Sponsored Sites Shop Online for Eco-Friendly Products Ekotribe Carbon Consulting Add your site here.

The 396 room business and leisure hotel underwent an exacting and comprehensive sustainability audit, scoring consistently across an extensive series of operational criteria and marking another milestone achievement in its first full year of operation.

“Hotels are, on occasion, unfairly accused of ‘talking the talk’ when it comes to sustainability, so receiving a stamp of approval from an impartial and credible international organisation is very pleasing. Our aim is to spearhead positive change by implementing long-term environmental initiatives that will hopefully inspire others to push their own green envelope,” said Philippe Bonnot, General Manager, Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel.

The hotel has developed a multi-level sustainability programme designed to impact the entire operation from back-of-house areas to guestrooms and public spaces.

The hotel has invested in ground-breaking INNcontrol II™ software, which is designed to help the hospitality industry maximise on energy efficiency and make substantial cost savings through a highly individualised hotel-specific programme.

“The system allows us to measure the temperature in each guest room, rather than per section or floor, with the ability to monitor consumption via a live update that shows which rooms are performing at peak operational efficiency as well as highlighting problem areas,” said Rohit Salunke, Director of Engineering.

“This helps us set specific air-conditioning parameters for each room, and initiate target temperatures to ensure that we are controlling air-conditioning demand, and thus controlling our energy costs,” he added.

The hi-tech system also tracks annual energy savings by charting actual consumption against a ‘worse case’ scenario in the absence of an effective energy management system, as well as tracking guest room user trends.

Paper, plastic, aluminium and waste cooking oil are all recycled with hazardous waste material collected by a specialist recycling company in Dubai. The hotel also organises regular outdoor cleaning drives and has taken the unique step of siting a used clothing recycling bank within the property, in association with Gulf State Recycling.

“Engaging our employees was a crucial first step in securing buy-in ahead of rolling the programme out to our other key stakeholders, and we have developed a hotel-wide sustainability training programme which is a requisite for each individual team member from the top down,” remarked Bonnot.

The hotel was audited by UAE-based Farnek Avireal, which currently holds the exclusive rights to utilise the Green Globe brand, the premier worldwide sustainability stamp for the tourism industry, in 20 different countries throughout the Middle East.

“The Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel has successfully completed Green Globe certification, and the hotel could see annual carbon emissions drop by up to 6,250 tonnes per year as well as make substantial savings on utility costs equivalent to around US$5 per room night,” said Markus Oberlin, General Manager, Farnek Avireal.