CLEANING
ORCHARD HOTEL
San Francisco
When the managers of the Orchard Hotel first considered phasing out chemical-based cleaning products, the environment was the last thing on their minds. It was
late 2001, when many hotels were struggling to survive, and the Orchard was scrambling for ways to cut costs. The director of housekeeping suggested looking at cleaning products—there were alternatives on the market that were less expensive and,
incidentally, eco-friendly. “We’d heard this before,” says general manager Stefan
Muhle. “But we just didn’t believe these claims.” Economic necessity encouraged a
more open mind, and he devised a trial for a line of citrus-based products by Sierra
Natural Cleaners. For six weeks, half of the housekeeping staff used the new products, while the other half stuck with traditional chemicals. Then the groups switched
products. After three months, there was no doubt: the citrus-based cleaners were not
only cheaper; they were just as effective. Workers also reported fewer health problems. “Everyone realized it’s a win-win-win situation,” Muhle says. “There’s no
reason not to use these products.” This lesson proved useful a few years later, when
the Orchard’s owner decided to build a new, totally green property—the Orchard
Garden, California’s first LEED-certified hotel—which adopted the same cleaners.
“We were going green without even knowing it,” Muhle says. —Mason Currey
CERTIFICATION
PROGRAMS
What’s the most sensible way to certify sustainable hotels? Tourist destinations often have little in common with one another but a penchant for attracting Bermuda-shorts-wearing masses. Are travelers—
and the rest of us—best served by a standardized system, or would regional models be more useful?
Some programs emphasize physical factors like architecture; others focus on service issues, such as
the use of biodegradable cleaning products and local, organic foods. Here is a look at how the most
prominent and promising certification programs address these questions. —Kristi Cameron
PROGRAM
Green Seal
www.greenseal.org
Top left photo, courtesy Orchard Garden Hotel; top right photo, Kate Purdy/courtesy Sierra
Natural Cleaners; logos courtesy the organizations
Green Globe
www.ec3global.com/
products-programs/
green-globe
Audubon Green Leaf
www.terrachoice.ca/
hotelwebsite/
indexcanada.htm
LEED
www.usgbc.org/leed
Energy Star
for Hospitality
www.energystar.gov
EU Eco-Label
ec.europa.eu/
environment/
ecolabel
LOCATION United States
Worldwide
North America,
though licensing in
Africa is pending
Mostly the United
States but open to
any country
United States
European Union and
countries that market
on the continent
ESTABLISHED 1995
1997
1999
2000
2002
2003
HOTELS CERTIFIED
46 total;
20 actively certified
88
200 total;
66 actively certified
12;
374 pending
331
204
ADMINISTERED BY Green Seal
EC3 Global, a subsidiary of an eco-tourism
group sponsored by the
Australian government.
Green Leaf
Environmental
U.S. Green
Building Council
Environmental
Protection Agency
European Union
Eco-labelling Board
FOCUS Products and services
Businesses and
communities within
the travel industry
Hotels
Buildings
Products and buildings Products and services
OF NOTE
Subject to annual monitoring. Certification
may be revoked.
Five continuous
years of certification
are required to
achieve Gold.
Rating is based on an
initial self-evaluation
survey, then confirmed
by independent audit.
No hotels have
yet been certified
Platinum.
Dedicated to energy
use and indoor air
quality
Administered at
the national level
