Handbook To Achieve The ISO 14001 Certification in The Hotel Industry TanjaBgler

Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry
Author: Tanja Bgler Mhleweg 1 8413 Neftenbach tanjabuegler@infoworks.ch +41 79 575 41 69
Advisor: Prof. Dr. Peter Tromm University Lecturer, Project Manager peter.tromm@htwchur.ch +41 81 286 39 77
Co-Advisor/External Principal: Orlando Gehrig Director Economic Policy, hotelleriesuisse orlando.gehrig@hotelleriesuisse.ch +41 31 370 42 02 August, 12 2011
A Thesis presented to the Department of Bachelor Studies of the University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Tourism and in acknowledgment of the mentorship of Prof. Dr. Peter Tromm as Advisor to this Thesis By Tanja Bgler
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Abstract
Purpose Due to the fact that the negative influences on the earths ecosystems, caused by human activities, are getting deteriorated, it is high time to think about strategies to conserve the environment. Since the hotel industry constitutes a considerable part of the worlds industry, it is quite sensible to aim for sustainable hotel development. Therefore, the overall goal of this thesis is to develop a handbook which enables hotels to achieve certification according to the ISO 14001 environmental management system requirements. Design, Methodology and Approach In order to understand the components of the aspired handbook, the literature review deals with the Swiss hotel industry, environmental sustainability in the hotel industry, environmental management systems in general and the specific requirements of ISO 14001. Based on the theory of the literature review, the first version of the handbook is going to be developed. To guarantee the practical application and the fulfillment of the ISO 14001 requirements, the first version of the handbook is subjected to empirical research. After the analysis and evaluation of the results of this empirical research, a revised and improved handbook is demonstrated. At the very end, recommendations concerning future research are presented. Findings The developed handbook fulfils the ISO 14001 requirements and is generally perceived as a fundamental tool with future potential in supporting the hotels in achieving the ISO 14001 certification. