a portfolio report and snapshot across properties.

The Green Lodging Survey is the first of an annual exercise for industry trends and benchmarking. The 2017 survey will open in the second quarter of 2017, with the results published in the fourth quarter of 2017. The survey will be enhanced next year to add new, innovative best practices to the questions. It will be further improved based on participant feedback, particularly in segmenting or adjusting the questions by property type, so that properties can be benchmarked according to property type.