Name: Jeff Benavides, LEED AP O+M
Title: Energy & Sustainability Specialist, Resort Management
Organization: Wyndham Vacation Ownership
Years with organization: Five
Years in current position: 1.5
Primary responsibilities: “We manage all energy, water and waste tracking and reduction initiatives and assist resort properties with energy conservation projects. We analyze product proposals and work with national product managers with FFE and amenities. The sustainability team provides educational resources for all of our resort staff—for any sustainability-related initiatives or training. Also, I help administer Green Tool Box, an enterprise-wide energy and sustainability tracking software used for performance reporting, site level energy management and GHG reporting.”
Organization’s most significant sustainability-related accomplishment: “The entire internal certification program that we launched. There is nothing else in the timeshare industry like it.”
Organization’s most significant sustainability-related challenge: “We are challenged with appealing to the millennial generation and a new owner base. To keep up the sustainability practices we have done. We have done a lot of the easy things. It is moving the needle past that. Finding creative funding mechanisms in order to improve the assets that we have. To continue to deliver value to the associations we work with.”
ORLANDO, FLA.—As Energy & Sustainability Specialist, Resort Management for Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO) in Orlando, Jeff Benavides, as part of the sustainability team, touches a lot of people—not only the primary contacts at the 190 resorts that WVO manages, but also the more than 900,000 families who have ownership interests. For Benavides there is no typical day. One time slot might be spent on chasing down rebate and incentive opportunities for a client. Another might be spent on strengthening or administering WVO’s required Sustainability 101 course or voluntary Energy University program.
What the sustainability team has accomplished along with others at WVO and Wyndham Worldwide should come as no surprise given Wyndham’s commitment to developing sustainability programs. Wyndham’s Wyndham Green program was launched in 2006 and Wyndham has had a seat at the table whenever the lodging industry has met to discuss important sustainability concerns—the development of the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) methodology, for example.
At WVO, one area where Wyndham’s concern about corporate citizenship is clear is in its quality assurance (QA) process. Two times each year, WVO managed properties are QA audited for cleanliness, safety, etc. Included in that audit is a separate section for green initiatives. Properties are responsible for 27 basic items that range from recycled paper products to compact fluorescents to recycling. There is an opportunity to get 27 additional points for items such as a high-efficiency laundry system or guestroom energy management system. Properties can reach Basic, Silver, Gold or Crystal levels. The certification program is unique in the timeshare industry.
“More than 95 percent reach the basic level,” Benavides says. “The majority sit in the Gold range.”
Headquarters Building LEED Certified
WVO also has many other uniquely green initiatives worth noting. Earlier this year, it received its first-ever Gold certification for its headquarters building, Sea Harbor Office Center, in Orlando. At that time, the certification made the building the largest LEED Commercial Interiors Gold level certified project in the state of Florida.
More than 300 WVO employees participate in its Work from Home Program. Estimated benefits include: 202 cars off the road per year; 97,000 gallons of gas saved; and more than $722,138 in rent/space savings.
WVO is facilitating several solar projects in Hawaii for implementation in 2015 through a Power Purchase Agreement. It will cut the participating resorts’ electricity rate by 40 percent. Collectively, the rooftop and ground mount systems will provide 1.8 MW of power.
A partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation on a tree planting initiative has resulted in more than 500,000 trees planted. An Arbor Day Specialty Coffee program has resulted in the preserving of 41 million square feet of rain forest.
Charging Stations Being Studied
Moving forward, WVO is examining resort options for electric vehicle charging stations, upgrading its educational programs for associates, waiting for Wyndham’s upgrade of its Green Toolbox, and figuring out how to leverage the results of the annual WVO owner/guest satisfaction survey that said 80 percent of owners and guests are in support of sustainability practices and feel that sustainability should be part of their vacation experience.
Benavides, who is co-founder and Vice President of Operations for Green Destination Orlando, and a Board Member of the USGBC Central Florida Chapter, said that it was during his undergraduate studies in hospitality that he first became interested in sustainability. “One of my professors was doing some research on Ecuador,” Benavides says. “I tried to think about what I could do locally. There was also a humanities professor who influenced me.”
When asked what he most likes about his job, the LEED Accredited Professional with a specialty in Operations & Maintenance says, “I enjoy most working with the resort teams and helping them achieve their goals. We have a lot of resort managers very supportive of sustainability.”
Go to Wyndham Vacation Ownership.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
