How sustainability is evolving in the serviced apartment sector
Serviced Apartment News, a leading news channel for the aparthotels, extended stay and corporate housing industry, recently published a special and very in-depth report covering sustainability, it's impact right now and where it is heading in the future. There are some interesting statistics to digest alongside opinions and predictions from a wide spectrum of companies within this space from trade bodies like The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and Sustainable Hospitality Alliance , to interior design companies, architects, marketing agencies to property operators and serviced apartment agents like ourselves.
Check-in-London's Gavin Pereira features in the section about "Demand", talking about how behaviours and requirements are changing for the corporate accommodation buyers and travel managers when procuring serviced apartments.
In the article he says:
“We have seen an increase in demand from corporate clients for two main
reasons: The corporate client is working on a project and their end
client is asking them to complete a report. For example, the end client
has a “Sustainable Procurement Process” and wants all suppliers in the
chain to disclose their ESG standards by completing a questionnaire.
Corporates have their own organisational ESG standards and expect their
supply chain to adhere to (or demonstrate work in progress towards) Net
Zero goals or initiatives that are reducing carbon emissions and working
towards ESG best practice frameworks."
Gavin mentions how, as a company, we have noticed corporates are asking more detailed questions about sustainability offerings, such as:
- Do you have an Environmental Sustainability policy/strategy/charter in place?
- Do you have clear Net Zero goals/targets?
- Does your Environmental Sustainability strategy show near-term and long-term actions the company will take to address climate change and sustainability?
- Is your
Environmental Sustainability strategy aligned to any recognised
frameworks or accreditations such as … ISO or BSI Standards 14001,
20121, PAS 2060 Voluntary certification schemes (B Corp, UN Global
Compact), Building Industry schemes (BREEAM, Considerate Constructors
Scheme), Recognised reporting frameworks (GHG Protocol, Global Reporting
Initiative)
Some of our valued partners have also been featured in the article such as Hybrid Resi, a London-based apartment provider offering sustainable hospitality whose apartments are fully electric and use energy efficient white goods, Oxwash laundry service and 100 per cent positive energy.
Another partner featured is The Lamington Group and its room2 carbon neutral aparthotel brand. They have partnered with a a nature based reforesting partner in Nicaragua to offset their footprint and room2 Chiswick is the first ho(me)tel in the world to offset both operational and embodied carbon to zero, taking into account the full picture of their presence.
Then there is the ISAAP, a recognised and respected accreditation body for the industry sector, who Check-in-London also holds an Accredited Agency certificate with, and who has recently launched its SP sustainable Standard this year.
Stephen Martin of ISAAP says, off the back of a recent survery that was conducted, that many positive actions are being carried out to reduce environmental impact already.
Read the article in full here by Felicity Cousins.
