Sustainable building
Buildings account for 40% of the world's CO² emissions and 40% of its energy consumption.
The main items are heating, hot water and lighting. As Accor plans to open more than 1800 new hotels between 2008 and 2012, construction rules exist to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact.
- Buildings built before 1975 consume on average 4 times more energy than those being built today.
Renovation is just as important as construction. Accor therefore analyzes the energy consumption of its hotels and identifies the investments needed to improve energy efficiency.
Accor 2010 objectives
1 - Build hotels in 2010 which consume 20% less water and energy than existing hotels.
Achievements
Sustainable building standards & procedures
In 2008, Accor defined its "International sustainability guidelines for construction and renovation." These are designed to integrate a sustainable development dimension in all the Group's buildings.
- In order to strengthen the implementation of the sustainable development rules for construction and renovation, the Group's technical standards for building insulation and energy recovery were updated in 2008.
- Integration studies were defined and tested on several new construction and expansion projects: ibis Cotonou, ibis Brighton, Sofitel Ia Ora, etc. Starting with the design phase of a hotel, Accor wants to place greater emphasis on the limitations and opportunities of a location (for example, water resources, solar energy, soil pollution, etc.)
- During construction in sensitive natural sites, Accor has detailed environmental studies conducted to minimize the negative impact of its hotels.
Best practices
Accor's expertise in environmental friendly construction is reflected in several hotels:
2010
- The prototype Motel 6 North Lake-Speedway in Dallas received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
- Accor reaches 100 hotels equipped with solar panels to produce hot water.
2009
- The future Suite Novotel Issy-les-Moulineaux was one of the first hotels to be certified to France’s High Environmental Quality (HQE®) standards for service sector buildings.
- ibis commissioned Veritas to conduct an environmental audit of ibis hotel construction methods in China, in partnership with the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) and the French Fund for the Global Environment (FFEM).
- The Etap Hotel Toulouse Aéroport (France) is equipped with geothermal heat pump and solar panels. Thanks to these new technologies, the hotel consumes 3 times less energy and emits 4 times less greenhouse gases than a conventional Etap Hotel.
Learn more about Etap Hotel Toulouse Aéroport
- The Novotel Bussigny Lausanne (Switzerland) was completely renovated with a number of environmental technologies.Learn more about Novotel Bussigny
- The Pullman Sydney (Australia) consumes 40% less energy than a traditional hotel thanks to its highly efficient heating, air-conditioning and solar-powered hot water production systems.
- Learn more about Pullman Sydney
2006
The Novotel Paris Montparnasse (France) was a pilot hotel in adapting the HQE certification to the hospitality industry.
2004
- The ibis Paris Porte de Clichy (France) was the very first hotel in France equipped with photovoltaic panels. These are directly integrated into the building architecture.
- Learn more about the ibis Paris Porte de Clichy<//li><//li>