BEND, ORE.—MindClick, the hospitality industry’s data and analytics solution for environmentally and socially responsible design and purchasing, is expanding its reach with its Hospitality Sustainable Design Collaborative. Created with support from Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Highgate Hotels, along with trusted suppliers, the Collaborative is a free program intended for interior designers, specifiers, and purchasing decision-makers.
The Collaborative includes an online educational series, an accreditation program, and awards and recognition program.
The first program in the online educational series, “Climate Change & Carbon Emissions, How Design Choices Can Make a Local and Global Impact,” was held on April 9 and had 234 designers in attendance and 10 countries represented. Upcoming webinars will focus on circularity (June 18), packaging (June 25), healthy materials and healthy planet (August 6), and social responsibility (October 8).
Also, in collaboration with Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Highgate Hotels, MindClick is offering a hospitality industry credentialing program for design firms. To qualify, 20 percent or more of a design firm’s hospitality team must attend or watch the recorded version of four of the five education sessions. MindClick accredited design firms will be prioritized in referrals and RFPs for new builds and renovation projects.
Recognition and awards happen in two ways. Individual designers can receive recognition based on nominations by peers, vendors, and clients for efforts to include sustainability in the design process. Design firms can submit a design project for sustainability performance assessment by MindClick. Once complete, the results will be shared with the awards committee who will choose winners based on sustainability performance and design criteria.
MindClick Sustainability Assessment Program
The Hospitality Sustainable Design Collaborative builds on MindClick’s many years of rating suppliers through its MindClick Sustainability Assessment Program (MSAP). Its focus: Evaluating and Improving the Product Lifecycle: Net Zero Carbon Emissions, Healthy Interiors, Waste Reduction, Circularity, Sustainably Sourced Materials, and Equity. MSAP was created in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council, Marriott International, vendors, and designers and is a continuous improvement program to “green the global supply chain.”
Through its Vendor Library, MindClick provides product carbon data and other key analytics to support environmentally and socially responsible design and purchasing decisions.
According to JoAnna Abrams, CEO, MindClick, designers and others can access information on more than 100,000 products available through the hundreds of suppliers that are rated by MindClick.
MindClick helps hotel companies get a handle on the magnitude of their Scope 3 emissions—indirect emissions that occur across the value chain and that are outside of the organization’s direct control. Abrams says it is within the financial markets that pressure is building for companies to be transparent about the impact of their supply chain. “What is driving all this is financial reporting,” says Abrams, adding that 80 percent of an organization’s carbon footprint is in its supply chain.
Suppliers participating in MSAP are audited annually. Abrams says ratings are based on information provided by suppliers themselves and third-party certifications. “It’s like doing a financial audit,” she says.
On MindClick’s website, Rebecca Weinstein, Director of Design at Highgate Hotels is quoted and says, “Our goal is to choose high-performing products in the MindClick Sustainability Assessment Program (MSAP) for all our projects.”
Glenn Hasek can be reached at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
