The document compares environmental certification programs for hotels in India, Europe, and the USA. It finds that: 1. Europe has highly developed certification with 15-20 major programs that have high reliability, customer awareness, and government involvement. 2. India is at an initial stage with 6 main programs that have low hotel involvement, acceptability, and customer awareness. 3. The document concludes India needs to develop stronger certification programs like those in Europe to encourage hotels to adopt ecofriendly practices and obtain certifications to improve their public image.

1. ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION FOR HOTELS,
TOURISM BUSINESSES AND THEIR SUPPLY CHAIN
PARTNERS: INDIA, EUROPE, USA
Bhavya Khamesra,
Asst. Professor, Pacific Institute of Hotel Management,
Udaipur, bkhamesra@yahoo.com
Dr. Parul Mathur,
Director, Pacific Institute of Hotel Management,
Ahmedabad.

2. GO GREEN

4. ABSTRACT
 Keywords:
 Hotel and tourism
 environment certifications
 green hotels
 India
 Europe
 USA

5. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 Assess the environment certification programmes in
India , Europe & USA
 Comparison between the programmes of India and
Europe

6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 This research is an exploratory work where mostly
secondary data is used.
 The data has been collected from various
websites, books, industry managers, newspapers,
trade magazines, journals, research articles etc.

7. INTRODUCTION
 Hotels must become ecofriendly
in nature and follow ecofriendly practices and use
ecofriendly products
 adopt clean and eco-friendly technologies
 environmentally-safe disposal of used products
 independent/ government agencies which give
environmental certifications to the hotels.

9.  sustained and equitable development
 audit of their ecofriendly practices.
 the list of green & ecofriendly hotels In India- the
ITC hotels , fern hotels, orchid hotels
 LEED certification
 Best Ecofriendly hotel award was won by ITC
Maurya, New Delhi in 2014
 the Sunwing Resort,Greece in 2003

11. ECOFRIENDLY PRODUCTS/ ECOLABLE
Ecolabelling advantages for the product
manufacturer/ service provider:
 Attract investor attention
 Stay ahead of competition and increase revenue
 Identify cost saving potential
Ecolabelling advantages for the Consumer:
 Make more informed choices
 Understand the implications of your buying
decisions
 Avoid being taken in by "Green washing" claims

12. INDIA

13. GREEN SIGNAL
 India’s first comprehensive sustainability
ecolabel.
 The Green Signal functions under the aegis of
the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and
Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at the Indian Institute of
Management Ahmedabad (IIMA)
 The Green Signal is for ALL product and
service groups

14. ISO 14000 - ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
 The ISO 14000 family addresses various aspects of
environmental management.
 organizations looking to identify and control their
environmental impact and constantly improve their
environmental performance.
 ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 focus on
environmental management systems.

15.  ISO 14001:2004 sets out the criteria for an
environmental management system and can be
certified to. system.
 It can be used by any organization regardless of its
activity or sector. Using ISO 14001:2004 can
provide assurance to company management and
employees as well as external stakeholders that
environmental impact is being measured and
improved

16. The benefits of using ISO 14001:2004 can include:
 Reduced cost of waste management
 Savings in consumption of energy and materials
 Lower distribution costs
 Improved corporate image among regulators,
customers and the public

17. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL INDIA
 This is the Indian counterpart of USGBC (United
States Green Building Council) is the source for
up-to-date, high quality education on the rating
systems.
 Its LEED™ is an internationally recognized green
building program. It provides building owners and
operators with a framework for identifying and
implementing practical and measurable green
building design, construction, operations and
maintenance solution.

18. ITC GRAND CHOLA, CHENNAI

19. ECO-MARK SCHEME IN INDIA
To increase consumer awareness, the
Government of India launched the eco-labelling
scheme known as `Ecomark' in 1991 for easy
identification of environment-friendly products.
Any product which is made, used or disposed of in a
way that significantly reduces the harm it would
otherwise cause the environment could be
considered as Environment-Friendly Product.

21. INDIA ORGANIC - NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR
ORGANIC PRODUCTION (NPOP)
 The national programme involves the accreditation
programme for certification bodies, norm for organic
production, and promotion of organic farming.
 The NPOP standards for production and
accreditation system have been recognized by
European Commission and Switzerland as
equivalent to their country standards. Similarly,
USDA has recognized NPOP conformity
assessment procedures of accreditation as
equivalent to that of

22. USA

23. LEED (LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN)
 a voluntary, consensus-based, market-driven
program that provides third-party verification of
green buildings.
 LEED is transforming the way buildings are
designed, constructed, and operated.
 Participation in the voluntary LEED process
demonstrates leadership, innovation, environmental
stewardship and social responsibility.

24.  LEED provides building owners and operators the
tools they need to immediately impact their
building’s performance and bottom line, while
providing healthy indoor spaces for a building’s
occupants.
 LEED projects have been successfully established
in 135 countries. International projects, those
outside the United States, make up more than 50%
of the total LEED registered square footage.

25. LEED-certified buildings are designed to:
 Lower operating costs and increase asset value
 Reduce waste sent to landfills
 Conserve energy and water
 Be healthier and safer for occupants
 Reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions
 Qualify for tax rebates, zoning allowances and other
incentives in hundreds of cities

26.  Green Lodge is a searchable database in the U.S.
that have been certified by independent 3rd parties
including Audubon GreenLeaf, Green Seal, LEED
and Energy Star - to name a few – where
consumers can research, locate and book green
hotels.

27.  The Energy Star keeps check on the energy
efficiency of hotels. There are various rating of the
electrical equipments.

