Going Green In 2015: What’s To Come For Hospitality

The holiday rush is winding down and a new year is on the horizon. As we prepare to head into 2015, we’re keeping a keen eye on industry trends.

Hospitality is an ever-changing market. In our 35 years of implementing furniture asset management services within the hospitality industry, we’ve seen countless trends come and go. This year, we’re happy to see that environmentalism and sustainability are on the rise and seemingly here to stay.

As stated by LRS, sustainability has become a truly meaningful initiative. Both hoteliers and travelers are more willing to participate in green programs, which has made them an increasingly expected industry standard.

Deloitte’s recently-published study, ‘Hospitality 2015: Game changers or spectators?’ shares perspectives of what’s to come in 2015 including changing demographics, aviation trends, human capital and, of course, sustainability.

“Sustainability will become a defining issue for the industry. Rising populations and increasingly scarce resources will provide a challenging business environment in which sustainability will need to be embedded within all facets of the industry, rather than regarded as a standalone issue,” the report states first and foremost.

While it’s certainly become a factor in the decision-making of hotels worldwide, sustainability is not yet ingrained in the core of the business. Employing environmentally-responsible practices from the ground up is key, and it’s important to remember that there is always a greener option.

When renovating or simply refreshing facilities, hoteliers need to consider sustainable options such as refinishing, re-upholstery or remanufacturing existing furniture assets. Each of these brings countless environmental benefits. By eliminating the need to buy new, hotel operators, owners and managers eliminate the need for the shipment of new furniture, as well as the disposal of old furniture and the creation of unnecessary landfill waste.

Just consider: the total CO2 created when new furniture is being manufactured for a one-hundred room hotel amounts to an estimated 125.32 tons. The total CO2 created when refinishing an equal amount of furniture is just 1.24 tons.