The CORAL BAY Hotel* Case Study Location of the Coral Bay on Phuket Island The hotel is set in the heart of the busy district, near the beach. The Coral Bay comprised 91 rooms, and had 92 full time staff. Before Greener Business Asia The Coral Bay hotel had started an environmental programme, which included initiatives in the area of waste management (such as the sale of cooking oil, reduction of waste from guest amenities packaging and others), and the organisation of green activities, such as beach cleaning days and butterfly release. The hotel s sensitivity to environmental and efficient issues was also clear in the choice of energy saving equipment for lighting in selected areas). * Fictional name
What was required was a more comprehensive and systematic program that could enable the mainstreaming of good environmental practices into the overall hotel operations and management and in the daily routines of staff, enhance further staff participation and workplace cooperation, and help the Coral Bay to target other areas of workplace improvement beyond environmental issues. The participation in the GBA training and advisory support program When asking what the owner s expectations for joining GBA were, Khun Nid answered: It s is our practice to have CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and business running in parallel. But we wanted to have CSR integrated to business solutions. We wanted to be a new generation hotel working on environmental and social issues and protect our earth Khun N. Owner and Director of Sales of the Coral Bay In October 2011, the CORAL BAY became one of the participants in the pilot program of Greener Business Asia, organized by the ILO in collaboration with the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism of the Prince of Songkla University. The Coral Bay had members of both management and staff join the GBA Core Training and Elective Sessions. The training aimed at equipping hotel teams with tools and knowledge to staff and management to improve their hotel s resource efficiency and environmental impact, workplace conditions and relations and overall competitiveness through a model of workeremployer cooperation. - The core training covered joint problem solving tools and techniques (including fishbone diagram and mapping); core concepts on environmental management (including behavioural changes and good housekeeping for energy and water conservation, the basics on waste management); workplace relations and worker management cooperation (including workers and employers rights and responsibilities, key principles of workplace cooperation); occupational health and safety and the 5S. - Elective sessions provided more in-depth coverage of energy efficiency, water management, waste management and green procurement, Occupational Health and Safety level 2, HR for service excellence. A first outcome of the training was the establishment of the core of a joint team that would include members of staff and management. The team would be in charge of leading the improvement process.
A second outcome of the training was the development of an initial Green Improvement Plan by the core team, which set out key priority areas of action. Following the core training, the hotel teams implemented improvements and received inhouse support and coaching by thematic experts, who provided advice and helped monitoring progress. Key areas of focus identified by the CORAL BAY included waste management, occupational health and safety, energy efficiency, HR and service quality. After GBA Workplace cooperation At the CORAL BAY, a large staff-management team with representation from across hotel functions and departments was set up and took charge of driving the change process. GREEN HEART
There are 22 members in the Green Heart team The Green Heart Team during the GBA final presentation day, Phuket, June 30 th, 2012. Formal Green Heart meetings are usually held every month. In addition, since participation in GBA, environmental issues has been well integrated into the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the hotel on a daily basis, and certain aspects of the program are also discussed in the morning briefing or orally within each department. The establishment and operation of the teams is one of the key mechanisms of workplace cooperation. It creates a space where staff and management can discuss issues, voice concerns, and take joint, collaborative actions. The key areas of focus are related to resource efficiency and productivity, occupational health and safety and waste management, but the principles and values of open communication, respect and cooperation are relevant to any workplace issue. Efforts to facilitate more active and wider participation from staff across the organization are also supported by campaigns on environmental challenges, revival of suggestion and award schemes, more systematic and exhaustive communication with staff through multiple channels (see section below).
The chain of communication is good. The atmosphere is relaxed and everybody can speak their mind if they have a good idea, says Khun Suparat Jamsong, Assistant Chief Accountant. Khun Suparat Jamsong, The Coral Bay, June 2012 Waste Management and Green Procurement Waste was recognized by many of the hotels participating in the pilot Greener Business Asia program as one of their key problems, a burden they had to dispose of, unable to identify any real opportunity related to it. Before joining GBA, the Coral Bay had a basic waste management system, mainly selling cooking oil and all other unsorted waste to a single collector. Separate bins were available in some places, but the segregation was typically not implemented in practice and integrated the daily routines. Waste management has been a central point of attention of the Coral Bay in the GBA program. The team started by setting up a waste committee, with assigned responsibilities, and it provided waste management training adapted to each department specificities. The House Keeping department and Kitchen did develop training on waste management based on the template given by GBA, which were subsequently delivered by Head of Departments (HoDs) to their teams, using pictures of type of waste to segregate. Training on waste management, January 2012.
