An Analysis of the Performance of Certification Schemes in the Hotel Sector

An Analysis Of The Performance Of Certification Schemes In The Hotel Sector In Terms Of CO2 Emissions Reduction Aoífe Anne-Marie Houlihan Wiberg Darwin College Department of Architecture University of Cambridge This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2009 To my beautiful children Saoírse and Åke who are my world and my loving parents Ada and Finían and my brothers Gregory, Finín and Gavin. i Abstract In assessing the impact of global tourism on climate change, emissions from transport receive the most attention although emissions associated with accommodation account for more than 20% of the total. A plethora of hotel certification schemes have been established worldwide that assess various environmental performance indicators, among them energy use. However, none explicitly quantify CO2 emissions, and in many, energy is poorly accounted for, or other non-energy related factors are weighted so that the overall impact of energy use (and hence CO2 emission) is weak. This main thrust of the research is to ascertain the effect of certification on CO2 emissions. The research questions whether the certification schemes are robust and rigorous and whether the results are credible. First, four widely used certification schemes are compared Nordic Swan (Scandinavia), Green Globe (Worldwide), EU Flower (European) and Green Hospitality Award (Ireland). The key issues are identified such as performance and process related criteria, use of benchmarks, and the weighting of different categories. A comparison is made with LEED-EB, a well-established environmental certification scheme, not dedicated to the hotel sector. Secondly, the way in which emissions from electricity, including so-called green electricity and carbon offsetting, are accounted for is examined since it is found that in obtaining certification, this often plays an important part. Actual annual energy use data is desperately needed as feedback to designers, managers and owners in order to give confidence that certification schemes have true validity. Results are presented from large multi-hotel data samples and for detailed results from the quality, illustrative in-depth studies which provided invaluable insight into the technical realities of a multitude of causes and effects which can often be masked in large data samples. An analysis was carried out for four In-depth studies located in Sweden (Nordic Swan), Maldives (Green Globe), Malta (EU Flower) and Ireland (Green Hospitality Award). Global CO2 emissions were compared and calculated from the delivered electricity and fuels consumption data from seventy selected certified hotels worldwide. No corrections were made in the calculations for climate, quality of services, existence of services etc. The performance indicator used is kgCO2 per guest night. ii The analyses shows no clear pattern. CO2 emissions show a wide variance in performance for 8 hotels certified under different schemes, as well as for 28 hotels certified under the same scheme. In some cases emissions reduced after certification in others no change. Certified hotels do not necessarily have lower emissions than uncertified hotels and a comparison of before – and after – certification shows no significant improvement prior to certification. Most dramatically emissions from certified hotels widely vary by a factor of 7. Although it is arguable a number of corrections should be made to account for different climates, the research highlights that hotels with high CO2 emissions are being awarded certification and it questions what message ‘certification’ gives to guests and other stakeholders. At worst it appears ‘business as usual’ can achieve certification with no obvious improvement in performance. The overall conclusion is that existing certification schemes do not properly account for CO2 emissions and do not produce more energy efficient (or less CO2 intensive) buildings. Hotel accommodation was found to be more CO2 intensive than domestic emissions. The findings also uncovered inconsistencies in current methods of certification and indicate a vital need for improved methods. The results also challenge prevailing aesthetic stereotypes of sustainable hotels. The author concludes a simple CO2 accounting method is needed as the first step of a diagnostic process leading to a solution i.e. reduced emissions, to the problem i.e. high energy consumption and/or emissions, thus reducing the environmental impact (in terms of emissions reduction) of the hotel. This method of accounting can be adopted universally by using a Regional, European (O.475 kgCO2/kWh) or Universal (0.55 kgCO2/kWh) conversion factor. In relation to the proper calculation of energy and CO2 emission, sub-metering is a key factor, and with current technological developments, realistic and affordable. Furthermore, apart from certification itself, an essential quality with any monitoring system is that the user can obtain results easily and