A ROOM WITH A VERY GREEN VIEW

In Business, September-October, 2006, Vol. 28, No. 5, p. 10

Implementing a sustainable transformation, Portland, Oregon's Doubletree Hotel uses environmental purchasing for food, energy, pest control and cleaning programs while subsidizing employee transit passes, thereby conserving water and reducing waste.

Marnie McPhee

WHEN VISITORS book a room at the Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center in Portland, Oregon, they may not be aware that they'll be staying in one of the greenest hotels in the U.S. Then again, that may be exactly why they picked this Doubletree. A growing number of savvy guests choose this 476-room hotel in the bustling Lloyd District in the city's inner east side precisely for its dedication to the environment.
While many hotels have taken the first baby steps toward sustainability, such as switching to compact fluorescent bulbs and low-flow water fixtures, usually they're driven more by cost savings than a commitment to sustainability. This Doubletree Hotel, however, is implementing a substantive green transformation. They buy local organic fruits and vegetables and “clean” cleaners, donate food and compost food waste, cut energy and water use, use ecofriendly landscaping, reupholster furniture or donate it to a low-income housing program, and empower employees to do even more.
Their transformation has earned seals and awards:
o Green Seal: In January 2006, the Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center became the first hotel in Oregon, and the only branded hotel west of the Mississippi River, to meet Green Seal's requirements for sustainable business practices. The Green Seal program (www.greenseal.org) serves as a compass for the hotel, guiding managers and staff to meet continually higher standards.
o BlueWorks Business: The Doubletree was the first hotel to earn a “seal of sustainability” from this City of Portland program for green businesses.
o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: The hotel is one of about 1,600 businesses nationwide that have been awarded the Commuter Choice Leadership Initiative certificate from the Best Workplaces for CommutersSM (http://www.commuterchoice.gov/) program for subsidizing employee transit passes and for supporting and promoting commuter benefits.
o Portland Composts! And Fork It Over!: The hotel was the first to participate in the “Portland Composts!” commercial composting program, and also the “Fork It Over!” food-donation program operated by Metro, the regional government that manages solid waste and recycling in the Portland area.
This transformation makes sense in Portland, a famously green city. Sustainability permeates local, regional and state government, businesses and neighborhoods. Its Convention Center draws thousands of visitors annually, many of them to events focused on environmental topics. Why wouldn't the center's headquarters hotel mirror that commitment?
The Doubletree's program starts at the top, with management's personal dedication to greenness, and it plays out hotel-wide. They're proving that sustainability is good not only for the environment, but also for the bottom line, customer loyalty, and employee morale. “Thanks to a concerted and conscious effort by our entire hotel team, our ultimate goal is to become one of the most sustainable businesses not only in the Portland community but the hospitality industry as a whole,” says Steve Faulstick, General Manager.
The management team is going at it fast and smart. Faulstick sets the tone and gives managers and staff the latitude to learn from intelligent experiments. They get a lot of help from a supportive local, regional and state infrastructure, and consultants such as Amy Spatrisano of Meeting Strategies Worldwide in Portland, who specializes in “greening” hotels.
Despite their enthusiasm, the team also is well aware of reasonable limitations. “We recognize we can't do it all at once, and that we can't expect perfection,” explains Doug Brecht, Director of Marketing. Other managers echo his realism.

FIRST STEPS TO GREENNESS
The hotel showed early promise on the path to sustainability when, as a collective of company-owned Portland based hotels, they earned a BEST Award from the City of Portland for a commitment to environmentally sensitive practices that included recycling and waste reduction. They cut waste-hauling volume from an average of four compactors per month to three and continue to build on that success.
On the buying side, they implemented an Environmental Purchasing Policy in 2004. The policy guides all purchasing decisions, and is overseen by an Environmental Compliance Steering Committee, or “Green Team,” which has been meeting since 2004. Their goal is to “buy products and materials that are recyclable, made of recycled content and reduce waste. Whenever possible, we will work to mitigate fuel waste, and will create demand for environmentally harvested products, by purchasing local products from like-minded vendors.”
The managers and Green Team oversee the sustainability program, but all employees are fully engaged. “Nothing happens without the entire team believing it,” says Michael Luehrs, Director of Operations. “For instance, our composting program never would have been successful unless the prep cooks, dishwashers and servers hadn't come on board first.”
The following sections summarize its impressive achievements.

