Environmentally Friendly Hotel London | Eco Friendly Hotel London

Environmental Policy and activities

Environment Policy

51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites and Residences and Crowne Plaza London-St James.

51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites and Residences and the Crowne Plaza London-St. James, their employees, associates, guests and partners will respect the environment as far as possible in terms of all in-house activities and processes, constantly seeking new ways to challenge their performance to this end.

The property comprising of 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites and Residences and Crowne Plaza London-St James will, for the benefit of the planet and with the future of the Hotels in mind at all times:

Adapt constantly and comply with all current environmental norms and regulations with the aim of pre-empting new ones where possible;
Educate all guests, associates and partners on good environmental practices through information on the websites and in the rooms, training for associates, and information available through Press Releases and marketing channels;
Constantly strive to reduce electricity, gas and water consumption throughout both hotels. In this way the property can work towards a reduced Carbon Footprint, and consider ways to offset the remaining un-avoidable carbon emissions;
Aim to order local produce, organic and fair trade items within the Food and Beverage department;
Recycle an optimum amount of glass, cardboard, paper, cooking oil, batteries, plastic etc. at all times and aim to reduce landfill volume by 5 to 10% per year;
Maintain an environmentally friendly approach to the upkeep of the garden and courtyard with all due consideration to wildlife, using organic products;
Constantly review the environmental practices within the property through the Green Team, looking at new ways and methods to build on all the processes that have already been put in place.

Ian Hurst
General Manager

Green activities at Crowne Plaza London St James.

Green Team

Crowne Plaza London-St James has had an active Green team since 2003, including staff from throughout the Hotel, driving forward all types of green and considerate initiatives

Awards and Achievements

January 2009, awarded Silver standard by Green Globe
June 2008, awarded Bronze standard by Green Globe
In 2007 we were awarded a Highly Commended in the Energy Management category of the Considerate Hoteliers of the Year Awards, sponsored by Hospitable Climates

In 2007 Engineering put a great deal of effort into energy saving initiatives which resulted in the following savings in Nov 06 – Oct 07 compared to Nov 05 – Oct 06

999,326 kWh savings in Electricity usage
805,506 kWh savings in Gas usage
5,877,000 litres of water
Total value £95,372

In 2006 we won the Envirowise Award for Water savings in the Considerate Hoteliers of the Year Awards.
A Carbon Audit was carried out over the whole property by the Carbon Trust in May 2006
In 2005 we won the Considerate Hotelier of the year award, and the Environmentally friendly Hotel of the year award from the Considerate Hoteliers Association
In 2004 we won the Considerate Hotelier of the year award from the Considerate Hotelier’s Association

Current Processes in place

There are currently 11 people in the Green Team that meets once a month to discuss green initiatives
Every one of our 250 associates is responsible to do their bit within their areas.

Every associate is trained on the hotel’s environmental policy and main procedures at induction when they start working here. That is re-enforced in the ‘Encore’ training, going over the induction training three months after an associate has started.
Quiz’s for the associates

Christmas Quiz
Guess the number of re-cycled stamps

On the shared drive (on the computer network) there is a green ideas folder where all associates can leave ideas and green initiatives that they think of for the Green team to follow up.
Houskeeping are trained

to leave only minimum lights on, if not no lights at all in the rooms and suites.
They only flush the loos when necessary, they don’t flush just to check if the loo is working.
They encourage guests to request that their linen is not changed on a daily basis when staying for more than one night – this is also requested with a notice in the rooms

Engineering are constantly looking at ways to reduce energy consumption

Removing nearly 1000 spotlights in the corridors and public areas throughout the property in 2007
Replacing all spots in the Back of house areas with energy saving spots July 2008
Introducing water harvesting
At the end of 2006 they produced a comprehensive document for all associates with energy saving advice on all areas

Air Conditioning – 7 points
Plumbing – 7 points
Electrical – 5 points
Offices – 6 points
House Keeping – 11 points
Security – 5 points
Spa and Health club – 7 points
Banquets and meeting rooms – 4 points
Kitchens – 4 points
General energy saving tips

Lighting x 9
Fan’s x 2
Iron’s x 4
Refrigerators x 14
Etc. etc…

We recycle the following items

Paper, cardboard
Glass
Batteries
Stamps
Cooking Oil
Printer Cartridges

Office workers are provided with recycling bins and fined when they leave their lights on
Responsible Hazardous waste removal
TV’s in the Gym that only turn on when the linked machine is in use and automatically turns off when the machine is not in use
Launch of the full partnership with Whole Foods in 51 for the welcome hampers, groceries through Concierge and cooking demonstrations at the store
Green training month took place in June 2008 for all associates including the following activities:

Green Day with demonstrations in the courtyard for growing food, travelling to work using your bike or feet, organic cleaning demonstration, energy saving options at home, recycled goods
Gardening afternoon at a local children’s garden, weeding clearing space and helping to maintain the garden for local children’s use
Film showing for all associates of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, Al Gore
Green Team Social
Regular Green Tips sent by email

Plans for 2009

EARTH. The Taj Hotels new Environmental initiative rolling out to the whole portfolio of hotels. 51 is due to be part of the Pilot programme running in 2008.
Maintain efficient energy usage levels to the same consumption with a budgeted increase in occupancy
Review staff canteen processes and introduce a full recycling scheme
Green tip of the month to be circulated to all with Seasonal Quiz’s to encourage knowledge
Green Month in June including Film Showing, training, Green Day etc
Continue working with Telepresence to promote responsible Business Travel
Get the Green Team award with CHA
Summer Social
Earth Badges
Install Water Restrictors rather than Airators to taps
Install another Water Harvest tank
All cleaning equipment to transfer to env friendly products
All spots to change to Energy Saving bulbs in the hotel
Housekeeping review
Review of information communicated to guests.