With the help of the knowledge the Green Heart team members gained in the course of the GBA training on waste, particularly the concept of the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), and the tips on setting up a waste management system, they looked at various problems, trying to identify main causes and devising solutions to address them. Brainstorming and joint problem solving served to generate useful ideas to address waste management issues and set up a better system. Some of the actions taken and achievements are described below. REDUCE * Recognizing that a large amount of waste generated at the Coral Bay was coming from disposable packaging, a person from the procurement department joined the waste management team to incorporate environmental criteria at the purchasing level and communicate to suppliers the hotel s new environmental stance. Fruits and vegetables that were wrapped in individual plastic packaging are now delivered in crates which are taken back and reused once the produces are stored, and some products like sea food are now purchased in bulks to reduce plastic waste. Crates used for food and vegetable delivery * Instead of disposable plastic bags, the Coral Bay designed reusable laundry bags made of fabric which reduces the amount of plastic waste.
* Before GBA, the Coral Bay only had approximate figures on the amount of food that ended up in the bin each day. One of first steps the waste management team took was to keep precise records on food waste. Subsequently, many actions have been implemented at the F&B and Kitchen level. * A Love Food Hate Waste campaign has been set up at the staff canteen, to raise awareness about the importance of saving food and invite staff to only take food portions they could finish. * The Coral Bay put in place a food audit, to identify the type of food that was wasted, and in what quantity. Based on criteria such as the nationality of guests staying at the hotel and their food patterns (for instance little pork available when Middle-Eastern represent a large share of the guests), the Coral Bay managed to reduce its food waste significantly, and down the line to save money at the procurement level. * In addition, the waste management team identified that a large amount of salad ended up in the bin after each service. They decided to assign two employees to serve salad to guests, instead of the original self-service system, and reduced dramatically the mount of salad that was thrown away.
RESULT: daily food waste went down by 42% since joining GBA, from 300kg to 175kg per day! REUSE The Coral Bay Waste Management Team identified ways to reuse some items that originally went directly to the bin. * One initiative consisted in reusing partly consumed soap bars from guest rooms to clean the hotel s floor. * The second initiative consisted in reclaiming unspoiled packaging of guestrooms amenities, to reuse it instead of discarding it. Reuse partly consumed amenities for floor cleaning and unspoiled packaging to reduce waste
Note: Out of the 175 kg of food waste generated per day, some goes for the production of fertiliser. This project was at its early stage, but between 30 to 50kg of food waste per month was diverted from the bin to create fertilizer, according to Khun Panya. In addition, specific waste items, and particularly fruit rinds, are being used by the Green Heart team in other productive ways: the manufacturing of Effective Microorganism solutions (see section below). RECYCLE After each department was trained on waste sorting per category, more bins were made available, visual communication was enhanced (display of labels above each bin), and communication on the benefits of waste management were shared with all employees at the Coral Bay. Since implementing a proper waste management system based on the GBA recommendations, the Coral Bay increased its waste-revenue generated by 45%, for a total of 2200 Thai Bath (Thb) per month. This amount goes directly to the Green Heart Fund, and is used for staff activities in different ways based joint discussions and decisions with staff (at the time of this report, a formal Waste-Fund Policy was under discussion). In addition to the above waste management practices, the Coral Bay undertook and scaled up the production of Effective Microorganism (EM). EM is a mixture of kitchen waste (mainly fruit scraps) and molasses which is fermented in an anaerobic environment for 6 months. Depending on the composition, the mixture can have various uses (fertilizer, nutritional complements,.), and the Coral Bay employs it as an organic cleaning solution to remove grease and keep drains clean and free of smell. The EM (an organic solution) is replacing large quantities of chemicals, particularly caustic soda or Sodium Hydroxide, and it reduces the need for grease trap treatment.
