Mr. Hill

Eco-Friendly Practices

Four Best Practices in Green Design

By Roger G. Hill , Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, The Gettys Group Inc.

It doesn't take an environmental expert to tell you, that "going green," (otherwise known as the act of acting sustainably in one's personal and professional life,) is in vogue right now. In fact, the act of going green reached its tipping point months ago and since then, every industry that wasn't already naturally involved has been furiously working to identify and promote their green mindset. Not so very long ago, being green was an expected benefit-add among industries that observably affected the state of the environment as a result of the day-to-day nature of their business - the cleaning product and automobile industries come to mind. Oh how things have changed! Sometimes it seems as if every industry is seeking to "green" their public persona. From restaurants to car washes to fashion lines, the desire to be perceived as green is universal today. In fact, this morning I actually heard a radio ad for a bank that was offering "green banking." (In case you're wondering what that means, it seems that customers who sign on for a green checking account receive a small deposit every time they engage in a paperless transaction.)

So, we've established that green is a trend and a big one at that. But so was The Hustle in the 70s, big hair in the 80s or low-fat cookies and muffins in the 90s - and they're no longer in style. With many companies, my own included, investing in sustainability what is it that we can do to ensure that this trend evolves into a standard business practice? What will bridge this movement from a short-term trend to an expected and natural way of living life and doing business? An innate way to grow our businesses and profitability? It will be the strategy and significance that we, as businesses bring to our connection with sustainability. It will be taking the philosophy of green, one that has a great deal of momentum and awareness right now, and finding the authentic place for it to live within our businesses, becoming a best practice. With that, I welcome you to review the four best practices that our firm use as a filter as we approach every green practice, ensuring that the investments that we make in our sustainable actions are an investment in our client's needs and the growth of our company into future decades as well as a salute to the preservation of our planet.

Create a Green Mission Statement

As we all learned in school and have been reminded of dozens of times in real-life scenarios since, a mission statement is a brief statement of the purpose of a company, organization or group. The intention of a mission statement is to keep members and users aware of the organization's purpose and act as a filter to stay on course as new projects or initiatives are taken on.

Surely, you know what your company's mission statement is. But, do you have a green mission statement? Sitting down and working through all of the possible intentions and outcomes of a green mission is the first step to setting a green strategy that is authentic. What are you looking to accomplish? Who are you trying to engage with your green message? What does green mean to your company today? What will it mean in 5 years? Use this mission as your "roadmap" to the greening of your company. It will provide an anchor that will keep you on track with your goals - if followed; it will literally show the way as you live your new mission.

What is so interesting about the process of developing a green mission statement is that the process often exposes an entirely new take as to what you currently perceive as your green goals. So often, sustainability is synonymous with emotion. Doing what's good for the Earth and feeling good about it is the emotional identifier that is assumed will resonate with the internal and external guest. Certainly, this is true on some level. However, there are so many other incentives and results that sustainability can elicit. For example, the goal of sustainability can be about energy savings or disposable materials savings and, bigger picture, about cost savings to a business. The goal of a green mission could be about keeping staff members healthy and performing at a higher and happier level - thereby reducing employee turn-over. The goal of a green mission might be about giving back to a community that has fostered your business and, through off-premise staff volunteering, also acts as an advantage in team building and internal culture-boosting. In short, the big picture of going green is always about sustaining the environment, but there can be dozens of smaller (though equally important to the future of your business) goals that are met through your sustainable practices. These smaller benefits to your company are often what will help maintain the green movement within your four walls - saving it from a short "trendy" lifespan and making it a business initiative that is rooted at your company's core for decades and beyond.

Green from Day One

There is nothing more important to the successful greening of a project than starting as early as possible. It is no secret that being thorough and successful is usually a result of starting with a plan. If you have a green mission, you're already half-way there. Next up, bringing that mission to your shareholders as early in the process as possible and bringing an educated team together to assist in execution. Green cannot be an afterthought otherwise it will lack the authenticity that will drive it from a scattered brand diversion into standard brand convention.

The standard in sustainably-suited partners is LEED? accreditation. Visit www.usbgc.org as your best resource for the latest LEED? - endorsed sustainable building standards. Working with LEED? accredited individuals, for example -- LEED? accredited design and engineering professionals, LEED? accredited consultants and a LEED? accredited construction manager - is your best approach for managing the awareness of and adhering to the very latest in sustainable building practices.

At our firm, we feel so strongly about the value that LEED? accreditation brings to a project that we have asked every one of our designers and architects to become accredited by the close of 2008.

With LEED? accredited individuals advising from the start, you have expert opinions involved in the initial due diligence process including site selection and budget creation. You know the most important tenet of real estate is location, location, location? Well that really is true when it comes to sustainability. With a LEED? accredited advisor, or two, on your team during the initial stages of the process, suddenly location issues such as, "Is your site close to one or more modes of public transportation?" or "Is your site in an arid climate where a green roof maintenance would be impossible but solar panels feasible?" are added to the mix, setting your project up to sustainably succeed from the start.

Your Mantra: Think Local

Using locally sourced and indigenous materials -- from building supplies to local art to a room service menu that features locally-raised produce are all ways to accomplish two goals at the same time. First, it will create a story for your property - connecting it to its surroundings and allowing it to live authentically within its environment. Moreover, it will allow your project to connect to the community surrounding it. For instance, art that has been locally made provides a resource for hotels as art has the ability to tell a compelling story about the local context of the project.

Hotels can be a resource for the community and a great consumer of local goods and services. The close connections to the area that are made through patronizing local businesses, artists, farmers, etc. can also sustain a business from a marketing and networking standpoint.

An added bonus to this local point of view? Shipping costs and the environmental damage that a large carbon footprint can cause as a result of transport are both greatly reduced, increasing the opportunity for increased recognition when seeking the highest LEED? certification possible.

Avoid Greenwashing

Greenwashing is a term used to describe products, services or buildings that send a message that they are more sustainable than they really are. Greenwashing is akin to those "Low Fat!" promises on the boxes of cookies and muffins so popular in the 90s that were mentioned earlier. The truth was that they were loaded with sugar to make up for the reduction in fat and no one got any thinner from eating them.

Authenticity has been something that we've touched on throughout this article. Living the green mission that we've discussed here, engaging with local materials, and staying consistent from the start are all vital to the greening of your property. Customers expect genuineness and truth-telling in the products that they engage with and when they don't find it, it's hard for them to make the emotional connections that they demand in products that they form long-term relationships with.

Examples of inauthenticity in green missions or greenwashing as we in the industry like to call it would be a property that says they are green, but their green program boasts only a recycling program. Another greenwashing issue that is common are properties that claim they are green but lack the data to back up the claim.

Be true. Be authentic. Live your green mission, and greenwashing shouldn't affect you.

Nearly 25 years ago, Roger Hill co-founded Gettys, a Top 10 hospitality interior design, procurement and development firm. Under his leadership, Gettys has grown to a global team of business-minded professionals who specialize in hotels, resorts, spas, casinos and mixed-used developments the world over. A respected industry veteran, he is frequently called upon by hospitality and business media outlets to provide insight into the redevelopment, renovation, and repositioning of hotels. A graduate of Cornell University, Roger has served as an appointed delegate for the White House Conference on Small Business, and is a member of ULI, YPO and ISHC. Mr. Hill can be contacted at 312-836-1111 or info@gettys.com Extended Bio...

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