Water efficiency remains a relatively easily achievable goal for both companies continuing down a path of sustainability and for those just starting. Greenprint members reported over $2.3 million in water efficiency investments in 2018.

Clarion Partners, a U.S. real estate investment manager with over $50 billion in total assets, stands out as a leader in water efficiency in the hotel industry. With over 55 hotel properties and more than 8,000 guest rooms, Clarion saw a large savings opportunity in water efficiency. The company began a complete upgrade of bathroom fixtures, including toilets, faucet aerators, and showerheads, throughout its portfolio.

The new, water-efficient toilets reduced water use from three gallons (11.4 liters) per flush to 0.8 (3 liters). This resulted in average annual savings of $9,000 per hotel. Faucet aerators reduced annual water consumption by about 91,000 gallons (344,000 liters), resulting in $1,000 average annual savings per hotel. Last, Clarion upgraded showerheads across 95 percent of its portfolio with fixtures that reduced water consumption from 2.5 gallons (9.5 liters) per minute to 1.75 (6.6 liters).

Guest experience and satisfaction inevitably affects the bottom line of hotels, and Clarion was committed to ensuring a pleasant guest experience. Several asset and hotel managers brought different low-flow showerheads home to test and compare them in order to ensure that the guest experience would not be diminished by the more efficient options. The showerheads saved over 500,000 gallons (18.9 million liters) of water across the portfolio and achieved over $5,000 in water savings and $1,700 in natural gas savings, for a total savings of over $7,000 annually per hotel. In all, the implemented water efficiency measures saved each hotel over $17,000 per year.

“ Implementing sustainable practices that help our environment while ensuring guest comfort shouldn’t have to be mutually exclusive,” says Chuck Lathem, managing director at Clarion Partners. “Hotels host millions of travelers annually, so we have a real opportunity to not only demonstrate that we are taking quantifiable action to improve our planet, but we are doing so in ways that complement the guest experience.”

SUSTAINABILITY IN HOTELS

For more information on how to improve the environmental performance of a hotel asset, see ULI’s recent report Sustainability in Hotels: Opportunities and Trends Shaping the Future of Hospitality, available at uli.org/hotelsustainability. The report assesses the state of sustainability in the hotel sector; identifies best practices in energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste reduction; and highlights industry trends to watch.