Email from Khun Panya, Director of Rooms and Green Heart champion for The Coral Bay: Result: We initially had to call an external company to empty our grease trap and we had to use sodium hydroxide to keep drains clean. Now by using EM, In average, we save a total of Baht 36,720 per month! And Salathai resort, which is our sister hotel, started using EM since March 2012. People, Organization and Service quality The CORAL BAY demonstrated significant efforts towards providing a good work environment to its staff, and this could be seen in the staff facilities and overall provisions, as well as in communication channels. At the same time, it was recognised that it could still strive for further improvements Following staff-management joint problem-solving discussion, it appeared that employees not working directly in an office were eager to access internet from their workplace. An internet access has then been installed in the staff canteen.
Eager to increase staff satisfaction, the Green Heart team members agreed on the importance of an increased choice of food at the canteen. Nutritional benefits of the food served are also highlighted. The HR department started to record the Coral Bay staff s dreams and expectations in life, to better understand each individual and try to satisfy them, resulting in an improved service to guests. Guest feedback, especially positive ones, are clearly put on display on the staff board, to foster good service and encourage other employees to perform as well. To improve staff satisfaction and motivation, the Coral Bay initiated special staff birthday nights, where anyone from staff to top management who celebrates his/her birthday during that trimester enjoys a full set up in the canteen, similar to what guests experience when they dine at the hotel s restaurant. The system of staff rewarding system has been extended to include the Green Heart of the Month, which strengthen staff motivation and sense of responsibility and ownership of the project The Green Heart team also worked on improving the experience of prospective new staff joining the hotel. This included the setting up of a proper interview corner for staff recruitment process, and efforts to make the candidate feel welcome.
Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) and 5S Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) is about protecting the safety, health and welfare of people at work. 5S is a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words: Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke. In English, the 5S phases can be remembered as: sorting, straightening, systematic cleaning, standardizing, and sustaining. 5S training and draft of the OHS and 5S work plan. Occupation Health and Safety While there were no immediate areas of concern in terms of workspaces and facilities, the need to establish a formal and well -functioning joint OSH committee was seen as a priority. The Committee could then take full charge of its responsibility and look after occupational health and safety in a systematic manner. The Coral Bay sent staff to OHS training delivered by the local municipality of Patong, and the team members would help training the rest of the staff as well as lead OSH inspections and actions. 5S The Green Heart team nominated a 5S champion, to be in charge of the 5S at the Coral Bay. Based on the training and materials she received from GBA experts, she developed her own and delivered it across departments of the hotel.
Khun Nui, 5S champion of the Coral Bay. Several areas of the hotels have been reorganized according to the 5S approach, starting with the storage room. Storage area: Before 5S After 5S A brand new room has been created at the back of the laundry to store products according to the 5S criteria, improving staff efficiency, and reducing potential hazard at the workplace.
The EM project before and after the 5S training delivered in April 2012. OSH and 5S approaches resulted in changes at the workplace organization level, but had in parallel a positive impact on staff working conditions and satisfaction. According to Khun Suparat, Some positive changes following the 5S implementation in certain departments created the will to replicate it in other areas of the hotel. Energy Efficiency
The Coral Bay had a number of energy conservation initiatives and equipment in place, however it found that there was still room for improvement. The action taken included the following PEOPLE S INVOLVEMENT Energy saving campaign o Added more signage to raise awareness and participation from staff. o Color coded stickers at the light switches indicating the on and off hours. o Organized to have more information regarding energy saving measure on the notice boards and other communication channels (GBA board, staff canteen, and corridors) Modified Standard Operating Procedures for Housekeeping staff when preparing the room, chaing temperature settings to 25 degrees instead of the 22, and reducing the lighting that is switched with the insertion of the key at guest arrival The new standard temperature when guests enter their rooms is now 25 degrees.
