INTRODUCTION

Tourism is one of the leading growth sectors of the global economy, bringing in
billions of dollars annually in developing countries and transporting millions of
people internationally. But the tourism industry's growth through the years has
created an increasing amount of stress on the environment.
For example, as a result of increasing tourism in Goa, India, developers built
several hotels. The hotels soon drew up to 66,000 gallons of water per day from
wells and other local sources. Many of the wells and rivers the community had
relied on went dry. This is a common problem in many areas where tourism runs
into the limits of natural resources.
Today ecotourism—tourism that is nature-oriented and
environmentally focused—is growing rapidly. In the United States alone, 43
million tourists consider themselves to be ecotourists. This represents a growing
market for environmentally friendly options in the tourism industry. Ecotourism
aside, many in the hotel industry have recognized the negative impact their
business activities have on the environment and have taken action to alleviate those
impacts. Environmentally responsible business practices dovetail well with the
newfound popularity of ecotourism. They harmonize tourism and environmental
sustainability.
The term "green hotels" describes hotels that strive to be more environmentally
friendly through the efficient use of energy, water, and materials while providing
quality services. Green hotels conserve and preserve by saving water, reducing
energy use, and reducing solid waste. They have seen benefits such as reduced
costs and liabilities, high return and low-risk investments, increased profits, and
positive cash flows. Identifying these benefits and incentives has allowed
the popularity of green hotels to grow.Hotels are consistently becoming greener.
The most costly and wasteful use of resources in hotels are usually in the
consumption of nonrenewable energy, excessive water use, and the generation of
waste.

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WHAT IS A GREEN BUILDING ?
Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable
building) is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are
environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-
cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and
deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building
design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.
Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current
practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that green
buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on
human health and the natural environment by:

 Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources

 Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity
 Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation.
Green building practices aim to reduce the environmental impact of buildings.
Buildings account for a large amount of land use, energy and water consumption,
and air and atmosphere alteration. Considering the statistics, reducing the amount
of natural resources buildings consume and the amount of pollution given off is
seen as crucial for future sustainability, according to EPA. The environmental
impact of buildings is often underestimated, while the perceived costs of green
buildings are overestimated. A recent survey by the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development finds that green costs are overestimated by 300 percent,
as key players in real estate and construction estimate the additional cost at
17 percent above conventional construction, more than triple the true average cost
difference of about 5 percent.

GOALS OF GREEN BUILDING:

 Siting and structure design efficiency

The foundation of any construction project is rooted in the concept and
design stages. The concept stage, in fact, is one of the major steps in a project life
cycle, as it has the largest impact on cost and performance. In designing
environmentally optimal buildings, the objective function aims at minimizing the
total environmental impact associated with all life-cycle stages of the building
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project. However, building as a process is not as streamlined as an industrial
process, and varies from one building to the other, never repeating itself
identically. In addition, buildings are much more complex products, composed of a
multitude of materials and components each constituting various design variables
to be decided at the design stage. A variation of every design variable may affect
the environment during all the building's relevant life-cycle stages.

 Energy efficiency:
Green buildings often include measures to reduce energy use. To increase the
efficiency of the building envelope, (the barrier between conditioned and
unconditioned space), they may use high-efficiency windows and insulation in
walls, ceilings, and floors. Another strategy, passive solar building design, is often
implemented in low-energy homes. Designers orient windows and walls and place
awnings, porches, and trees to shade windows and roofs during the summer while
maximizing solar gain in the winter. In addition, effective window placement
(daylighting) can provide more natural light and lessen the need for electric
lighting during the day. Solar water heating further reduces energy loads.
Onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power, wind power, hydro
power, or biomass can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the
building. Power generation is generally the most expensive feature to add to a
building.
 Water efficiency:
Reducing water consumption and protecting water quality are key objectives in
sustainable building. One critical issue of water consumption is that in many areas
of the country, the demands on the supplying aquifer exceed its ability to replenish
itself. To the maximum extent feasible, facilities should increase their dependence
on water that is collected, used, purified, and reused on-site. The protection and
conservation of water throughout the life of a building may be accomplished by
designing for dual plumbing that recycles water in toilet flushing. Waste-water
may be minimized by utilizing water conserving fixtures such as ultra-low flush
toilets and low-flow shower heads. Bidets help eliminate the use of toilet paper,
reducing sewer traffic and increasing possibilities of re-using water on-site. Point
of use water treatment and heating improves both water quality and energy
efficiency while reducing the amount of water in circulation. The use of non
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sewage and greywater for on-site use such as site-irrigation will minimize demands
on the local aquifer.

