EarthCheck sustainable hotels and tourism destinations
An interview with Stewart Moore, Founder and CEO of EarthCheck sustainable hotels certification and advisory
Welcome to Episode 71 of the Green Healthy Places podcast, in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.
Today I'm in Australia talking to Stewart Moore, founder and CEO of EarthCheck, the world's leading scientific benchmarking certification and advisory group for sustainable travel and tourism.
EarthCheck helps tourism businesses and destinations become more sustainable through certification, consulting, training, and software solutions.
Their mission is to provide the tools needed to measure environmental impact and ultimately to make business decisions that save money, resources, and the planet.
Clients range from leading destinations and multinationals to local governments and small business owners. Few of the more recognizable brand names, to give you an idea, would include Melia, Banyan Tree, Kerzner International, owners One&Only, and many others.
Stewart himself has over 30 years of experience in a wide range of disciplines from policy development, tourism, destination management and marketing, sustainability, risk management, and corporate and social responsibility. So, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast.
Sustainable Tourism and green hotel sustainability initiatives
EarthCheck
Thanks, Matt. Absolute pleasure to be with you.
The certification question in hospitality industry
Matt
Perhaps we could start with this one. Obviously, sustainable certifications, green hotels, resorts, tourism operators, destinations, events and real estate developers all come under your bracket.
But there are a number of options out there nowadays, and possibly even a confusing number of green hotel certification systems.
So for people who are not quite sure where to start, what would you describe as the main drivers behind the particular system that you've set up in your certification?
Is it more about the knowledge and insight required in getting to the—is it more about the journey, or do you think, ultimately, it's the formal recognition and the destination of the certification.
How do you see your stance on that compared to this plethora of options out there in the market today?
Sustainable practices in hotel industry
EarthCheck
Yeah, so I think I agree. Firstly, there's a sea of labels and they're all well-intentioned, but at one end of the spectrum you've got tick box labels without software and at the other end you've got programs like EarthCheck, which I guess we see ourselves as leading-edge science.
We have dedicated software platforms developed for our clients and probably most importantly we've got real people, relationship managers who are dedicated to supporting our clients on their journeys.
Post-COVID, we've become connected as a world and we are much more aware now of the need to address climate change and environmental management and also to reconnect with our local surroundings.
So you have an expectation for market, they're looking for more, they have an expectation that operators have good systems and the whole reason they work with EarthCheck is it's not just the robustness of the system but they've got transparency in what they're doing and they've got someone they can trust in helping them on that journey.
So it should be a little bit about celebration too, it's about what the market expects. The market is expecting more in terms of compliance and reporting. This was particularly picked up post-COVID. We don't want to demonize operators or tourism businesses. It's about doing good for the planet and good for the business.
The sustainable hotel journey
Matt
Of course, a hotel brand, for example, starting out on that journey, they're looking at a number of different schemes. So for EarthCheck itself how would you define it as being particular, that distinguishes it from others?
For example, if it's a project in Asia Pacific, you're obviously very strong there, and you might have others that are perhaps stronger in the US, for example.
Hotel sustainability indicators
EarthCheck
I guess the whole way our platform was built was as an international standard. So, and if you look at you know traditionally Agenda 21 and the key sustainable solutions facing the planet, they're the same, doesn't matter where you are in the world.
But certainly our platform has been designed to take into consideration geography and climate across 32 sectors. We're a holistic standard which makes us quite different to anyone else in the market.
So we look at design and construction, we look at operational performance and we're also looking at refurbishment and also training capacity building so we can meet all elements of what our company or a hotel chain needs.
I guess the science is important. So we're underpinned by very deep science. We've got one of the deepest data sets for operational performance in the world that's been developed over a 25 year period and the software program developed means that we can service our clients and software is so important, making things easy to collect, to collate and report on your data.
So for us, the whole development of the platform is to meet the requirements. It doesn't matter if you're in Mumbai or Zurich, we're able to meet the requirements in market and of course we do that in seven languages online 24-7.
