CASE STUDY k Background greenkey GLOBAL The Inn at Laurel Point is a 196-room, architecturally-striking hotel Inn at Laurel Point located on a beautiful vantage point on Victoria, British Columbia's www.laurelpoint.com inner harbour. Purchased as a Delta Hotel by owners Paul and Artie Arsens in 1980, the Inn continues to be independently owned and operated as a for-profit social enterprise since 2008. The sole owner of Ocean-side, architecturally stunning the Inn is a local trust set up by Artie, who was predeceased by Paul hotel and conference centre with in 1997, before she passed away. Driven by the Arsens' social mission Japanese gardens in Victoria, to maintain a great hotel that benefits the local community. the Inn British Columbia; owned by a trust invests profits, first into the hotel, then staff, then the hotel's and operated as a for-profit social Vancouver Island community. supporting local charities and enterprise. purchasing carbon offsets on the Island that have enabled the Inn to be carbon neutral since 2009.CASE STUDY K The Challenges greenkey GLOBAL Though the Trust represented the Arsens' legacy value of stewardship Extending and embedding for hotel assets and the environment, it wasn't the same as having pas- the stewardship legacy of the sionate and engaged owners on-site every day embodying the behav- original owners beyond senior iours and values they held dear. The Inn's management team wanted management to staff at all to elevate and formalize the Arsens' mission to embed it in the hotel's levels, including new hires culture and expand efforts to advance the late owners' desire for care- ful and responsible management of the Inn and its surroundings. Identifying hotel-specific solutions for sustainability Management recognized that to continue making progress towards improvements for both aging the Arsens' vision, they needed a framework to identify specific op- hotel infrastructure and new portunities to build on their social agenda and to reduce key metrics, renovations including waste, energy and water use, to reduce their carbon foot- print: goals that were especially challenging, given the age of the Inn's original infrastructure built in the 1970s.CASE STUDY The Solution greenkey GLOBAL It was around the time that Artie created the Trust that the Inn com- The Hotel Association pleted their first Green Key Global (CKG) Eco-Rating assessment and earned a 4 Green Key rating. Laurel Point's Marketing Manager. Louise Higgins, recalls the Inn's decision to join CKG well before it became of Canada's Green fashionable to be environmentally conscious." "It seemed like the next Key Global Eco-Rating logical step." Higgins said, "When we first started, it was really the only trustworthy program in the market. We were impressed with the thoroughness of the evaluation, lending credibility to our hard work. certification program Additionally, it is a well-recognized program that our guests under- stand and that's of course important to us, too." By 2013, little had changed in the landscape of green certification system options when the Inn paired up with the corporate sustain- ability management firm, Synergy. to hold them accountable as their "measuring stick" for sustainability initiatives. Synergy looked at a number of different certification options, but according to Kayli An- derson, Managing Partner at Synergy. many are not a good fit for ho- tels. "Green Key Global is a certification system specifically for hotels," Anderson said, "and the structure, tools, templates and metrics are a match for the Inn's values." The Inn completed their most recent reassessment in 2017. As CKG program criteria had been updated since the last assessment, it took Anderson about 20 hours over a two to three month period tate complete the full site visit, gather the supporting documentationapeting develop the policies necessary for re-evaluation.CASE STUDY The Results greenkey GLOBAL Green Key Global Identified New Opportunities and Solutions for Stewardship Using CKG's hotel-specific checklists and suggestions, Anderson developed is a certification an action plan for the Inn that increased the hotel's rating from 4 to 5 Green Keys, the highest a hotel can achieve in the Eco-Rating Program. "Everyone system specifically could figure out the basics - like LED lighting and low flush toilets - these for hotels, and the are standard for certification systems," said Anderson, "But Green Key Global helped identify hotel-specific initiatives we needed to work on, including for meetings." structure, tools. Brooke Harris, Director of Sales at Laurel Point, pointed to the thoroughness templates and of the GKG assessment and wealth of resources available on their website, which helped the Inn have a better understanding of possible options to im- metrics are prove their systems. "They have great metrics to work with, for example, on air quality and land use, and suggestions for sustainable practices," she said. a match for the Inn's values. " Now implementing the action plan, the Inn's Green Team is tackling prior- ity areas in a step-wise way through "focus months" to reduce waste, water, paper and energy consumption, and they plan to engage guests and the broader community in an Earth month celebration. Action plan priorities are also core aspects being considered in decisions about ongoing hotel renova- Kayli Anderson tions. Managing Partner Synergy Embedded Sustainability in the Corporate Culture The Inn used CKG's templates and models for hotel sustainability policies and training procedures to update Laurel Point's documentation, which received senior management approval in the form of a signed declaration. "We had talked about sustainability initiatives before, and brought many forward," said Anderson, "but sustainability was not baked into the Inn's documents." Moving beyond a paper exercise to implementation in practise, the policies, procedures and expectations were communicated to staff at meetings, in- cluding training sessions to onboard new employees "It created a small shift in the mindset at the Inn," said Anderson. "Communicating our commitments in this way gave staff members like bellmen and colleagues in food and bev- erage services, the tools and confidence to act on sustainability initiatives in their jobs."Garnered Internal Support and External Enthusiasts Appreciation of GKG brand recognition among - and cachet with - clients made it easy for senior management to lend their backing to sustainability initiatives at Laurel Point; especially those that would elevate their rating. The The more people Keys are recognized." said Harris, "and that's really big. Meeting planners are familiar with Green Key Global, and corporate organizers see it at other prop you have on staff erties." that believe in So when it came time for reassessment, senior management clearly recog- nized the incremental value a 5 Green Key Rating would bring to the Inn. "It this stuff, the was easier to get approval for initiatives like the Green Team because of the recognition the Inn would get for it through a higher Green Key rating," said more you can Anderson. "Anything that required more effort - if it was related to achieving the 5 Key rating - was pushed through." push the Guests appreciated and recognized the Inn's efforts, too. "People love what envelope on we're doing," said Harris. "When they hear about all the initiatives we're doing it really sets us apart from the competition and has moved business our way. sustainability. " The 5 Green Keys puts us at the upper echelon of the standard." Attracted and Retained Top Talent Recognition of Laurel Point's commitment to stewardship and sustainability represented by their 5 Green Key rating extends to staff and potential future employees, allowing the Inn to attract and retain top talent in an industry Brooke Harris where there can be high turnover. For Harris, it comes back to embedding Director of Sales sustainability in the hotel's policies and procedures. "Once we did," she said, Inn at Laurel Point it was a little shining light: new hires started seeing our commitment to sus- tainability and it became more tangible." Harris recalled how two recent hires indicated that the Inn's core values, com- mitment to reducing their carbon footprint and Green Key Rating were im- portant factors that prompted them to apply for work at Laurel Point, Hiring people that are passionate about the Inn's corporate values speaks to creating a workplace of choice. and works to the advantage the hotel, too. "The more S people you have on staff that believe in this stuff." said Harris, "the more you can push the envelope on sustainability."