WASTE REDUCTION
Since 1996, the Doubletree has reduced its waste disposal volume by an impressive 65 percent. During the first six months of 2006, it redirected more than 126 tons of waste from the landfill, and saved almost $10,000.
Recycling: There are recycling containers for paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic throughout the hotel, including public areas, guest rooms, kitchens and offices. “We figure that if we make it easy, people will go along with it,” Luehrs explains.
Food Waste: Kitchen staff is assiduous about separating compostables (food scraps, including meat and dairy; wood; paper; and waxed-paper containers) into green “compost” bins, and plastic into “garbage” bins. Compostables are placed into a converted waste compacter. Executive Chef Steven Ward and sous-chefs actually rake through the material, to check for errant rubber gloves, tin cans or other debris that could void the whole lot. The hotel's waste hauler, AGG, takes the compostables to the transfer station, where it is picked up by Cedar Grove Composting of Maple Valley, Washington. Since the program began, the hotel's goal-setting and training have increased the volume of compostables from the original five to seven tons per month, to an average of 14 tons per month, and raised the ratio of compost to garbage to at least five to one.
To reduce waste, the kitchen also maintains small inventories, prepares appropriate amounts of food for conferences, serves high-quality leftovers in the employee cafeteria, and, through “Fork It Over!” donates excess packaged items (such as brown-bag lunches) to a local shelter.
Waste Oil: Oregon Oil collects the hotel's waste kitchen oil and sells it to companies producing biodiesel and other waste-oil products.
Packaging: Food service has switched from single-serve to bulk containers for jams, sweeteners, creamers and more. In addition, per the purchasing policy, 75 percent of the products used in the hotel come from suppliers that deliver products in environmentally safe packaging and shipping containers, reuse them when possible, and collect them when they're empty. Sunshine Dairy and Medosweet Farms deliver their dairy products in reusable plastic crates. SYSCO Systems ships in cardboard totes; when possible, the hotel reuses them for shipping, while SYSCO picks up unusable totes for recycling. Larger shippers use and reuse pallets. Hotel policy prohibits regular suppliers from using Styrofoam packaging; staff is looking for a recycler to handle the Styrofoam pellets they receive from other sources.
Office Supplies: The purchasing department collects used toner cartridges and sends them to a recycling center for remanufacturing, The purchasing policy requires hotel staff to buy paper with at least a 30 percent post-consumer recycled content. A paper-saving program has reduced paper purchases by 20 percent annually.
Durable Goods: The Doubletree buys high-quality furniture that can be reupholstered, and other durable goods that withstand heavy use. The hotel donates outdated pieces to the nonprofit Central City Concern.

ENERGY - RENEWABLE AND MORE
Energy Efficiency: Since 1999, hotel engineers have invested more than $245,000 in initiatives that have reduced energy use by 32 percent, and saved $360,000. Highlights include: Installing timers on storeroom light fixtures and motion sensors on meeting room light fixtures; Replacing less efficient magnetic ballasts with electronic ballasts, and incandescent bulbs with high-efficiency compact fluorescent bulbs; Converting bathroom lighting to high-efficiency T12 fluorescents; Replacing several motors, chillers and boilers with more efficient products; Replacing most of the hotel's windows with Energy Star-rated models; Ensuring that all HVAC equipment, and equipment for offices and guest rooms, are energy-efficient.
Green Energy: The hotel buys 35,000 kWh of clean wind power annually from their electric utility, Pacific Power (http://www.pacificpower.net ).
Transportation: Under the guidance of Faulstick, who serves on the Lloyd District Transportation Management Association, management has done the nearly unthinkable: eliminating the hotel's airport shuttle service, and instead encouraging guests to take the MAX light-rail trains that provide door-to-door service from the airport to the hotel. “We've been pleased that the feedback has been so positive,” Faulstick notes.
The hotel also subsidizes employee mass-transit passes. That saves approximately 7,500 gallons of gasoline and 7,500 pounds of carbon monoxide per year.
Buying from local suppliers significantly reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas output.

