The contract between Dallas-based Accor and Community Energy Inc. of Radnor, PA calls for 3% of annual electricity use at nine hotels to be derived from wind-powered sources, Robert Moore, senior vice president of technical services for Accor North America, tells GlobeSt.com. And, the pact includes future hotels too.
"This was being worked on for many, many moons. It took a long time to bring this to fruition," Moore says. "What we've done is very pioneering. It's a moral obligation as well. And obviously there's a cost to this, but we've taken a moral stance." He says wind power was selected because "it's completely clean."
The contract covers two Sofitels in Chicago and one each in Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, DC. Accor will buy slightly more than 1.5 million kWhs of renewable energy from the supplier. It's estimated the green contract will offset two million pounds of carbon dioxide annually and carry the impact of planting more than 800 acres of trees each year or eliminating 2.36 million miles of driving.
"By voluntarily shifting to renewable energy, Accor North America is proving you don't need to wait for a signal in order to go green," EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson says in a press release.
 Sofitel New York City |
In January, Moore became head of technical services for all Accor brands so similar initiatives will filter throughout the four-brand, 950-hotel system at some point in time. "This year, there is a very specific investment going into the technical services of Motel 6," he says, adding the team is eyeing initiatives like solar energy and high-efficiency, specialty air-conditioning units.
Moore says Sofitels were paced through a "regression analysis" that compared energy use in back-to-back years to track savings rather than relying on anecdotal information. In addition, targeted energy savings were set and met along with incentives for hotel teams.
Accor last year started an Earth Guest program, which is ticketed to be annual. Environmental initiatives have included planting 20,000 trees, one for each Accor employee in North America, implementing a 65-point environmental check list at all hotels and the corporate headquarters and donating $375,000 to educational and charitable groups. The Earth Guest program is in place for all four brands, which include Novotel and Studio 6.
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