Global provider of serviced apartments unveils new tool to help clients make better informed sustainable choices
SilverDoor, provider of serviced accommodation for business travel, announces the launch of a revolutionary new sustainability tool – the SilverDoor Carbon Calculator.
The Carbon Calculator is the first tool of its kind to collate carbon emissions data for the serviced apartment sector. Enabling clients to access qualitative and quantitative data sets and adopt a more forensic approach to reviewing and understanding the environmental impact of the accommodation they choose, it will help them set, monitor and achieve their business travel sustainability goals.
The tool not only calculates a building-specific, per night CO2 emissions estimate for a stay in a serviced apartment, it also compares this figure to an equivalent hotel stay using trusted industry standard data from the Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index, regarded as the most comprehensive available.
The SilverDoor Carbon Calculator has been built to benchmark serviced accommodation operators’ own data with a specific focus on the most critical fields required to calculate the global emissions of an apartment: water and energy consumption.
Using data provided by its 2,000+-strong global property partner network, SilverDoor has developed proprietary methodology to estimate what CO2 emissions can be attributed to a night’s stay in an operator’s apartment. This will include total area of each apartment as well as the wider building, electricity, gas and oil use, total area of climate-controlled space, water consumption and laundry management.
Results show the calculated volume of CO2 emissions per night against the equivalent hotel industry average to help guests, travel managers and bookers understand and compare the environmental performance between bookings based on type and length of stay in exactly the same way they compare rates, location and facilities.
The new data will significantly bolster information already provided by SilverDoor on the availability of in-room recycling, solar panels and smart lighting, for example.
Commenting on the launch, Alex Neale, Group Head of Partner Relationships at SilverDoor said, “Across the supply chain operators are being charged with researching and providing robust data sets that offer greater transparency and a deeper understanding of the carbon emissions of each business trip. Our ambition for the launch of the Carbon Calculator is to provide that data and transparency for the serviced apartment sector and lead the industry in the next stage of its sustainability journey.
“In researching and developing the Carbon Calculator we have kept both our partners and clients front and centre to ensure it is practical and accessible as well as helping them to make better qualified sustainable choices in line with their individual strategy. While cost remains the key factor for most booking decisions, increasingly we are seeing sustainability gain prominence within both travel policies and RFPs.
“The serviced apartment sector at a global level has a high volume of operators and that brings with it a high level of diversity in terms of the range of accommodation types and services available. Historically that has meant accurate estimates on carbon emissions has been a challenge. In launching the Carbon Calculator our focus is on using the scale of that reach and diversity to develop the most informative and accurate tool on the market. As more partners submit their data it will work alongside the data from Cornell so that together with our partners and our clients we can take the next, better informed steps towards a more sustainable future for travel together.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