WATER CONSERVATION/STORM WATER MANAGEMENT
By installing low-flow showerheads in all 476 rooms, and replacing 200 toilets with water-conserving 1.6 gallons/flush units, staff has reduced total water usage by 15 percent.
A “Linen Reuse” program gives guests the opportunity to use towels and sheets more than once before they're laundered.
Urban Eco Systems is converting the hotel's landscaping to water and energy conserving naturescaping.
BUYING LOCALLY
The hotel is sourcing more than 65 percent of its food products within a 500-mile radius - an area that fortuitously encompasses some of the most productive and diverse farms and fisheries in the U.S. Executive Chef Ward calls his approach “FLOSS: Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal, Sustainable.” He nurtures one-on-one relationships with his suppliers of seafood, dairy, meats, fruits and vegetables, herbs, jams, honey, grains, and more. And he and his team, plus Luehrs, and Purchasing Supervisor Nick Leatherman, always are looking for more local sources, at farmers markets and conferences, in green publications, and from other restaurateurs and the sustainability community.
They buy the remaining 35 percent of their food products through traditional sources, such as SYSCO. “We get great pricing by working within the Hilton purchasing system, but we have no mandate to meet a certain threshold of purchases,” Luehrs explains.
GREEN CLEANING AND PEST CONTROL
The Doubletree is working closely with Ecolab, the national firm that supplies the hotel's cleaning and pest-management products. The hotel uses only Green Seal-approved cleaners, paints, building materials, adhesives, laminated products, caulking compounds and office supplies. At times, it's been challenging to find products that meet their requirements. They also have embraced Integrated Pest Management, which chooses the least-toxic pest-control alternatives.
SO MANY “WINS”
The hotel's managers are justifiably proud of their achievements, and promotes the hotel's sustainability program on its website, and in brochures, table tents, media releases, hotel tours, and a lobby display.
Customers are taking notice of the hotel's actions. “We realized that there was a great market, of customers demanding sustainability,” Brecht says. “I can track $500,000 in convention business we've earned in just the six months since we got our Green Seal certification!” One of these delighted customers wrote: “I had no idea that the Doubletree was ecoconscious, and I applaud that.”
To engage guests even more, hotel management soon may offer a “green rooms” package, which could include a “back-of-the-house” tour. This eye-opening look into the hotel's sustainability program already is wowing meeting planners, suppliers, and the media.
The program also fosters exceptional employee loyalty. “Our turnover rate is incredibly low - 30 percent vs. the industry standard of 60 percent - and we're really proud of that,” Luehrs states. Brecht adds that, “Corporations try to create a system, such as badges and slogans, to boost employee morale, but I believe that our employees have a sense of purpose and responsibility to sustainability and that has even more effective impacts.” He points to another unusual employee benefit: sustainable career development.
Finally, the hotel's green programs mesh perfectly with the Doubletree Hotel chain's commitment to community with their culture of “CARE.” For instance, hotel staff has helped plant trees at a local elementary school, and the hotel donates blankets, furniture and amenities such as shampoo and lotions to a local nonprofit serving the homeless population.

DOING MORE TO SAVE MORE
All of the accolades and dramatic progress aren't enough for this team. As Brecht says, “We know we're ahead of the pack, and we want to stay there. We're looking for that next bar to go over.”
Luehrs lists their sustainability goals for the near term: Define the hotel's carbon footprint (by the end of the third quarter of 2006), then reduce it; Switch guest rooms to “green rooms” featuring sustainable wool carpets, drapes, bedding and hard goods (early 2007); Gain LEED-EB (Existing Building) certification (mid-2008) - If they're successful, the Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center will be the first U.S. hotel to meet both Green Seal and LEED-EB standards; Complete the hotel's naturescaping project (mid-2008); Provide guidance and leadership to Portland's hospitality community to join their efforts and, in so doing, better position Portland as a 'Green' destination; Design a rainwater harvesting system to augment the city's water supply and reduce storm water runoff; Generate electrical energy onsite by installing wind and/or solar power systems; Achieve zero landfill impact (by 2015).
Luehrs sparkles as he describes other possibilities, including loaning bikes to guests, and collaborating with the Portland, Oregon Visitor's Association to create a “Green Familiarization” tour - an all-expenses-paid promotional trip to introduce meeting planners to sustainable hotels.
The team is refreshingly open about their accomplishments and challenges. “The more we do, the more we want to do,” Luehrs says. “But we are very careful about not over-promising or overstating how green we are.”
The team is eager to cross-pollinate ideas with others in the industry and community. For instance, during their annual “Green Month” in March 2006, the chef hosted guests and meeting planners at a “Green Table,” where he discussed the sources of the raw ingredients, which participants then turned into delicious meals. These efforts regularly win positive attention.
Managers also tackle the misperception that sustainability is expensive. “It's very different to think sustainability first, then profitability will follow,” Luehrs says. “But that's just what we're doing. We invested $245,000 to earn $360,000 in utility savings over a seven-year period. We understand that the additional costs we experience today will equate to solid, quantifiable business returns as well as the less tangible benefits of the goodwill created with our clients and guests.” Surprisingly, so far, the hotel has funded the sustainability program without taking advantage of local, state and federal incentives and tax credits.
“I can't say enough about them,” says Jennifer Erickson, Senior Planner in Metro's Waste Reduction and Outreach program. “Their level of commitment, from top to bottom, is amazing. They've been an enthusiastic partner in Metro's resource conservation programs since day one. They open their doors to numerous tours of their kitchen. They make sure none of their food is wasted. They're trying hard to be the new model of the hospitality industry.”

Marnie McPhee is a freelance writer in Portland, Oregon. She specializes in sustainability - recycling, composting, energy efficiency and renewable energy, organic agriculture, and green building.

Copyright 2007, The JG Press, Inc.