ITHACA, N.Y.—Putting sustainable ideas into practice will be a top focus of the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS), scheduled for October 6 to 8, 2010, on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, N.Y. Breakout sessions will cover both sustainable design and sustainable operation, with a focus on the specific areas where sustainability can be most effective. Presenters will share their first-hand experiences with sustainable hospitality practices.
Building on his firm’s 150-plus years of experience in innovation, Paul Hamilton, Schneider Electric’s senior vice president for Energy Efficiency, will focus on the immediate and long-term risks and challenges to implementing energy saving projects. Hamilton explains that energy use is a business management process that should be managed, just like finance or customer service. The session will cover best practices and new applications for sustained energy savings. The goal is to “make the most of your energy,” Hamilton says.
Cornell Professor Alex Susskind will reveal the results of a study on guests’ perceptions of energy-efficient room features. His team has set up an experiment in which different rooms have different energy-efficient settings or products. The study records guests’ reactions to those rooms as compared to traditional rooms. Along that line, researcher Laurie Anderson will explain how energy conservation in “smart buildings” enhances guest comfort, in contrast to the old images of guest discomfort and inconvenience from significant energy saving technologies Anderson will discuss smart building technologies and implementations.
Proving the Value of Sustainability
An analysis of resource use in 984 hotels over eight years identified specific areas where hotel managers should be able to influence energy use, as compared with those that are driven by guest activities. A group of researchers led by Nitin Joglekar, of Boston University, examined hotels’ resource expenses, guided by the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry. They found that guests largely influence such expenses as laundry and supplies in both rooms and F&B operations. On the other hand, managers have more control over electricity, water, and maintenance expenses. Using these measures, the researchers were able to study the value of sustainability on value added per room—and they found that sustainability has strong cost-saving benefits.
Other presentations will come from David Jerome, senior vice president, corporate responsibility, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Raj Chandnani, vice president, director of sustainability, WATG. InterContinental Hotels Group has implemented sustainable hotel operations, including Green Engage, an online tool that allows hotels to measure their key environmental impacts. Design firm WATG has created the Haptik Sustainable Suite, which won an award from the U.S. Green Building Council.
In addition to the sustainability presentations, the summit will offer several breakouts on social media, hotel valuation and performance, and customer loyalty and market analytics. Five keynote speakers will highlight the summit proceedings. They are Christine Duffy, president and CEO, Maritz Travel Company; Professor Frances Frei, Harvard Business School; Adam Goldstein, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International; Gerald Lawless, executive chairman, Jumeirah Group, and Randell Smith, CEO and co-founder of STR.
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