Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) is about companies being responsible for the social and environmental impact of conducting business.
CSR includes a company’s duty to care for all its stakeholders in all aspects of its business operations. From a social aspect, there is a worldwide focus on topics such as climate change and the role of corporations towards preserving a sustainable environment. Companies practicing CSR are likely to be seen in a positive manner by their stakeholders.
CSR is now an area in which many global companies are not only participating themselves, but also expecting as a standard from their partners and suppliers.
One of the biggest focuses is to educate employees about the environment and inspire them to be innovative in finding ways to help the environment from planting of trees to in-house savings.
Hotel’s CSR policy is born from the desire to formalize the good practices and attitudes with staff and share these with its customers and its environment for the benefit of all. The policy should address five areas: climate change, ozone depletion, water use management, waste disposal management and indoor air quality.
In addition to the environment CSR, it also addresses the community, the health and safety, suppliers and charitable activities.
Hotels are to set up CSR Committees and the areas of attention should be divided into five topics:
The Environment: climate change, ozone depletion, water management, waste management and indoor air quality.
Health and Safety: occupational health and safety, food safety, systems, crisis and risk management, operations, training and drills.
Employees and the Community: employee work-life balance and welfare, philanthropy, culture, conservation and biodiversity.
Supply Chain Management: environmental impact, human rights, product safety, supplier selection, and logistics.
Stakeholder Relations: customers, government, employees, community, owners and investors, NGOs, suppliers.
Induction trainings for existing and for new staff members should include a module on why CSR is important and what should be done to help the cause and make all employees in the hotel champions of CSR.
Every company / hotel should focus their attention in reducing emissions of greenhouse gas by lowering energy consumption:
- Reduction through by streamlining existing systems, processes and procedures such as adopting more and better “best practices”.
- Reductions using new technologies and renewable energy sources.
- Reduction through building more efficient buildings.
Energy Conservation Program
- Hotels should be retrofitted with energy efficient chillers.
- Hotel boilers should use a natural gas fuel source – cleaner (lower CO2 and pollutants discharge) and more efficient than diesel oil.
- Water saving devices fitted in taps and showers in hotel guestrooms to meet more stringent “flow rate” standards.
- Heart-of-house areas to use fluorescent lamps.
- Guestrooms light fittings are re-lamped with energy savings lamps.
- In public areas where incandescent lamps are used, dimming controls should be installed to vary and reduce energy use.
- Ballrooms and function rooms fitted with low energy lamps for event setups. This reduces energy use and prolongs life of incandescent lamps in decorative lights.
- Energy Conservation Best Practices Programs should be implemented in hotels with regular inspections to monitor for compliance.
- Metering being retrofitted for elected areas allowing more effective monitoring and analysis of performance targets.
New Hotel Projects (under construction)
Wherever possible, the following actions should be taken:
- Rainwater harvesting.
- Use of high efficiency sewage treatment plant, chiller and desalination plant.
- Installation of constant flow constant pressure water saving devices to selected hotel areas.
- Hot water production using solar voltaic panels or heat pumps.
- Improvements in building envelop design (performance glazing) to reduce heat loss or heat gain as well as air infiltration.
- Use of guestroom electronic control systems to improve operational efficiency and reduce energy consumption.
- Energy recovery systems for boiler condensate, chiller cooling systems or power generators.
- Use of high efficiency lighting including compact fluorescent lamps, discharge lighting and LED lighting.
- Maximization of natural lights in new designs.
Some Other Actions to be Considered
- A door-key card activating the lights should be a standard in all hotel rooms.
- Efficient bath fixtures and low-flush toilets.
- Use of proximity sensing to activate water flow for hand basins.
- Compact, dimmable florescent light fixtures and LED lighting.
- Inviting hotel guests to reuse the towels a 2nd time.
- Use of ozone-friendly chemical-free products.
- Insulation paints, carpeting to have low pollutant emission.
- Replacing pools cholorization with ionization and other more environmentally friendly options.
- Recycling of plastic, paper and glasses.
- Attention to greases, laundry waters, food left-overs and many others.
- Waste and chemical management program.
- And the list goes on and on …..
