Home Personnel Profile Diana Beltran Relishes One-of-a-Kind Role with Grand Hyatt New York

Diana Beltran Relishes One-of-a-Kind Role with Grand Hyatt New York

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Name: Diana Beltran
Title: Environmental Development Manager
Organization: Grand Hyatt New York
Years with hotel: “I just celebrated my one-year anniversary in August.”
My primary responsibilities: “Every day I concentrate on different projects—in areas ranging from housekeeping to waste management. The biggest thing I am working on now is sustainable purchasing.”
What keeps her motivated each day: “What keeps me motivated is making a difference here. I don’t consider this a job. It is more like a hobby.”
Organization’s most significant environmental accomplishment so far: “The project that paid the biggest dividend so far was our lighting retrofit. We installed more than 5,000 compact fluorescent bulbs in our 1,311 rooms. We also switched from T-12s to T-8s in office spaces.”
Hotel’s biggest environmental challenge: “Before the end of the year, we would like to have a recycling program in place for bottles, metal and glass. It is a challenge because we are such a large property.”

NEW YORK—As environmental development manager at the 1,311-room Grand Hyatt New York, Diana Beltran is the only person throughout all of Hyatt Hotels & Resorts to hold that title. For the recent graduate of Florida International University (FIU), it is like a dream job but her responsibilities are immense. She oversees a Grand Hyatt Green Apple Environmental Committee that has 44 managers and four sub-committees.

Beltran has had the title of environmental development manager since March. She had been helping to lead the hotel’s green initiatives for just a few months prior to the appointment. Before beginning her work at the hotel in August of 2007, she worked at the Hotel Sofitel Miami where she started a green committee. It was while taking a sustainable tourism class at FIU that she got interested in environmental issues.

Today, she is helping the Grand Hyatt to reduce its energy and water consumption while also helping it to reduce its waste. New green purchasing procedures are high on Beltran’s “to do” list. She said hotel managers are currently researching new office furniture. They are considering a line that includes 95 percent recycled metal, even though there is a price premium when compared to other furniture types.

“When we purchase something, we need to ask how the product was made, where it was shipped from, and whether it is recyclable,” Beltran says. “If we go green, our vendors are going to have to go green as well.”

Energy-Saving Measures

The aforementioned lighting retrofit has resulted in a 20 percent reduction in total energy consumption. Other energy-saving initiatives include: lighting dimmers in all public areas; lighting sensors in offices; revolving entrance doors; preventive maintenance throughout the hotel; replacement and installation of energy-efficient chillers at a cost of $4.8 million; and installation of a plate and frame heat exchanger.

Additional green programs:

• Low-flow aerators throughout the property;
• Automatic faucets in public restrooms;
• A Green Meeting program to minimize waste;
• Paper and cardboard recycling in back-of-house areas;
• Organic food options in Manhattan Sky restaurant and Grand Café;
• Thirty percent recycled content paper for the entire hotel;
• Green Seal approved cleaning products used throughout property;
• Purchases made are done in bulk when possible; and
• Donation of leftover rolls of bathroom tissue to homeless shelters on a weekly basis.

Beltran says the Grand Hyatt New York intends to pursue an Energy Star rating from the EPA and there are also plans to register for U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance certification.

The energetic environmental development manager spends a lot of her time coordinating committee meetings and also focuses on educational efforts for the property’s 1,100 employees. The Green Apple Environmental Committee’s four sub-committees include: water and energy, sustainable purchasing, waste reduction, and green communication.

When asked how rare it is for a hotel to have an environmental development manager, Beltran said, “I find it essential for any hotel to have one. There are so many things to focus on. It takes a lot of work but hotels can become greener a whole lot faster with one.”

Go to the Grand Hyatt New York.

Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.

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