The CarePar site is part of The Hotel Carbon Index Company Ltd, and works by asking hotels a series of questions about their floor space, fuel bills, recycling policies and whether they have solar energy or double-glazed windows.
Once the hotel”s data has been inputted, the website calculates how energy efficient each room in the venue is according to criteria set out in the Kyoto and Defra protocols.
All hotels which take part in the scheme receive a certificate, whether their emissions are high or low. Rosie Allt, whose duties include inputting the data for CarePar, says: ”Everyone gets a certificate, even those with very high emissions, but they are encouraged to reduce them. The certificates are more to show the hotel has invested time and effort to reduce their carbon emissions.”
The hotels will receive a bronze, silver or gold rating, which will be made public on the CarePar website.
Cost
The cost of the service depends on the size of the venue. If the hotel has fewer than 75 rooms, an annual subscription costs from ”470; over 75 rooms costs from ”588. Hotels are encouraged to submit new data four times a year so they can monitor and reduce their emissions, although it is possible to input data on a daily basis.
The site means for the first time there will be a standardised way of measuring and comparing carbon emissions for all hotels that join. The Gore hotel in London is the first venue to join the scheme and is awaiting its results.
Hotels sign up
Edward Bracken, director of the hotel, said: ”The Gore has registered for the CarePar index and we are waiting to find out about the process. As an independent hotel, one thing we've not been able to do to date is measure our carbon emissions. CarePar is a great initiative that will provide a fair assessment. I am keen to understand how our hotel is faring in comparison to our competitors. It is a good opportunity to share best practice and make positive changes. I will be interested to see how many other properties buy into the initiative.”
Peter Ducker, the founder of the scheme, estimates 2,000 hotels will join within a year of the website launch.
For more information, visit carepar.com.
Sarah Riches