The number of lights that turn on when guests put the key card has been significantly reduced. Modified SOPs for Front Office staff, to inform the arriving guest of the hotel s energy policies and other environmentally friendly practices during check in. Modified Housekeeping check list for the housekeeping supervisor to check both lighting and air condition settings before updating the room status. Bed sheet and towel campaign to help reduce energy consumption. By placing the save the earth turtle on the bed should the guest don t want to have the sheets changed. EQUIPMENT New timers have been installed for the pool pump, as well as for corridor lightings. Replaced light bulbs in the offices from the previously designed that requiring more than one bulb to reduce energy consumption. Changed light bulbs in both guest rooms and public areas to using 100% Light- Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs in 250 spots to reduce energy consumption (from 11 Watt Compact Fluorescent (CFC) to 5 Watt CFC bulbs. The progress of changing light bulb showed progress around 60% and the completion was still presumed in the short term period right after.
kwh/room 55 Key Performance Indicator 50 45 40 2011 2012 35 30 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Chart of the electricity consumption comparison between the first semester of 2011 and 2012 at the Coral Bay. 1 1. Staff Participation and Guest Engagement Staff and guests can play a major role in helping hotels implementing sustainability measures The CORAL BAY has taken a number of initiatives in this field Organization of a staff contest to design the Green Heat Logo to raise awareness and encourage participation Creation of pins with the winning logo to be attached on every staff uniforms. Benefits are multiple: it creates a feeling of pride for staff to be part of an important project, works as a constant reminder of their hotel commitment and the role they play in it, and does as well communicate effectively to guests the hotel strong environmental position. 1 Technical Note: The Key Perfomance Indicator for energy efficiency in hotels is the amount of KiloWatt Hours (kwh) consummed per room sold. The reason for not comparing energy bills in Thai Baths and month by month, is that electricity cost varies greatly according to the time in the day it is consummed, and is set by the Thai Ministry of Energy based on a array of natural resources market prices.
The green Heart pin is now part of every staff uniform Awards and prizes have been established to encourage staff to participate and share ideas In parallel, a complete set of attractive visual communication tools have been developed and implemented at the back of the house to remind staff about best practices to save water and energy..
Visual communication on environmental best practices in staff area. The Coral Bay worked on the development of a clear environmental policy, which has been displayed at the reception. This is a way to communicate with staff and guests about the hotel environmental commitment, and invite them to participate in various initiatives adopted by the Coral Bay (i.e. towel and bed sheets program)
Green Heart Logo displayed at the check-in counter The Green Heart team has made great efforts to improve guests participation to their bed sheet program 2. The team worked on ways to spark guests interest in getting involved by showing the mutual benefits and satisfaction this involvement could bring. The team came with the idea of using eye-catching support to carry the hotel message - small stuffed turtle- to reach a higher level of participation. Strong emphasis has been put on its design, containing colours and few words to keep it simple. 22 The towel and bed-sheet program is aiming at involving guest to reuse their towel and bed sheets for several nights, instead of being changed every day. It results in a decrease in water, energy and detergent consumption, save costs as well as raise awareness among guests that they have a role to play.
It is available in guest rooms to invite guests to use their bed sheets for more than 1 day. Its design attracts guests attention and encourage them to participate in saving water, chemicals and energy. The turtle is now available for sell at the reception, and its popularity has developped into an additional source of revenue. Guests are as well invited to help the Coral Bay in saving energy, by removing the key tag from the slot, which will turn off any electrical equipment when they are leaving the room. Energy saving initiatives aiming guests implication. Another way to engage with guest has been established in the restaurant: the Green Heart menus and drinks. It explains the nutritional benefits of the chosen dish, as well as shows to guest the way the Coral Bay approaches its activities.
Samples from the Green Heart menu Main Success Factors for the Coral Bay An important factor behind the performance of the CORAL BAY is the strong commitment and vision of the owner/gm and the drive of the Green Heart champion who takes sustainability and business responsibility concerns very seriously. A second reason explaining the Coral Bay s success can be found in the multiple communication and cooperation mechanisms set up in the hotel: ranging from interactive meetings among the owner/gm and staff and creative ways to encourage staff participation. When asked Khun S. if she sees any evolution in the staff-management relation since joining the GBA, she answers: It improved, because the opportunity of working in team set up for the GBA has stimulated this cooperation. They (staff members) like it because they feel they can be heard at the management level.