At IHG, Corporate Responsibility (CR) isn’t an add-on, it's integral to the way we do business. We're working to meet guests' and owners' expectations with our Corporate Responsibility initiatives by focusing on two key areas of work – the environment and our role in local communities. These are areas in which we can make a big difference.
We treat Corporate Responsibility with the same business acumen we do everything else. Acting in a responsible manner and doing good goes beyond our legal obligations. It helps us to create value for the business and build competitive advantage. It also helps us to define our business strategy and is key to attracting people to work for us.
Not only do we need to consider how travel and tourism affects the environment and the communities in which we operate but we also have to manage all this within the context of the global economic downturn.
In 2008 we put the fundamental elements of our CR strategy into place and achieved some great things.
During 2008 we...
- Researched how Corporate Responsibility affects guest attitudes and behaviour
- Completed a comprehensive carbon and environmental footprint analysis
- Expanded the Innovation Hotel concept (see story 'Sitting pretty, with grass on its roof', right)
- Integrated CR into brand planning, including the design of a Holiday Inn prototype that requires less construction material
- Were selected for the US Department of Energy initiative to explore building a hotel that's up to 50 per cent more energy efficient within the next few years (see story 'Green buildings find the right chemistry')
- Developed Green Engage, our online sustainability management system (see story 'Switching on huge savings', right)
- Made our corporate offices more energy efficient with measures such as window tinting, sustainable furniture and carpets and energy saving light bulbs
- Won the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators award for 'Most Innovative Approach to CSR'
We measured our environmental impacts, surveyed general managers about what they do to help their communities, innovated new and better ways to design, build and operate our hotels and carried out consumer research to understand what really makes a difference to our guests.
We asked our hotel owners about the issues of ‘responsible’ tourism and respecting local communities. We also worked with them and partner organisations such as Harvard University, Cornell University and National Geographic to develop a rounded view of how we should approach CR in a meaningful way.
We’re implementing policies to cover the environment, communities and human rights. To reinforce these we have set up a steering group of senior executives and communicated this work by releasing a more detailed online CR Report.
Our focus now is to engage more with everyone in our business on our approach to CR and concentrate on what we can all do to play a part.
A responsible approach to business will not only help us to reduce our impact on the environment and become a better community partner but also reduce our costs.
To find out more about our work in this area read our online CR Report at www.ihg.com/responsibility
Caught on camera
Pictures taken by our employees worldwide
Our stories
Switching on huge savings
Our new sustainability management system, Green Engage, could save up to 25 per cent of hotel energy costs according to our early trials. This will save millions of dollars for IHG and hotel owners across the estate and help us deliver what guests told us they want – hotels with great environmental credentials which give them a sense of wellbeing.
Green Engage is an online system that helps general managers effectively manage their energy consumption, water usage and waste production. It compares each hotel’s figures in these areas with similar IHG properties and suggests actions to make improvements, including insulating hot water pipes, introducing a recycling programme, switching to organic cleaning materials and appointing an employee as a ‘green champion’.
Tom Corcoran, Chairman of the IAHI, The Owners’ Association, said: ‘In the current economic climate and with rising energy bills, this system will help us to identify significant cost savings.’ Green Engage also allows hotels to measure their performance against leading external environmental certifications. It will be available to all our hotels from mid-2009 and is key to delivering on our objectives.
Sitting pretty, with grass on its roof
Online Innovation Hotel
It’s the world’s first entirely ‘green’ hotel. The online Innovation Hotel is our way of showcasing the latest technology in energy and water conservation and recycling.
The ‘virtual’ hotel, which can be seen on our website, invites people to provide feedback on the green technologies they feel are important. This helps us prioritise turning the most popular and practical ideas into standard features within the next few years.
Among the highlights of the futuristic hotel are:
- Solar panels to heat water
- A rainwater collection system to supply water to toilets
- A roof garden rich in shrubbery to provide extra insulation
- Wind power to generate electricity
- Recycled glass windows
- Furniture and fittings made entirely from recycled materials
- The use of waste to provide heat and power
The concept hotel can be viewed at www.ihg.com/innovation