 Materials efficiency:
Building materials typically considered to be 'green' include rapidly renewable
plant materials like bamboo (because bamboo grows quickly) and straw, lumber
from forests certified to be sustainably managed, ecology blocks, dimension stone,
recycled stone, recycled metal, and other products that are non-toxic, reusable,
renewable, and/or recyclable (e.g. Trass,Linoleum, sheep wool, panels made from
paper flakes, compressed earth block, adobe, baked earth, rammed earth, clay,
vermiculite, flax linen, sisal, seagrass, cork, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood
fibre plates, calcium sand stone, concrete (high and ultra high performance, roman
self-healing concrete[10]) , etc.[11][12]) The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
also suggests using recycled industrial goods, such as coal combustion products,
foundry sand, and demolition debris in construction projects [13] Building materials
should be extracted and manufactured locally to the building site to minimize the
energy embedded in their transportation. Where possible, building elements should
be manufactured off-site and delivered to site, to maximise benefits of off-site
manufacture including minimising waste, maximising recycling (because
manufacture is in one location), high quality elements, better OHS management,
less noise and dust.

 Indoor environmental quality enhancement:

The Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) category in

LEED standards, one of the five environmental categories, was created to provide
comfort, well-being, and productivity of occupants. The LEED IEQ category
addresses design and construction guidelines especially: indoor air quality (IAQ),
thermal quality, and lighting quality. Indoor Air Quality seeks to reduce volatile
organic compounds, or VOC's, and other air impurities such as microbial
contaminants. Buildings rely on a properly designed HVAC system to provide
adequate ventilation and air filtration as well as isolate operations (kitchens, dry
cleaners, etc.) from other occupancies. During the design and construction process
choosing construction materials and interior finish products with zero or low

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emissions will improve IAQ. Many building materials and cleaning/maintenance
products emit toxic gases, such as VOC's and formaldehyde. These gases can have
a detrimental impact on occupants' health and productivity as well. Avoiding these
products will increase a building's IEQ. Personal temperature and airflow control
over the HVAC system coupled with a properly designed building envelope will
also aid in increasing a building's thermal quality. Creating a high performance
luminous environment through the careful integration of natural and artificial light
sources will improve on the lighting quality of a structure.

 Waste reduction:
Green architecture also seeks to reduce waste of energy, water and materials

used during construction. For example, in California nearly 60% of the state's
waste comes from commercial buildings[17] During the construction phase, one goal
should be to reduce the amount of material going to landfills. Well-designed
buildings also help reduce the amount of waste generated by the occupants as well,
by providing on-site solutions such as compost bins to reduce matter going to
landfills.

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 STANDARDS FOR GREEN HOTELS

Every Hotel who wants to declare itself as a Green Hotels has to meet some
standards. some of the international standards for environmentally friendly
facilities:

 GREEN KEY:
The Green Key is an international eco-label tourism facilities that aims to
contribute to prevention of climate change and sustainable tourism by awarding
and promoting good initiatives. The Green Key aims to change the practices and
behaviors of actors including guests, enterprices, authorities, local communities
and to involve them in increasing their responsibility towards their own
environment. Currently 17 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia and 1123
accommodations are involved in the Green Key Programme.
History:
The Green Key was originated for hotels in Denmark in 1994 and in 1998
France joined the Green Key and started labelling camping sites. In 2002 the Green
Key became the 5th programme of Foundation for Environmental Education.
Criteria:
The criteria for being awarded with the Green Key are fields
covering: water, waste, energy, Involvement and Awareness of Guests,
Environmental Management, Staff Involvement, Use of Chemicals, Open Spaces
and Food and Beverages.

