Implementing sustainable business practices in a hotel and expanding green certification markets in the Midwestern United States

Abstract

The hotel industry is known for catering to travellers' demands for accommodation away from home, occasionally bringing the objective to provide comfort and services into conflict with the goal of environmental conservation. Utilising a sustainable business certification previously created by the Illinois Green Business Association (IGBA) for office buildings and restaurants, a new set of hotel-specific certification standards was developed. A trial certification of one hotel was performed to ensure that the proposed IGBA standards would effectively address the unique challenges to implementing behavioural and structural changes in the pursuit of environmental sustainability. Finally, a survey of hotel patrons' preferences was performed regarding sustainable business practices in hotels. It was assessed whether those participating hotels in the certification process could anticipate a decrease in operating costs and environmental externalities by targeting several key consumption points. By demonstrating ...