Sustainability efforts in eco friendly hotels
Matt
For me one of the most interesting things is how you've managed to bridge different sub-sectors within the tourism industry. So there might be those players out there who really just focus on certifying hotels, but you've branched out.
I think there is this universality to the sustainability initiatives we are concerned with here, the key values behind any sustainability plan, that can be tweaked and then applied to a range of different, adjacent market sectors.
You've done that, you've rolled it out effectively, you haven't limited yourself to hotels and resorts, you've really taken a broader approach.
How much difference is there between whether you're looking at a small business owner, a restaurant, a hospitality operation or a larger chain?
How do those different schemes adapt to the size and particularities of each business and how much is it really a universal standard so that you know those same principles just applied with slight adaptations?
Hotel sustainability basics
EarthCheck
Yes, so I guess the fundamental things actually remain the same. If you're a little operator or a big operator, we're looking at making sure you've got the right policies and plans in place.
It is true it doesn't matter whether you're a train or a convention center it comes back to you can't manage what you don't measure.
So the whole program comes back to the basics of what the operational footprint of the business that we're working with and that will differ because obviously trains have a different energy set and a waste set than a hotel but we have key reporting indicators that will differ for each of those products.
But the fundamentals don't change in terms of the steps, it still comes back to working with you and understanding your footprint, providing the ability to understand what that looks like in terms of your operational performance and then moving through that so that you can develop a plan that meets your outcomes.
Where it's as a small operator, so it doesn't have to be an over complex environmental and waste management system or if you're a very big convention center, then the expectations are that you've actually got a very comprehensive management plan to support you. But the fundamentals, the little steps tend to be the same.
How to begin sustainable initiatives in a hotel?
Matt
It's such an important point. Often people ask, how do we start with our own hotel sustainability initiatives or, what should we be doing for our resort sustainability plan? I answer - we should all be doing everything everywhere all at once but for now just start!
You have to try and it's not about just being a hotel business as you say it really is anyone out there at the moment who's contributing to the tourism industry in some way. It's just starting that process, isn't it?
You provide the guidance, a sense of a process and a plan that can really be extremely comforting and remove a lot of that anxiety around, well, are we doing the right thing?
So within that, obviously the design of structures, buildings is a particular interest from my world in real estate. I've been studying for your EarthCheck Design Accredited Professional recently. I've still got to do the actual exam, but I have done the work!
So the BDS, the Building Planning and Design Standard that you've created and then also this interesting adjunct around the accredited professionals which I think is a really worthy scheme as well. So perhaps you could tell us a bit about that.
Environmental design in hotel sector
EarthCheck
So we've got a number of standards, one of which is our Building Planning and Design Standard put together based on various factors to look at how we measure the sustainability, design structure, the operation of a building.
A part of that is having our Design Accredited Professionals. So we recognize right from day one we need some partners and technical experts who can work with our clients to assist them in moving the projects along to meet the design standard.
Often your professionals aren't all working together to one plan. And so the whole process is about bringing it back to one common denominator in reporting to each other and in terms of a set of clear criteria.
That design standard is actually now globally presented. So I've just mentioned before the standard is consistent across the world, but obviously the criteria may differ depending upon climate zone and also the ecosystem and the biodiversity of which you're building that site.
Professions to promote sustainability practices during certification
Matt
The role of the Accredited Professional, as I see it, is a facilitator between EarthCheck and the project team. So it's a sort of mutually positioned consultant who is facilitating that process.
That's the role of the AP, to help the architects, design team and the wider project team understand the process they're required to go through to achieve the accreditation, right?
EarthCheck
Exactly. And I guess the key thing is it's a partnership because we learn just as much as in fact the design teams often do by working with technical experts in different disciplines.
Eco friendly hotel software
Matt
There's also then the flip side to that, which is around the custom software that you mentioned. And that's often the reality of running these projects once they're built and operational. It's then so much down to creating good data and knowing what to do with that data so that you're able to see what's happening in real time.
