Home Energy Management Ramada Urbana Illinois joins EcoStay Program

Ramada Urbana Illinois joins EcoStay Program

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URBANA, ILL.—The Ramada Urbana Champaign has officially joined the EcoStay program. EcoStay is a national initiative that helps hotels measure their carbon footprint, identify and fund reduction strategies and balance off their greenhouse gas emissions through carbon offsetting.

“We’re very excited to be part of the EcoStay Program,” said Gregory Trainor, General Manager of Ramada Urbana Champaign. “We’ve been looking for a way for our hotel to make a difference and EcoStay has provided us with the tools and training to take the first step in that direction.”

Under the program, the Ramada Urbana will collect two dollars per night from hotel guests. Funds will be used to purchase carbon offsets in support of emission-reducing projects across the country such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, agriculture and recycling—balancing the impact from the hotel’s operations, and making each hotel night completely “carbon neutral.” The guest’s contribution completely offsets the impact of their stay, and more.

Carbon offsets are supplied by LivClean, a top ranked retailer by the David Suzuki Pembina. All LivClean EcoStay Carbon Offset Projects are listed on the CSA Group’s GHG CleanProjects Registry ensuring ISO 14064-2 reporting and independent ISO 14064-3 verification. In addition, each offset ton is uniquely serialized by CSA Group to ensure proper retirement and avoid double counting. The use of a public registry such as GHG CleanProjects Registry is an important step for transparency and ease of access for users to review and confirm the ongoing tracking of the LivClean EcoStay Projects.

Many Efficiency Upgrades Coming

The program also supports on-site environmental upgrades and renovations. The hotel has already made many eco-friendly upgrades. With the additional support offered through the EcoStay Program, they are planning to install lighting efficiency technologies such as dimmers and motion sensors and donate leftover amenities, place recycle bins throughout the property, switch to all-eco-friendly products and appliances, and much more all in an effort to further reduce the hotel’s impact. A typical 150 room Canadian hotel can produce three tons of greenhouses gases each day. That’s the same as driving 200 cars, heating and lighting 100 homes or taking 5,000 airplane flights.

Ramada Urbana Champaign will now use Green Hotels Global, the internationally recognized online dashboard and benchmarking tool that follows the new Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI 1.1) of the International Tourism Partnership and the World Travel & Tourism Council.

“The traveler of 2015 is an eco-conscious one,” Trainor continued. “Participating in EcoStay is our way of letting guests know that we share their concerns about the environment and we’re taking action.”

“We’re very proud of the EcoStay program, and the hotels that have embraced it,” said Christina deVries, President of EcoStay. “These hotels are leaders in environmental consciousness and responsibility. They aren’t just talking about reducing greenhouse gases—they’re doing it.”

Go to EcoStay.

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