 GREEN GLOBE:
A worldwide benchmarking, certification, and improvement
system, Green Globe bestows “benchmarked” status to buildings in the tourism
industry that commit to a standard of excellence in energy and water consumption,
total waste reduction, and community commitment, as determined by its EARTH

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CHECK measures. There are three status levels: bronze, silver, and gold. Green
Globe now certifies properties in more than 42 countries.

 GREEN LEAF :
The Audubon Green Leaf Eco-Rating Program for all types of
accommodations facilities is an education and eco-rating program offered
jointly by Audubon International and TerraChoice Environmental Marketing
Inc.

 LEED:
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design was developed by
the U.S. Green Building Council; certifications now available for existing
buildings. The gold standard in the U.S., it certifies that buildings meet
standards of energy efficiency, conservation, and sensitivity to locale.

 GREEN STAR:
Green Star is a voluntary environmental rating system for buildings
in Australia. It was launched in 2003 by the Green Building Council of Australia.
The system considers a broad range of practices for reducing the environmental
impact of buildings and to showcase innovation in sustainable building practices,
while also considering occupant health and productivity and cost savings.
Nine categories are assessed with the Green Star tools:]

 Management
 Indoor environment quality
 Energy
 Transport
 Water
 Materials
 Land Use & Ecology
 Emissions
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  Innovation

 GREEN TOURISM BUSINESS SCHEME:

The GTBS is the national sustainable tourism certification scheme for
the UK. Originally developed in partnership with Visit Scotland, it is now the only
certification scheme validated by Visit Britain, through the International Centre for
Responsible Tourism (ICRT). In the U.K., businesses meet criteria in the areas of
waste, water, and energy and are given a bronze, silver, or gold award.

 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM CERTIFICATION NETWORK

OF THE AMERICAS:

The Rainforest Alliance launched a sustainable tourism program in 2000

and provides small- and medium-sized tourism businesses in Latin America
with training and tools to minimize their impacts on the environment and
local communities. Since there are almost 70 existing sustainable tourism
certification initiatives worldwide, the Rainforest Alliance decided that it
would be more productive to support local certification programs (rather
than creating its own certification body), help increase their international
recognition and establish regional networks of certification programs to
share resources and information and create standards for certification
criteria. They also provide marketing support, training and technical
assistance to certified businesses and businesses in the process of becoming
certified. In addition, they work internationally to create partnerships with
tour operators (hotels,lodges, travel agents, etc...) to green all elements of the
tourism supply chain. In March 2008, the Discovery Channel noted that "the
Rainforest Alliance has been a leader in developing a sort of meta-analysis
of the various programs operating in the Americas - possibly leading to a
world-wide standard for what ecotourism ought to achieve."

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 GREEN SEAL:
Green Seal is a non-profit, third-party certifier and standards
development body in the United States. Since 1989 it has provided
independent, objective, science-based guidance to the marketplace and to
consumers. Green Seal is the largest US-based ecolabeling organization and
meets the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Criteria for
Third Party Certifiers, the requirements of ISO 14020 and 14024, and the
standards of the Global Ecolabelling Network. Green Seal is the U.S.
member of GEN which consists of 26 of the world's leading ecolabeling
programs, including Germany's Blue Angel (certification) and the Nordic
swan.
Certification:
A Green Seal Certification Mark on a product means that it has gone through
a stringent process to show that it has less impact on the environment and
human health. Green Seal takes a life cycle assessment approach, evaluating
a product from the raw materials through the manufacturing process and
ending with recycling or disposal. Products only become certified after
rigorous science-based evaluation, including on-site plant visits. The Green
Seal means that the product has passed the tests; that it works as well as or
better than others in its class, and that it has been evaluated without bias or
conflict of interest.

