Towards a cleaner future and a stronger community

Interviewer: Hello, Mr Schulz, thank you very much for taking the time for this interview.

Technical Manager Mr Schulz: Good afternoon, it's a pleasure to talk about our sustainability initiatives.

Interviewer: The Empire Riverside Hotel has recently introduced a number of measures to reduce its environmental impact. Can you tell us more about this?

Technical Manager Mr Schulz: Of course. We have taken various steps to reduce our environmental footprint. One important example is the abolition of plastic water bottles for our employees. Instead, we have installed water dispensers to reduce the consumption of disposable plastic. In total, we ordered around 34,368 plastic water bottles for our employees last year. The switch was therefore not only an environmentally friendly decision, but also an economically sensible measure.

Interviewer: That sounds like a sensible initiative. Have there been any other projects in this direction?

Technical Manager Mr Schulz: Yes, another important project was our cooperation with one of our dual students at the company. Together, we developed a programme to reduce waste in the staff restaurants. Our aim was not only to reduce the amount of waste, but also to raise our employees' awareness of sustainability. Over a period of three months, between September and November 2023, employees' food waste was collected and weighed using a separate bin. This not only allowed us to find out which dishes were the most popular and where plates were eaten to the last bite, but also revealed that an average of 4.69 kg of food waste was produced per day. The range between the lowest value of 2.46 kg and the highest value of 6.46 kg was particularly interesting. Parallel to this project, we encouraged our employees to only put as much on their plates as they can actually eat via the employee screens that provide them with the latest information. This initiative was a great success and highlighted the importance of working together to find sustainable solutions.

Interviewer: That sounds really impressive. You have now changed a lot of things internally and actively involved your colleagues, but are there any points you have addressed in relation to the guests?

Technical Manager Mr Schulz: We are currently continuing our efforts to raise awareness among our guests to use their towels several times instead of replacing them daily in order to avoid additional chemical cleaning and minimise the environmental impact. Soon we will also introduce special signage to make our guests aware of this initiative. In addition, I know from other departments that we have also introduced questions on sustainability in our guest questionnaires that we send to our guests after their departure. Of the 487 responses, 171 people indicated that sustainability was important to them during their hotel stay. These results underline the growing trend among travellers to be environmentally conscious and value sustainable accommodation.

Interestingly, the second question, which focussed on the preference for a printed bill, revealed that 218 out of 419 respondents considered this to be important. This illustrates that despite the general trend towards digitalisation, many people are still reluctant to take this step. We respect the preference of some guests for a printed invoice and continue to offer this option. At the same time, however, we encourage digitalisation and are keen to work on the major challenge of sustainability.

Interviewer: Of course, it is a challenge to inspire everyone equally. The transformation to a more sustainable world takes time and the right technologies. Could you tell us about further progress and perhaps go into more detail about how exactly these technologies contribute to reducing energy consumption and how they are integrated into the hotel's operations?

Technical Manager Mr Schulz: Sure, in addition to the initiatives already mentioned, we have also made significant progress in terms of our environmental performance indicators. Last year, we were able to reduce our electricity consumption by 6.17%, our district heating consumption by 13.13% and our water consumption by 11.76%. We also reduced our CO² emissions by an impressive 8.76%, which corresponds to a reduction of 45.86 tonnes. We owe these successes to the increased use of measurement and control technology, particularly in conjunction with our building management system.

Interviewer: Thank you very much, Mr Schulz, for these insights into the Empire Riverside Hotel's sustainability initiatives. It was very informative.

Technical Manager Mr Schulz: Thank you for your interest in our commitment to the environment. It is a matter close to our hearts to make a contribution to protecting our planet.