Marriott Quorum by the Galleria General Manager Mark Brooks. The floor on which he stands is made from recyclable bamboo. (Photo: AddisonGreen.info)
Addison’s Marriott Quorum by the Galleria is about to need a new roof. For General Manager Mark Brooks, this is an expense, certainly, but it also is an opportunity.
“We’re looking at doing wind,” he says. “The Town is talking about it for the Water Tower coming up. In our environment, in a business park, the smaller wind turbines appear to provide a low-noise and minimal visual impact that make it an option for us.”
These days, Brooks says, thinking green is a big part of his job. Marriott, which has about 90 properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone, is pushing the envelope on environmental responsibility, making green an integral part of the business for one of the world’s largest hotel and hotel management companies.
“Marriott integrated it (environmental responsibility) into our company culture several years ago,” Brooks said. “This has become a strategic business goal of the company.”
Recently, Marriott International’s 30-year old Headquarters building in Maryland achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Existing Building Gold status. Upgrades to the building earned points for maximizing operational efficiency while minimizing environmental impact.
Last year, Marriott introduced a “Spirit to Preserve the Rainforest” promotion. For meetings or stays of 10 rooms or more during select dates, participating properties pledged funds equal to five percent of the total cost of the group’s guest rooms to protect the rainforest.
For meeting planners, the chain offers “Eco-Events” including recycle bins in meeting rooms, pens and notepads made from recycled material, organic flowers, tables without linens, reusable name tags and the opportunity to donate any leftover food.
In recent years, Marriott has pushed out other green initiatives, including:
- Key cards: The company has purchased 24 million cards made of 50 percent recycled material, keeping an estimated 66 tons of plastic out of landfills.
- Recycled pens: The 47 million pens provided for guests and meeting rooms in the U.S. and Canada are made of 75 percent recycled material.
- Eco-pillows: Marriott is replacing 100,000 synthetic pillows with pillows filled with recycled material.
- Earth-friendly towels: One million new towels purchased in the U.S. alone don’t have to be pre-washed, saving six million gallons of water.
- Coreless toilet paper: By the start of the second quarter of 2010, 500 hotels were expected to offer “coreless” paper, eliminating two million cores a year.
- Low VOC paint: Marriott purchases nearly one million gallons of paint low in Volatile Organic Compounds.
- Light bulbs: Properties worldwide have replaced 450,000 light bulbs with fluorescent counterparts.
- Water conservation: The chain has installed 400,000 low-flow toilets and showerheads.
In Addison, some green efforts are plain to see.
Recycling bins on each floor give guests a chance to do the right thing. (Photo: AddisonGreen.info)
At the elevator stop on each floor, a bin offers guests an opportunity to recycle newspapers and other appropriate items. A “Room To Be Green” card in each room informs occupants that bed linens are changed only every third night or upon each checkout unless otherwise requested. (“At home, do you wash the sheets every day?” Brooks asks.) Only towels left on the floor or in the bathtub will be laundered.
A receptacle in the desk area is provided for white paper, newspaper, glass, plastic bottles and cans. Upon checkout, guests are encouraged to recycle their room key cards and are given a last chance to do so at a collection bin in the parking garage.
Other initiatives are less obvious.
Meeting room tables are made mostly from recycled materials, and some tables are designed to not require linens, cutting down on laundry. A heat plate exchanger allows the hotel to get cold water without the use of less energy-efficient chillers. Ballroom lights shut off automatically when the room is not in use. Office area lights and computers also are cut off when no one is working.
At the front desk, an ENERGY STAR plaque certifies the hotel’s efforts. More than 275 Marriott properties currently earn that distinction.
ENERGY STAR plaque in the Marriott lobby. Image: addisongreen.info
“At the time we got that one (2007), there were only five hotels in the Dallas market that were ES rated,” Brooks says. (The awards are issued every two years, and the Addison location is awaiting the arrival of its 2009 plaque.)
“Frankly, everyone should have that,” Brooks says.
Much of what happens at the individual properties is dictated from the corporate level, but managers are encouraged to be creative. For Earth Hour, Brooks’ team examined how many lights it could turn off without compromising safety or guest satisfaction. For Earth Day, employees will participate in a community project involving pickup and cleanup.
While activities like Earth Hour may not create much in the way of cost savings, increasing awareness is a big part of the Marriott strategy.
“How do you make people aware and do more things? It was exciting to go through that process and see how many things you could turn off,” Brooks said.
With summer coming, the hotel will be part of keeping Addison cool. Working with TXU Energy, the Marriott will go “off the grid” and on to its own generator during periods of critical demand.
“We have an interface with TXU that will automatically shut down some systems,” Brooks said.
Employees are encouraged to think green, both in their business and personal lives. Regular meetings of the hotel’s “Green Team” produce new ideas on how to press the environmental envelope.
“Everything we encounter, we examine,” Brooks said. “And, if there’s a choice, we’re going with the process that’s more environmentally accountable.”
While running a 500-plus room hotel on green principles can be a challenge, Brooks says most guests react positively.
“People want to do something,” he says.
In Addison, Marriott is making it just a little easier.
Tags: Addison Marriott, ENERGY STAR, LEED, Marriott Quorum by the Galleria