 ENERGY STAR:
Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient
consumer products. It was first created as a United States government
program by the Clinton Administration in 1992, but Australia, Canada,
Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted the
program. Devices carrying the Energy Star logo, such as computer products
and peripherals, kitchen appliances, buildings and other products, generally
use 20%–30% less energy than required by federal standards.

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LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (LEED)

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 INTRODUCTION

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally

recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification
that a building or community was designed and built using strategies intended to
improve performance in metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, CO2
emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of
resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is intended to
provide building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and
implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction,
operations and maintenance solutions.
Since its inception in 1998, the U.S. Green Building council has grown to
encompass more than 14,000 projects in the United States and 30 countries
covering 1.062 billion square feet (99 km²) of development area. The hallmark of
LEED is that it is an open and transparent process where the technical criteria
proposed by USGBC members are publicly reviewed for approval by the almost
20,000 member organizations that currently constitute the USGBC.
LEED was created to accomplish the following Objective:

 Define "green building" by establishing a common standard of

measurement
 Promote integrated, whole-building design practices
 Recognize environmental leadership in the building industry
 Stimulate green competition
 Raise consumer awareness of green building benefits
 Transform the building market
The LEED Rating System address eight major areas:
 Location and Planning
 Sustainable Sites
 Water Efficiency
 Energy and Atmosphere
 Materials and Resources
 Indoor Environmental Quality
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  Innovation and Design Process
 Regional Priority

LEED Rating System

LEED has evolved since its original inception in 1998 to more accurately represent
and incorporate emerging green building technologies. LEED NCv1.0 was a pilot
version. These projects helped inform the USGBC of the requirements for such a
rating system, and this knowledge was incorporated into LEED NCv2.0. LEED
NCv2.2 was released in 2005. Today, LEED consists of a suite of nine rating
systems for the design, construction and operation of buildings, homes and
neighborhoods. Five overarching categories correspond to the specialties available
under the LEED Accredited Professional program. That suite currently consists of:
Green Building Design & Construction
 LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations
 LEED for Core & Shell Development
 LEED for Schools
 LEED for Retail New Construction
Green Interior Design & Construction
 LEED for Commercial Interiors
 LEED for Retail Interiors (planned 2010)
Green Building Operations & Maintenance
 LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance
Green Neighborhood Development
 LEED for Neighborhood Development
Green Home Design and Construction
 LEED for Homes

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LEED 2009 Rating System
In LEED 2009 there are 100 possible base points plus an additional 6 points for
Innovation in Design and 4 points for Regional Priority. Buildings can qualify for
four levels of certification:

 Certified - 40 - 49 points
 Silver - 50 - 59 points
 Gold - 60 - 79 points
 Platinum - 80 points and above
Credit Distribution:

Points are distributed across major credit categories such as Sustainable Sites,
Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Indoor
Environmental Quality.

Benefits of LEED Certification:

 Improvement in indoor air quality from the use of low-VOC materials.

 A majority of the projects also enhanced the daylight levels and views in
their facilities through the use of more and high performance glazing,
interior glazing, light shelves and shading.

 All projects noted greater occupant satisfaction and the public relations
value of having a LEED certified building.
LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations Project
Checklist
 Sustainable Sites 26 Possible Points