So, you've gone down that path. Again, you've really got a 360-degree approach. But for anyone who's not sure about the role of such software in managing a sustainability plan in the operational phase of a business, perhaps you could explain how your software
Leverage sustainability management software in hotel operations
EarthCheck
Our software platform has been built over a 10-year period so anyone who does work in software will tell you that it's an ongoing process of updating your code and also making it more functional to meet market needs but ultimately the whole tourism and hotel sustainability software program allows us to help them to understand how they collect their data, how that's collated and how that data can be reported back to them.
The software itself has a number of templates. So for each of the issues we're asking there's also a template to provide guidance in terms of where to look for that data and how to understand what that information is providing back to you.
So it can actually map against your targets, it gives you an understanding then of how to map your performance against your peers and market, so competitive set and the wider market.
What we're trying to say to people is where are you currently positioned, where are the options for rooms for improvement and I think that's a core part of the program. That software package also allows us to actually include reporting mechanisms right throughout the project because for each stage there's a reporting part right from your policies and plans that need to be reviewed right down to the benchmarking data.
Then it is a core part of the project that we want people to communicate both internally and externally about what they've achieved and that's the part of the program where there's an audit and certification component. So the software covers every element of the design and certification process.
Hotels and the environment
Matt
This is often a concern of small boutique hotel groups I talk to as they worry they will be drowned in the weight and responsibility of taking on this sustainability task from scratch; it can seem like a mountain to tackle!
I think the point here is that, you know, sustainability initiatives for a hotel, resort, destination or tourism business are in fact a series of well-trodden paths. We know what we need to go and track down in terms of data. We know broadly how to get hold of it.
It can be tricky at the beginning, but once you start putting that data into a software like yours, then effectively, the tech does a lot of that extra work in terms of extrapolating the reports.
Perhaps we could about how you'd recommend starting that process?
Fundamental actions for sustainable tourism
EarthCheck
At no stage should you be wondering what to do next, we provide guidebooks, there are ten core areas, really looking at the energy sufficiency, waste efficiency (we look at what part of the business is creating waste), but you never get to a point where the data you need is in place. Firstly it's the basics of water and energy consumption and, waste and energy.
It's really a Triple Bottom Line benchmarking. We have energy waste then add in pesticide use and chemical usage of cleaning products (think of swimming pool chemicals).
Matt
It doesn't have to be perfect from day one, it does get easier over time. When would EarthCheck typically become involved, is there some upfront work done first before bringing in a certification scheme like yours?
Understanding each client and their hotel guests
EarthCheck
It's right from the beginning, we get a feeling for what resources the client has, their objectives, what basics may already be in place already. We put out some questions early on so we can understand where they are in the journey.
Part of our role is to support them with resources, toolkits, training and examples from other comparable operators. No matter what stage they are at, we'd love clients to become members but that doesn't always happen.
Matt
Where are you seeing most growth in the market globally at the moment? What opportunities are there still out there for pushing further into a given market?
Energy and Water Consumption
EarthCheck
There have always been market leaders, in our field there's a bell shaped curve. Traditionally we work with clients with a very clear vision of what they are trying to achieve, they are the early adopters, then there is the rest of the sector lagging behind.
Post-Covid there are very clear compliance standards being implemented so that big hump in the bell shaped curve is now nudging forward because clients are seeing sustainability coming into their orbit via procurement, via investors, even via the incentives in the market to encourage things along.
Matt
Tell us about the research industry you have created at EarthCheck? What are its focus areas?
EarthCheck
We are a child of a research centre managed by the Australian government, we retained a not for profit research centre as part of our organization. That gives us leading research to ensure we are in line with latest research around themes such as potable water, carbon emissions, energy conservation and performance measures for regenerative tourism - that is really the next stepping stone for sustainability.
The team is also doing a lot of work on climate change, we know extreme weather events are going to continue so the design element is going to come into that as we look at ways to make them more sustainable materials more resilient.