Name: Sarah Dayboll
Title: Manager of Environmental Affairs
Company: Fairmont Raffles Hotels International
My primary responsibilities: “My responsibilities include helping to integrate our environmental policy into our hotels, serving as a resource for our green teams, environmental champions and executive committees, and promoting our future and existing environmental strategies.”
Company’s most significant environmental accomplishment so far: “Fairmont has had a Green Partnership Program since 1990. I am proud of how it has been embraced. Fairmont is leading by example.”
Our biggest environmental challenge: “Planning for the future as we look to grow outside of North America. Coming up with innovative ways to engage our colleagues so that we can keep the environment part of our corporate DNA.”
What I like most about what I do: “Communicating with colleagues on a global basis. I love reading and hearing the success stories of our green teams. I love learning about their best practices and being able to share them.”
What advice I would give to someone considering starting an environmental program: “Incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies into every aspect of your business. Your guests are definitely watching what you do. At the end of the day, it is the right thing to do.”
TORONTO—As manager of environmental affairs for Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Sarah Dayboll has been instrumental in helping to expand the company’s 19-year-old Green Partnership Program. The program, which historically has emphasized energy and water conservation, waste management and community outreach, recently has expanded with the measurement and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
“We have set a goal of reducing our CO2 emissions by 20 percent when compared to 2006 levels by 2013,” Dayboll says. “That is the equivalent of taking 20,000 cars off the road annually.”
Fairmont is working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as part of its Climate Savers Program to reduce its CO2 emissions. In conjunction with its March 2009 announcement to work with WWF, Fairmont has pledged to:
• Finalize a Green Procurement Policy and Supplier Code of Conduct by the end of 2009;
• Educate and encourage its top suppliers (representing approximately 25 percent of the supply chain) to provide products in accordance with the Green Procurement Policy and Supplier Code of Conduct by the end of 2010;
• Update existing design and construction standards to incorporate and reflect LEED standards by the end of 2011;
Endeavor to include sustainable and LEED-certified hotels across the brand; and
• Seek to relocate Fairmont Hotels & Resorts corporate offices in Toronto, Canada to a building with a LEED NC Gold target by 2011.
Eye Toward 2013 Target
Part of Dayboll’s responsibilities is to work with Fairmont Raffles Hotels International’s 91 hotels to make sure they are on track to help meet the company’s 2013 CO2 emissions reduction goal. Properties are required to provide energy consumption data on a quarterly basis.
“Each property is given guidelines regarding data reporting,” Dayboll says. “We are collecting scope one and two information.”
Scope one data encompasses direct emissions from a hotel—on-site boilers or vehicles, for example. Scope two emissions are indirect—those generated by electricity consumption (actual emissions are at the power plant).
Another part of Fairmont’s Green Partnership Program that Dayboll is involved in is Eco-Meet, an environmentally friendly conferencing program intended to minimize harm to the environment during meetings, conferences and similar events. Eco-Meet consists of four main components: Eco-Accommodation, Eco-Cuisine, Eco-Service, and Eco-Programming.
Education Prepared Her for Fairmont
Dayboll is well prepared to take on the challenges her job presents. Prior to working for Fairmont, she worked for the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation. She holds a Bachelor of Tourism and the Environment degree from Brock University in Ontario, is a member of the Green Meetings Industry Council (GMIC), a member of the Governing Body for the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism, and an Executive Committee Member for the International Tourism Partnership (ITP).
Having a position like hers at an executive level in a hotel company is important, Dayboll says.
“It is an integral part of a company’s success,” she says, adding that having senior level support behind any environmental program is just as critical.
When asked whether or not she has always had an interest in the environment, Dayboll said “most definitely.”
“The environment has always been a passion of mine,” she says. “I love being outdoors and experiencing nature.”
Click here to learn more about Fairmont Hotels & Resorts’ Green Partnership Program.
