| Style And Sustainability |
Arriving at the five-star JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong, you step into an impeccably stylish, sun-filled lobby with heart-stopping views of Hong Kong harbor. Guests are huddled with one of several concierges, sipping cocktails in the bar or savoring a meal in one of the popular restaurants (which attract lots of local Hong Kong residents, too). Upstairs, handsomely outfitted guest rooms overlook iconic Victoria Peak or the teeming harbor, where the nightly 10-minute Symphony of Lights features more than 40 waterfront buildings pulsating with colored lights or shooting silvery laser beams into the sky.
Sleek lounge, stunning views
You’ve arrived at more than just another luxurious Hong Kong hotel, however. Way more. Behind the scenes, and unseen by guests, this is a smooth-running, lean, green machine. For this JW Marriott meticulously and rigorously adheres to today’s most successful sustainability practices—measures that are rapidly becoming the gold standard … make that green standard … for leading hospitality companies worldwide.
“Nearly ten years ago, Marriott enacted the first green policies for its hotels,” notes Wilson Chan, the hotel’s director of engineering. “Since then we’ve done many things to minimize our environmental footprint, particularly our energy and water use, and to provide a more comfortable and restful accommodations for our guests. Meeting our guests’ expectations for greater sustainability, exceeding Hong Kong’s environmental mandates and reducing our energy and water costs have been a win-win for everyone.”
The greening path
When this hotel started implementing Marriott’s green policies, reducing energy use was the low-hanging fruit. The hotel began replacing incandescent lights with energy-conserving LEDs in guest rooms, public spaces and back-of-the-house work areas. That, of course, is now a given for any energy-efficient building. Next steps included using photo sensors to adjust illumination in the lobby, bars and restaurants depending on how much natural light was coming in from outdoors. Escalators now have motion sensors so they run at slow speed at less busy times, returning to normal whenever somebody steps on the treads (thus reducing their energy use by 15% to 20%). Most recently, the hotel upgraded its heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, not only reducing energy use but also switching to environmentally friendly coolants.
Busy kitchen: energy-saving equipment, fry oil recycled for biofuel
Recycling is the norm, and by minimizing waste, the hotel reduces its trash sent to landfills—even used cooking oil is set aside for weekly pick-up. When the hotel recently renovated all its guest rooms, it sent the used furniture, televisions, lighting fixtures and curtains to Kuala Lumpur for refurbishment, then re-sale in other countries.
No matter how good the green policies, though, no hotel reaps full benefit if the staff doesn’t know how—or even want—to follow them. So this Marriott has worked hard to educate its workforce. Example: Room maids and maintenance workers are not only told that new non-toxic cleaning agents have environmental benefits and are much safer for everyday use in their jobs, they are also clearly shown that they do the job just as well as the harsh chemical stuff. Workers are regularly encouraged to check out the hotel’s green report cards. A chart hanging right outside the engineer’s office, for example, shows running totals on the hotel’s energy use.
Greener is healthier
Okay, you may applaud this hotel’s earth-friendliness, but is the planet the only beneficiary? Definitely not. The greening of hotels makes a real difference for your own comfort and health, too.
Laundry: high-efficiency washer-dryers, biodegradable detergent
Just how does this JW Marriott’s—or any hotel’s—green actions improve your stay? At green-focused hotels like this one, you literally breathe better. Those green cleaning products mean you won’t have nasty chemical residues to smell and touch. And have you ever checked in at recently opened hotel with that “new room smell”—the building equivalent of the once-prevalent new-car smell? What your nose detects is harmful off-gassing. This hotel uses only low-VOC paints. (VOCs are Volatile Organic Compounds like benzene and methylene chloride that can cause eye irritation or headaches in small doses and serious health risks with long-term exposure.) When renovating its rooms, the hotel also selects furniture, carpets and carpet glue with minimal chemical content and off-gassing. Its ventilation system is well maintained and designed to bring you fresh air, not stale air laden with pollutants pumped out by less-efficient, ill-maintained systems.
For hotels like the JW Marriott Hong Kong, being a green leader means keeping up with a steadily advancing target. While many of today’s best practices (like avoiding unhealthy materials in lobbies and guest rooms) will remain essentially the same, new green products and technologies will provide even greater benefits in the future. The winners, then as now, will be the hotels, the environment—and you, the guest.