  Prerequisite 1 Construction Activity Pollution Prevention Required

  Credit 1 Site Selection

1
  Credit 2 Development Density and Community Connectivity
5
  Credit 3 Brownfield Redevelopment
1

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   Credit 4.1 Alternative Transportation—Public Transportation Access
6
  Credit 4.2 Alternative Transportation—Bicycle Storage and Changing Rooms
1
  Credit 4.3 Alternative Transportation—Low-Emitting and Fuel-Efficient Vehicles
3
  Credit 4.4 Alternative Transportation—Parking Capacity
2
  Credit 5.1 Site Development—Protect or Restore Habitat
1
  Credit 5.2 Site Development—Maximize Open Space
1
  Credit 6.1 Stormwater Design—Quantity Control
1
  Credit 6.2 Stormwater Design—Quality Control
1
  Credit 7.1 Heat Island Effect—Nonroof
1
  Credit 7.2 Heat Island Effect—Roof
1
  Credit 8 Light Pollution Reduction
1

Water Efficiency 10 Possible Points

 Prerequisite 1 Water Use Reduction Required

 Credit 1 Water Efficient Landscaping 2-4

 Credit 2 Innovative Wastewater Technologies 2
 Credit 3 Water Use Reduction 2-4

Energy and Atmosphere 35 Possible Points

 Prerequisite 1 Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems Required

 Prerequisite 2 Minimum Energy Performance Required
 Prerequisite 3 Fundamental Refrigerant Management Required

 Credit 1 Optimize Energy Performance 1–19

 Credit 2 On-site Renewable Energy 1–7
 Credit 3 Enhanced Commissioning 2
 Credit 4 Enhanced Refrigerant Management 2

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 Credit 5 Measurement and Verification 3
 Credit 6 Green Power 2

Materials and Resources 14 Possible Points

 Prerequisite 1 Storage and Collection of Recyclables Required

 Credit 1.1 Building Reuse—Maintain Existing Walls, Floors and Roof 1-3
 Credit 1.2 Building Reuse—Maintain Existing Interior Nonstructural Elements 1
 Credit 2 Construction Waste Management 1-2
 Credit 3 Materials Reuse 1-
2
 Credit 4 Recycled Content 1-
2
 Credit 5 Regional Materials 1-
2
 Credit 6 Rapidly Renewable Materials 1
 Credit 7 Certified Wood 1

Indoor Environmental Quality 15 Possible Points

 Prerequisite 1 Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance Required

 Prerequisite 2 Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control Required

 Credit 1 Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring 1

 Credit 2 Increased Ventilation
1
 Credit 3.1 Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—During Construction
1
 Credit 3.2 Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—Before Occupancy
1
 Credit 4.1 Low-Emitting Materials—Adhesives and Sealants
1
 Credit 4.2 Low-Emitting Materials—Paints and Coatings
1
 Credit 4.3 Low-Emitting Materials—Flooring Systems
1
 Credit 4.4 Low-Emitting Materials—Composite Wood and Agrifiber Products
1
 Credit 5 Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control
1
 Credit 6.1 Controllability of Systems—Lighting 1
 Credit 6.2 Controllability of Systems—Thermal Comfort
1
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 Credit 7.1 Thermal Comfort—Design
1
 Credit 7.2 Thermal Comfort—Verification
1
 Credit 8.1 Daylight and Views—Daylight 1
 Credit 8.2 Daylight and Views—Views
1

Innovation in Design 6 Possible Points

 Credit 1 Innovation in Design 1-
5
 Credit 2 LEED Accredited Professional
1
Regional Priority 4 Possible Points
 Credit 1 Regional Priority 1-4

Conclusion

For a hotel to change its traditional ways of operating takes time and the ability to
look past the expectation that if something is sustainable is will be more costly and
will have a slow payback rate. A hotel can begin its green hotel process by
something as simple as setting out recycling bins or asking guests to turn off the
lights in their rooms when they leave. The staff may ask guests if they would like
their room to be cleaned daily if their stay is longer than one day. These steps are
simple, and are less costly than many other green approaches, and they do make a

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difference in developing a green hotel. A very important factor in becoming green
is to realize that, while some steps may be small, none are insignificant.

Bibliography

www.usgbc.org

www.mybuildingsuccess.com
http://meetingsnet.com/international/meetings_green_hotel/

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"The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings: A Report to California's Sustainable
Building Task Force"

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