{"id":10404,"date":"2016-11-04T16:10:24","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T20:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/what\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T16:10:24","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T20:10:24","slug":"accorhotels-is-growth-possible-with-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/accorhotels-is-growth-possible-with-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"AccorHotels: Is growth possible with climate change?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hotels and the climate: A complicated relationship<\/strong><\/p>\n

A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has found that a one-degree Celsius increase in temperature would mean the closure of 60% of Germany\u2019s ski resorts [1]. This is the obvious impact of climate change, but I\u2019d like to focus on another effect. Hotels are experiencing increasing costs due to climate impact on other industries. For example, lower cotton crops would increase price for bedding thus increasing the cost of that inventory for a hotel. Hotels cannot control those industries nor the scale of impact climate change has on those industries. All they can do is mitigate internally.<\/p>\n

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AccorHotels: An early player<\/strong><\/p>\n

AccorHotels is a French multinational hotel group operating in 94 countries and managing over 4,000 properties [2]. Although a still-growing brand, AccorHotels was an early player on the environmental stage, setting up an environmental department at the executive level in 1994. Soon afterwards they launched the Accor Hotel Environment Charter outlining sustainability initiatives and have since made strides towards a sustainable future [see figure below, 3].<\/p>\n

\"1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A good deed leads to a not-so-good surprise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hotels require energy to operate (think: kitchen and restaurants, laundry services, heating\/cooling, pools, etc.; see image below, 3); AccorHotels knew that. To uphold their claim of caring for the Earth and to align with their own charter, they released a transparent\u00a0report of their energy consumption. That year, their properties consumed just short of 18,000,000 MWh of energy \u2013 an amount equivalent to a city of half a million people \u2013 which produced almost 2,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide. They also found that they used 544,000,000 cubic meter of water, mostly consumed in the food and beverage operations [4].<\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Moving from some lessons to a first action<\/strong><\/p>\n

These results were appalling. By going public with the data, the company placed themselves in a position prone to reputational risk. By recognizing the potential of making this a great PR opportunity early, however, AccorHotels got ahead. They began making and advertising changes before industry-wide changes occurred, e.g. the World Tourism Organization implementing stricter guidelines on energy consumption and wastage [5]. By the time other hotels scrambled to get on board, they already achieved compliance to standards.<\/p>\n

AccorHotels decided to adapt their model and invest in sustainable solutions to decrease their costs and wastage. One of their first global initiatives was the installation of central LED lighting in all hotel rooms. The executive board asked for 100% penetration of the initiative and asked for detailed tracking of each hotel\u2019s strategic sustainability implementation plan. Within one year, they generated a cost saving of $7 million and a reduction in over 80,000,000 kWh [4].<\/p>\n

Going all-in<\/strong><\/p>\n

The results looked good. They advertised viciously as eco-friendly to draw in more guests to help promote sustainability and behind the scenes, worked on large process transformations that would ensure continued energy saving and waste reductions. Between 2011 and 2015, these levers managed to:<\/p>\n