Greening a new hotel is much easier than greening an existing property.
The W hotel chain’s San Francisco property was only the seventh major hotel in the country to be certified as green under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design (LEED) program.
By Bill Picture
Published: April, 2010
Bringing an existing property up to current environmental standards—while socially responsible and necessary to meet the demands of today’s increasingly eco-conscious travelers—is far more costly. And implementing new policies and procedures that, in effect, demand new tricks from old dogs, can be difficult.
Greening the W hotel chain’s San Francisco property, which is adjacent to Museum Row, posed an even more unique challenge for its general manager, Michael Pace, when he joined the W team in July of 2009. His self-described “passion for the environment” dictated that he find ways to minimize the 404-room hotel’s impact on the environment. But the changes to be made could not tamper with the W’s signature look and vibe, which fans of the chain have come to expect.
“It was an interesting challenge, to say the least,” said the English-born Bay Area transplant. “I thought to myself, ‘Here’s a hotel with this iconic brand that doesn’t look or feel very green at all. What can I do to make it green without undermining the integrity of that brand?’”
While no two W hotels look exactly the same, what they share is a common design aesthetic: sleek, contemporary and sophisticated. That downtown-chic aesthetic shows up in every detail—from each property’s cool exterior, to the flower arrangements in rooms and common areas, to the flatware used in restaurant dining rooms. Lighting is low, music in common areas is edgy and played at chat-appropriate levels, and furnishings are stylish and luxurious.
“It’s a package that’s intended to flirt with all of the senses, and very focused on music and lighting and scent,” Pace added. “We don’t want to lose that because that’s what make us us. But we had to balance those needs, the needs of the brand, with our responsibility to the environment.”
The first step, Pace decided, was following the prescribed guidelines for certification of existing buildings under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Those guidelines include improving energy- and water-efficiency, banning the use of toxic cleaning chemicals and pest-control chemicals, and stepping up waste-diversion (recycling and composting) efforts. The W in San Francisco was only the sixth major hotel in the country to be awarded a “silver” rating.
“We’re very proud of that,” said Pace. “We installed motion sensors in the guest rooms to improve energy efficiency, and timers and sensors in all of the offices and storage areas. The lighting in public areas has to be soft, and fluorescents are too bright. But all of the exterior lighting and back-of-house lighting, where we need it to be bright, is energy efficient.”
The W San Francisco also now recycles 80 percent of its waste (compared to 30 percent when Pace started), and has a plan in place for dealing with e-waste, which includes old televisions from guest rooms, as well as computers and other office equipment. These policies, like many of the ones that make up the W’s green program, were actually ideas thought up by employees at the W.
Pace has plenty of previous experience greening hotels. Prior to joining the W team, he created a green program for the Hotel Triton, where he served as general manager. His “Earthcare” program was so successful, in fact, that his bosses at Kimpton Hotels, which owns the Triton, expanded the program company-wide and implemented it at 42 hotels across the country.
Still, Pace insists that, the most successful green programs are collaborations between management and employees. “If employees have a say in creating a policy, I believe they’ll feel more invested in it and want to see it succeed,” he says. “There’s no passion when the orders are just coming from the top down. What I did was I said, ‘Give me your ideas. Let’s try them out and, if they work, we’ll make them brand standards.’ These are their ideas. I’m just a conduit to make things happen.”
Before Pace was hired, one-third of the W’s employees signed a petition calling for the creation of a management-supported green program. That petition led to the creation of a green committee consisting mostly of middle managers. When Pace came onboard, he began meeting with those managers on a regular basis and asked them to share their ideas for increasing the W’s green profile, as well as ideas from lower-level employees.
Among those ideas was a plan to green the restaurant and bar’s menus. At present, more than 90 percent of the wines offered at the W are organic, as is most of the food served. The bar has also recently begun offering organic spirits for its cocktails.
“I think we’ve taken care of all of the obvious stuff,” Pace says. “We’ve done all of the low-hanging fruits. Now, it’s time to deal with more of the stuff that guests don’t see, like changing out the motors in the coolers for energy-efficient ones. It’s more of the higher level technical stuff that’s next on our to-do list.”
The W San Francisco is currently taking the steps necessary to be certified by the City as a green business. Pace expects to be certified before the year is out. Already on its mantle are an Energy Star rating from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy for superior energy performance, as well as a “Good Earthkeeping” award from the California Hotel & Lodging Association.
“This isn’t some marketing strategy,” Pace added. “Some people do this because it makes financial sense, or for better public relations. We’re doing this because we have a green conscience, and we feel we have an obligation to reduce our impact on the environment. And that’s why we’ve been so successful, because we’re doing this for what we believe is the right reason and we have passion for it.”
Left - More than 90 percent of the wines served at the W’s XYZ Lounge are organic. The hotel also recently added organic spirits to its signature cocktail menu. Right - Management at the W hotel must balance its green conscience with the needs of the W brand. For instance, bright fluorescent bulbs aren’t an option in public areas because W hotels are known for mood lighting. However, only fluorescents are used to light exterior spaces and work spaces.
