NH Hoteles says it is the first hotel group in the world to have received the ISO 50001 audit certificate, the premier standard for the certification of energy management systems. This comes as further confirmation of the international company's commitment to the environment and sustainability.
The certification audit was carried out by the TÜV Rheinland Group, a technical services provider. As an independent international testing and inspection organisation, TÜV Rheinland can draw on more than 125 years' experience with the evaluation and certification of companies from practically all branches of industry. The new ISO standard is aimed, among other things, at cost savings and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental pollutants.
Since the introduction of its Environmental Plan 2008 – 2012 NH Hoteles has implemented a whole string of innovative sustainability measures, enabling it to meet the plan targets a year earlier than scheduled. Towards the end of the first half of 2011 the hotel group was already registering economies of 15.63 percent on energy consumption, a 28.33 percent reduction in the amount of water used and a 32.41 percent drop in CO2 emissions. Waste volumes are calculated annually, showing a drop of 26.83 percent at the end of 2010.
The certification "was awarded to us for a project that we launched in 2003, thanks to which – owing to the huge commitment on the part of our hotels – a corporate culture has been established at NH Hoteles promoting efficient, easy-on-the environment management. Our efforts have steadily paid off, as impressively documented by our year for year reduction in energy consumption. We take the fact that we are the first hotel group in the world with ISO-50001 certification as further encouragement to continue the pursuit of our environmental targets with the same unflagging level of commitment," says Luis Ortega, Head of Engineering & Environment at NH Hoteles.
As part of its Environmental Plan NH Hoteles also relies on renewable energies; so far the company has equipped its properties with altogether 4,477 square metres of solar panels. Worldwide, 52 percent of its hotels already use renewables. This way NH Hoteles generates roughly four million kilowatt hours of solar energy a year in its hotels – equivalent to a cutback by 342 tons of oil.
Another measure consists of the installation in NH Hoteles properties of energy efficient elevators featuring regenerative drive systems which use 1,200 kilowatt hours' less energy a year than conventional electric elevators and reduce each hotel's carbon footprint by 1,200 kilograms of CO2.
Cutting water consumption is also a major item on the Environmental Plan agenda. Since introduction of the plan the international hotel group has saved more than 675 million litres of water – enough to fill 270 Olympic-size swimming pools.
NH Hoteles received its certification in June 2011, further reinforcing the group's standing as a trail-blazer on the sustainability front. In its endeavour to reduce its CO2 emissions, in 2010 NH Hoteles was able to measure precisely the carbon footprint left by each of its guests in the 60,000 rooms at the group's 400 properties. Via a carbon computer on the group's website guests can have the environmental impact of their hotel stay and their outward and return journeys calculated with reference to the means of transport they use.
The NH Sustainable Club is yet another element of NH Hoteles' environmental commitment. In this club – the first of its kind on the international hotel scene – industry-leading, globally operative suppliers to the hotel group are involved in the development of innovative sustainable procurement concepts. In 2011 this has resulted in 47 environmental protection projects for NH Hoteles.
