Name: Renée Swoger
Title: Senior Manager of Energy & Environment Services
Company: Accor North America (NA)
My primary responsibilities: “I manage the energy capitalization budget. I also manage certification, rebate programs, Earth Day activities, and the energy reporting of hotels in the United States, Canada and Mexico. I oversee the execution of our three-year environmental plan.”
Company’s most significant environmental accomplishment so far: “I consider our No. 1 accomplishment in 2009 to be energy reporting. Each property’s three-year energy consumption history is considered—with controls for weather and variations in occupancy. We created a baseline for each property. We plug in actual weather and occupancy data. This tells us what a particular property should be consuming.”
Our biggest environmental challenge: “I think we are good at investing in high-ROI technologies but the challenge comes in maintaining those technologies.”
What I like most about what I do: “The educational aspect. Educating our property managers on energy issues and why they are vital.”
What advice I would give to someone considering starting a sustainability initiative: “First and foremost, just because it is sustainable does not mean it will benefit your bottom line. [Before implementing a new product or technology], do a test to make sure it produces tangible benefits. Make sure it fits your business model.”
DALLAS—When Accor NA’s Energy and Environment and Quality departments split recently, it created a leadership void in the Energy and Environment department. Accor filled that void with Renée Swoger, manager of Energy & Environment Services. Swoger has done such a good job since taking that position that she has been promoted to senior manager of Energy & Environment Services.
Swoger began her career with Accor less than two years ago when she was hired as a business analyst in the Quality department. It was her first job after leaving Louisiana State University where she earned a graduate degree in American Politics and Quantitative Methods. She had also focused on politics as an undergrad at Loyola University. It was Swoger’s analytical skills that attracted Accor and they certainly have come in handy in her current position.
Accor is in the second year of its three-year environmental plan and, as mentioned, is in the process of collecting energy use data from each of its properties in order to establish a baseline for comparison and improvement. Weather data helps Accor know whether or not a particular day was a cooling day or heating day. Combined with occupancy data, Accor is able to calculate how much energy a particular property should have consumed.
To strengthen its current environmental plan, Swoger says Accor is in the process of establishing a self-funded energy incentive program that would result in cost savings being shared with those properties making the biggest energy-saving improvements.
New ‘Phoenix’ Motel 6 Prototype
Last year was a good year for Accor NA’s Motel 6 brand with the opening of its first newly-built “Phoenix” prototype. The 120-room Motel 6 Northlake-Speedway in Northlake, Texas, is aiming to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The property features a solar thermal hot water heating system, a white roof to reflect heat, low e-glass tinted windows, high-efficiency PTAC units with occupancy-sensing thermostats, computer-controlled dryers, and much more.
While the recent economic and lending environment has Accor holding off on additional new Motel 6 construction at the moment, Swoger says the company is moving forward with plans to create a similar “green” prototype for existing Studio 6 properties and a LEED-ready prototype for the Motel 6 brand.
Accor NA just announced that it will pilot the Green Key Eco-Rating Program (Green Key) within its portfolio in the United States in 2010.
“It’s part of our three-year plan,” Swoger says. “We have goals to have properties certified each year. These certifications are becoming more essential to brand positioning. More and more consumers are considering a hotel’s green programs when deciding where to stay. Our company-owned hotels in Canada are Green Key certified. In Canada we know it is a success.”
Business Case for Energy Leader
When asked why it is important for a company the size of Accor NA to have someone in charge of Energy and Environment Services, Swoger says it just makes good business sense.
“Energy is our biggest expense after payroll,” she says. “It makes sense to have someone focused on that. There is a huge opportunity to reduce cost.”
What kind of person best fits the role of manager of Energy & Environment Services? Swoger says the person needs to be analytical but also people oriented as well.
“You can’t be introverted,” she says. “It is all about getting people’s buy-in.”
Early in her career path, it was politics that interested Swoger most. Today, she admits she is a “proponent of all things environmental.” Chances are, however, her knowledge of politics will still serve her well as she grows in her career.
Go to Accor North America.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
