The eco-friendly management of hotel industry

Abstract

The eco-friendly management in the hotel industry is a practice of operating hotels through green technology. The hotel that uses the resources wisely; reduces the consumption of water and energy; produces minimum waste and recycles the waste; and has less impact on the environment is termed as a Green Hotel. The green hotels are aimed to save resources; reduce pollution and operating cost; increase profit margins; and support the Ecotourism. The ecotourism relies on unpolluted natural environment which in turn contributes for the country's economy. This paper focuses on the green technology to be practiced in hotel industry for the environmental sustainability. The implementation of energy and water conservation projects, zero waste approach and management of solid waste disposal are the key factors of the sustainable development. The primary energy technologies recommended for the hoteliers are the lighting systems; heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems (HVAC); variable speed drives; and energy management systems. To reduce the consumption of water the hoteliers should install low flow shower heads, sensor activated kitchen taps, and drainage barriers around pools; replace all toilets with ultra-flow toilets; switch from water cooled to air-cooled ice machines; use AAA rated front loading washing machines; and consider alternative sources of garden watering such as rainwater, treated grey water and cooling tower effluent. The hotel staff should be trained to collect the recyclable materials from the hotel waste stream through recycling program. The insitu composting and biomethanation are the best practices of managing the waste generated by the hotels.