Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 by Louise Miller

Although global warming is a more real and relevant concern than ever before, there is hope for a greener future.  Companies nationwide are taking a stance on reducing their carbon footprints by booking travel accommodations through hotels that meet “green” environmental standards.  Whether it be LEED certified hotels that are built using sustainable materials (and Certain Software’s headquarter in San Francisco is in a LEED-gold certified building), or hotels that pride themselves in being environmentally conscious by reducing water and waste, there are many up and coming options to choose from. The Marriot hotels are a great example of a hotel corporation following the green trend. With over 160 hotels being developed worldwide, they have “pre-certified” all of their designs to be compliant with LEED regulations, and plan to save about $100,000 dollars in the construction process. These designs estimate a quarter drop in water and energy usage compared to hotels nationwide.

We read 2 good articles this week that reflect this trend: One about Marriott’s plans for expand “green” hotels by 1000% and one in USA Today about how more companies want employees to stay in “green” hotels.

Why should your company be interested? Not only are you doing your part to save our planet, but you can also show all of your equally environmentally conscious customers, employees, and shareholders that you are doing your part. Furthermore, the fact that your company, along with a rapidly growing number of other companies, is choosing to prefer green conscious hotels, forces hotels nationwide to rethink their image and try and become more environmentally friendly or risk losing business. Ultimately, there is nothing to lose—these hotels are just as comfortable, convenient, and clean, but they also boast the fact that they are putting in a little more effort day to day to ensure our world is here for years to come. So why not lead your company to greener pastures? A new aspect of your event management strategy should be the impact on the environment.

Congratulations to Marriott, Starwood, Kimpton and other hotel chains to head in the right direction, and kudos to KPMG, Oracle, the AIA and others to show that they care!