Holiday Inn
San Antonio International Airport
Green Campaign

The Holiday Inn San Antonio International Airport launched an environmental “green” campaign nearly three years ago, posting results that have garnered National and International attention. We have been the feature Hotel on Green Lodging News, Eco Green Hotel, and The Hotel Guide. The Hotel’s results were the target of a case study produced by Caroma and marketed by Lighthouse Marketing, and now we are the Pilot Hotel for InterContinental Hotels Group Green Engage Program to be rolled out globally…join us on our green journey.

Recycling Program: In 2007 the Hotel started a recycling program by collecting paper and cardboard, producing 21 tons and donating $2000 in rebates to the Ronald McDonald House of San Antonio. In 2008 we transitioned to single stream recycling collecting 83.34 tons of material (170,000 pounds) that would have otherwise been sent to the landfill. Our recycling is a full single stream program allowing the Hotel to recycle paper, cardboard, plastics 1-7, glass, aluminum, and tin. Every department and guestroom throughout the Hotel has recycle containers. The Hotel staff spent an afternoon training with our recycling partner, Vista Fibers, learning about items in their departments that they touch every day that can be recycled instead of going to the trash.

Water Conservation: The Hotel won the San Antonio Water System Water Saver Award for 2008. We installed high efficiency dual flush toilets in every guestroom, low flow showerheads and water saving spigots in guestroom vanities. We ask guests to assist in water conservation by hanging towels that can be re-used and asking that bed linen be changed only every third day of their stay and daily service is available upon request. The Hotel captures condensation from rooftop air conditioning units by installing pumps into a water capture container and directing the water to flower beds. We also divert water from the pool during the cleaning process into hedges along the perimeter of the property, instead of sending it down the drain. In 2006 the Hotel was consuming 203 gallons of water per occupied room. This was reduced to 161 gallons in 2007, and by the end of 2008 we were only consuming 123 gallons per occupied room – totaling 7+ million gallons of water saved annually.

Energy Conservation: During the course of our renovation from June 2006 to June 2007, the Hotel replaced all incandescent light bulbs with energy saving compact florescent bulbs. Digital thermostats were installed in every guestroom with a 4 degree range allowed (72 degrees +/-). These can be reprogrammed by the Hotel for guests with special needs. Hotel storage rooms are equipped with motion sensors so lights cannot be left on by busy staff. Hotel boilers are programmed “in line” only utilizing the back up boiler when occupancies require the additional water. It is estimated by Burton Energy, that the Hotel will save 553k KWH annually with our energy conservation program.

What’s Next?: Although the Holiday Inn San Antonio Int’l Airport is a leader in the community for our “Green Campaign”, we are still finding new programs to make a positive impact on the environment. Here is a look at other initiatives that we are in the process of implementing:

• Planting an herb garden on the roof-top of our pool house. Any plants and produce that cannot be used by the Hotel kitchen, will be given to the employees. Seeds from the garden will be packaged and given to guests, encouraging them to “Stay Green”.

• The roof-top garden will be watered by capturing the condensation from two air conditioning units above the lobby of the Hotel. Any excess water will be diverted into the landscape.

• Investigating the option of sending all food waste to a composting site, and have already conducted our initial site visit with Texas Disposal Systems.

• Working with Trane to capture cooling tower condensation and redirect it to the Hotel chiller. This condensation could save the Hotel 500 gallons of water each week.

Holiday Inn San Antonio Int’l Airport – your only choice in San Antonio to “stay green”.

Hotel Direct: (210) 349-9900
Holiday Inn San Antonio International Airport

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Fairmont Hotels join Climate Program

The Fairmont hotel chain, which has 56 properties across the globe, announced this week it has joined the WWF Climate Savers program with an aim of cutting brandwide carbon emissions by 20% by 2013.

The Climate Savers program includes over 20 multi-national corporations, including IBM, Nike and Coca cola, all of whom are aiming to achieve a combined carbon emissions cut of 14 million tonnes every year. In order to reduce the environmental impact of the Fairmont Hotels, the chain has committed to updating hotel design standards to incorporate LEED standards, will be encouraging suppliers to provide green products and will be seeking a new LEED Gold standard home for its corporate offices in Canada.

Large hotel chains are often some of the worst culprits of greenwashing in the travel industry, but the Fairmont Hotel chain is one of the few brands that has made some real green efforts, and has been doing so for around 20 years; and although the chain doesn't have a stand out eco-friendly hotel yet, many of the brand's properties do feature some forward thinking green initiatives.

The Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda, for instance, features a rain and gray water recycling system and an on-site reverse osmosis plant, which helps to greatly reduce the hotel's water use. The Fairmont Sonoma in California features an on-site worn farm, which not only keeps food waste from the land fill, but also provides organic fertilizers for the hotel grounds; and the Fairmont St Andrews in Scotland converts its used cooking oil into biodiesel for the hotel shuttle bus and grounds vehicles.

Several other hotels take part in wildlife conservation efforts. In Hawaii the Fairmont Orchid helps fund marine reef research; in Boston staff at the Fairmont Copley Plaza have aided researchers with attaching transmitters to track snowy owls, and the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu in Quebec launched a program to encourage guests to adopt a Beluga Whale.

The partnership with WWF is a welcome move, but as a luxury hotel chain, the Fairmont brand still has some way to go before they can truly reduce their environmental impact and claim to be a green hotel chain. However, the brand is setting the pace in terms of eco-friendly initiatives for other luxury hotel chains and will hopefully encourage other chains to improve their green efforts.

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts

World Wildlife Fund Climate Savers Program

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