understandably, in order to get feedback from their actions. This could be facilitated by incorporating sub-metering as part of the building environmental management system software. This ensures that the certification activity is not simply a benchmark, but is also part of a diagnostic and educational process, which will continue to drive emissions down. Only then should it be ethically justified to use as a marketing tool providing diagnostic support in existing buildings, and design and operational guidance for new designs. iii Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except where specifically indicated in the text. This thesis does not exceed the permitted length of 80,000 words specified by the Department of Architecture. Aoífe Anne-Marie Houlihan Wiberg. iv Acknowledgements First and foremost I wish to offer my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor and dear friend Dr. Nick Vashon Baker without whom this thesis would not be possible. Thank you for your unwavering support and encouragement both professionally and personally. Thank you for the countless hours of heated discussion both on land and sea, across many miles and many years. Thank you for helping me navigate the earlier stormy waters and succeed in reaching this triumphant finishing line! My sincere gratitude goes to Dr. Sebastian Macmillan for all his encouragement, advice and support throughout this PhD. I wish to thank Dr. Paulina Bohdanowicz of Hilton Europe for her encouragement and support over the years since the early days of this research. I wish to thank Mr. Richard Palmu for his untiring response to all my questions. My sincere gratitude goes to Mr. Herbert Hamele of Ecotrans, Professor Richard Hyde, University of Sydney (and associated with Green Globe), Richard Cochrane of XCO2 and Ms. Anke Hofmeister, Ms. Pia Heidenmark-Cook of Reizador Hotels, Mr. Jan-Peter Bergkvist of Scandic Hotels, Mr. Maurice Bergin of Green Hospitality Award, Ms. Mallin Møller of Nordic Swan, Mr. Rajul Berde of Ecotel, India and the following environmental managers who took the time to respond to all my questions concerning their hotels; Mr. Mario Morano of Hilton, Ms. Tracy Arnold of Novotel, Mr. Mc Grath of Carlton hotels, Ireland, Mr. Stefan Muhle in San Francisco, Mr. Wei of Napa Valley, California and the numerous individual managers, including the manager of Apex hotels, and the many others too numerous to mention who assisted me with accessing data to their hotels for use in my analysis. I also wish to thank Professor David MacKay for his helpful comments on this research. I wish to offer my sincere gratitude to Matthew French without whom this thesis would never have become realised. I am also indebted to Dr. Minna Sinikka-Blank for her patience, advice and encouragement which is deeply appreciated and to Dr. Emily So and Ji-Young Song for their unwavering support and encouragement particularly in the closing stages. I would like to thank all my PhD colleagues for their friendship, discussions and support over the years in particular Henrik Schonefeldt. I wish to thank Stan Finney for his IT support throughout this PhD and for coming to the rescue on many occasions. Thank you to all the staff and fellow colleagues in The Martin Centre for all their support and friendship making this PhD journey a memorable one. A very special thank you goes to Professor Dean Hawkes who has v been a tremendous source of inspiration and guidance since the beginning. A heartfelt thank you goes to Professor Koen Steemers and Marion Houston who will also hold a special place in my heart. I would like to thank Darwin College, particularly Dr. Margaret Cone whose incredible support and belief in me made it possible for me to continue my PhD studies. I wish to thank Anne Serle, Selina Hext, Freya Roe, Sarah Farmer, Gary Watson and Jason Maynard and Howard Carter on making it possible for me to continue my studies. Thank you for the incredible friendships I have made over the years in Cambridge which I hope will last for many many years. Thank you to you all for your friendship, support, laughter and fun over the years in particular Nathalie and Juan, Máire and Torsten, Kate and Nick, Helen and Johann, Isa, Katarina, Daniel, Karen and Tim. My sincere gratitude goes to the support from my dear old friends in particular Arpita and Leeanne, Pernilla, Satu and Sarah and new friendships including May. Words cannot express my gratitude to the incredible support and love of my parents Finín and Ada and my family without whom this Ph.D. would not have been possible. You have been my guiding light throughout this incredible and often difficult journey. At every turn you were there to offer encouragement and support. Thank you to Gavin for holding the fort on many occasions and to Finin and Gregory who have helped in many ways. Thank you to all. All my love goes to my treasured children Saoírse and Åke who have navigated every twist and turn of this journey with me.

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