Dromoland Castle and the Radisson SAS Hotel have had their efforts to protect the environment officially recognised at the 2nd annual Green Hospitality Awards ceremony, held at the Killarney Park Hotel in County Kerry today.Over a dozen businesses from across Kerry, Clare and Limerick received awards at the event, which honoured hotels and restaurants that have demonstrated a commitment to quality and service in the area of environmental protection. The Green Hospitality Award is granted based on performance in Environmental Management Systems, Waste Management, Water management and Energy management. Green Hospitality participants undergo audits, which ensure that the hospitality business is meeting its requirements and is acting responsibly with respect to the environment.
The step-by-step programme has swiftly become the standard for environmental management within the hospitality industry in Ireland. Over 180 Irish hospitality businesses participate in the programme, the most successful of its kind in Europe. The Green Hospitality Award has four levels: Bronze (Introductory), Silver (Good Practice in operation), Gold (Generally Best Practice in operation) and Platinum (World Class Performance). The categories are designed to allow companies move at their own pace but also to start the process. Platinum Award winners will be positioned to move towards achieving the EU Flower Accreditation level.
The Clare recipients of Green Hospitality Awards this year are Dromoland Castle, County Clare (Gold) and Radisson SAS Hotel Limerick City (Bronze). Dromoland Castle has also been nominated for the Green Hospitality Annual Award for Most Improved - Water Management, a national accolade for the property that has shown most improvement in their water reduction and management. Other regional winners include The Moorings Guesthouse, Portmagee (Gold); Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel, Adare; Adare Manor Hotel; Carriage House Adare Manor; Castletroy Park Hotel, Limerick; Dingle Skellig Hotel; Killarney Park Hotel; and Quality Resort Hotel Killarney (Silver); and Killarney Avenue Hotel; Killarney Plaza Hotel; Killarney Towers Hotel; and River Island Hotel in Castleisland (Bronze).
The Green Hospitality Award programme, which is coordinated by Hospitality Solutions Consulting (HSC) Ltd. and Clean Technology Centre, was officially launched in Cork in 2004. It has since been extended to Waterford (2006), Limerick/Clare/Kerry and Kilkenny/Carlow (2007), and nationwide (2008/09).
Primary support is delivered in the Limerick Clare Kerry region through the Regional Waste Management Office (RWMO) and nationally the Environmental Protection Agency has adopted the programme into its Green Business Initiative (2008–11). According to Philippa King, RWMO Waste Co-ordinator, the benefits for participants in embracing the concept of the programme are significant. She explained, “The scheme offers many incentives to participants. For example, they can reduce energy, waste and water costs by up to 40%, which is especially rewarding in the present harsh economic climate. Furthermore, being environmentally-friendly is a good selling point for any business.”
Ms. King added, "The involvement of so many businesses from Clare, Kerry and Limerick, since the award scheme was first introduced in this region in February 2007, is a testament to the local hospitality sector's environmental awareness and the desire to respond to the changing attitudes of their customers. The Regional Waste Management Office is delighted to be involved in this worthy scheme, which will hopefully help to convince other hotels, restaurants, pubs, B&B's and other tourism operators to go green."
She continued, “Clare businesses can join up with the Regional Office and can avail of expert and on-site advice and workshops for subsidised fees. We also provide things like Excel templates so that they can look at their electricity bills. For example, they could reduce on lighting to save on energy usage. We help them to implement an environmental policy and include staff.”
According to Mr. Maurice Bergin, Director of the Green Hospitality Awards, “The average Irish hotel needs to perform considerably better in terms of control of Energy, Water and Waste Management and is in fact performing up to 67% worse than the world average.” He stated, “This is quite startling especially when you consider that the reduction in costs experienced by our members is between EUR50,000 and EUR150,000 in the first year, after full implementation of the program. The really surprising factor is that much of these savings come from low or no cost systems and practices being put in place in each property”.
"The Green Hospitality Awards require continual improvement and a real commitment to the environment. If the hospitality business fails to continually improve, meet with the standards or does not act responsibly, the Green Hospitality Award can be withdrawn", concluded Mr. Bergin. For more on the Green Hospitality Award Scheme see www.ghaward.ie. Limerick, Clare and Kerry County Councils, and Limerick City Council fund the Regional Waste Management Office. For further information log on to www.managewaste.ie.
