Grand Hyatt Dubai’s green teams spring into action

In recent years, Grand Hyatt Dubai has developed into one of the most dedicated supporters of ‘green initiatives’ and has implemented various sustainable and environmentally friendly concepts in its daily operations.

The five-star hotel is well known for its investments in solar power – which is now a key contributor to the generation of hot water. Grand Hyatt Dubai is now broadening its focus through designated Green Teams, charged with specific tasks designed to implement ways to preserve the environment, reduce its carbon footprint and raise educational awareness.

Each team is concentrating on four key focus areas: communication, awareness and engagement; energy and water conservation management; waste and emissions management; and purchasing / product considerations.

Already the hotel has reported significant year-on-year savings with electricity consumption totalling 4,961,286 kWh this year (down 68,794 kWh), gas consumption down to 3,542 gallons (down 2,946 gallons) and diesel consumption reduced to 1,991 gallons (down 3,220 gallons).

Jan Peter van der Ree, General Manager of Grand Hyatt Dubai, said Global Hyatt Corporation has been taking sustainability seriously since before it became fashionable, and it is now starting to reap the benefits. “But there can be no room for complacency and that is why the Green Teams are an excellent way of helping all of us to keep focused on our responsibilities as we go forward,” he said.

“Often, it is about taking small measures in our daily lives, remembering to turn the lights off when we leave, or thinking twice before we print documents or use the photocopier.”

Housekeeping has been one of the major target areas and no plastic products are in use by the laundry. Amenities that need to be replaced in guestrooms but are not entirely finished are being reused in employee areas.

Chemical treatment of water has been replaced by the use of saltwater chlorination treatment and further investments have been made to power garden lights with small solar panels. Advances have also been made to use motion sensors in back of the house areas, with transformation from timers to light sensors in the garden area. Other developments have seen paper being recycled and reduced in the Front Office and offices in general.

Energy and water efficiencies will be the key focus for the remainder of this year. Most taps in public areas have been replaced by motion sensor taps and deliveries to the hotel are being reduced to cut back on carbon emissions and pollution in the loading bay. Next year, the company will focus on renewable energies and identify which ones are viable and can be applied more broadly. Hyatt aims to have the lowest energy and water use in the industry by 2013.

For more information, log on to Hyatt.com.