28. EUROPE

29. THE EU ECOLABEL
 is an official sign of the environmental quality of
services and goods in the European Union (EU).
since 2003.
 The operators must meet strict minimum standards
with regard to environmental performance and
health standards. These should include the use of
renewable energy sources, an overall reduction in
energy and water consumption, measures to
reduce waste, environmental policy setting and the
provision of non-smoking areas.

30. ECOROOMS
 offers an on-line directory of environmentally
friendly hotels, resorts, inns, motels and B&Bs
which meet a set of rigorous, beyond green
washing, standards called "Significant 7."

31.  RezHub Identifies eco-friendly hotels, itemizes their
initiatives and actions and scores the properties - all
within the booking path

32.  Eco Hotels Certified
 This certification stands for more ecology, more
sustainability and more rationality in a business. It
is certification of sustainably operating tourism
businesses and takes account of their total
resource use.

33.  BIO Hotels
 covers organic and regional products in Hotels.
 BIO Hotels uses only organic certified products

34.  The Green Good Housekeeping Seal is an
emblem signifying that a product has met Good
Housekeeping’s environmental criteria. Once a
product has earned the Good Housekeeping Seal it
is evaluated on a wide range of environmental
criteria—including ingredient and product safety,
reduction of water use in manufacturing, energy
efficiency in manufacturing and product use,
packaging reduction, greenhouse gas emissions,
and the brand's corporate social responsibility.

35.  NSF/ANSI 336: Sustainability Assessment for
Commercial Furnishings Fabric
 of furnishing fabric products, including woven, non-
woven, bonded and knitted fabrics used for
upholstery (e.g. office and hotel furniture),

36. ECO certification
 ECO certification is an ecolabel given out by the
Malta Tourism Authority to hotels on the islands of
Malta.
 Approximately 15% of hotels on the Maltese
Islands are ECO certified translating to almost 30%
of hotel rooms
 environmental management, waste magement,
procurement, energy, water, air quality, noise,
building and green areas, local culture, and
information dissemination.

37.  The Green Key Eco-Rating Program is a
graduated rating system designed to recognize
lodging facilities that are committed to improving
their fiscal and environmental performance.

38.  EcoLabel Luxembourg
 Up to now, the certificate has been awarded to 37
accommodations,
 All of them have to meet a compulsory and rigorous
set of criteria focusing on energy and water
efficiency (e.g. efficiency of lighting and heating,
use of renewable energies, insulation, purchase of
energy efficient devices, low-consumption
appliances), waste prevention and waste
management, sustainable purchasing of office
supplies (e.g. recycled paper), use of organic,
locally grown and fair trade produce, support of
public transport and cycle hire options for their
guests, use of eco-cleaners etc.

39. EU Energy Label
 By law, the European Community Energy
Label must be displayed on all new
household products displayed for sale, hire
or hire-purchase.
 The Directive applies to the following types
of household appliances, even where
these are sold for non-household uses:
refrigerators, freezers and their
combinations; washing machines, dryers
and their combinations; dishwashers;
ovens; water heaters and hot-water
storage appliances; lighting sources; air-
conditioning appliances.

40.  Bio Suisse indicates fully organic, produced in
Switzerland. More than 90% of the raw materials
come from Switzerland.

41.  EarthCheck is a certifier of sustainable travel and
tourism operators; with more than 1300 clients in
over 70 countries.

42.  Ecocert is a certification body for sustainable
development. It is an inspection and certification
body established in France by agronomists aware
of the need to develop environmentally friendly
agriculture and of the importance of offering some
form of recognition to those committed to this
method of production. From its creation, Ecocert is
specialized in the certification of organic
agricultural.

43.  EU Ecolabel A voluntary scheme designed to
encourage businesses to market products and
services that are kinder to the environment and for
European consumers- including public and private
purchasers - to easily identify them

44.  The Green Globe Standard facilitates responsible
and sustainable environmental and social activity;
and improved environmental and social outcomes
for travel and tourism operations.The Green
Globe Standard is a structured assessment of the
sustainability performance of travel and tourism
businesses and their supply chain partners.
Businesses can monitor improvements and
document achievements

45.  Natrue-Label
 The Natrue-Label is a guarantee for cosmetic
products.
 Their goal is to promote and protect natural beauty
and skin care products.

46. India Europe
Main
Ecocertification
programmes
1. Green Building Council India
2. LEED (Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design)
3. ISO 14000 - Environmental
management
4. Eco-Mark Scheme
5. GREEN SIGNAL
6. India Organic - National
Programme for Organic
Production (NPOP)
1. EU Ecolable
2. Energy star ratings
3. Eco Hotels Certified
4. Ecorooms
5. RezHub
6. BIO Hotels
7. The Green Good Housekeeping
Seal
8. ECO certification
9. The Green Key Eco-Rating
Program
10. EU Energy Label
11. Bio Suisse
12. EarthCheck
13. Ecocert
14. Natrue-Label
15. Green Globe Certification
Level At an initial stage and not developed At an advanced stage and highly
developed
No of major and/or popular certifications/
schemes
6 15-20
Reliability high Very high
Involvement of hotels low high
Acceptability level medium high
Customer awareness low Very high
Government involvement low high

47. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Reliability Involvement of
hotels
Acceptability
level
Customer
awareness
Government
involvement
india
europe

48. CONCLUSION
 Europe has a highly advanced and highly
developed certification programme for hotels and
the products used in hotels.
 The American programme LEED is also accepted
worldwide and is very reputed certification.
 India lags far behind. The government and the
various associations should develop far better
certification programmes in India. The green signal
and the LEED are popular in India.
 The hotel owners should also show inclination to
make their hotels ecofriendly. They should obtain
certification and create a better impression in public
and guests to be more responsible towards
environment.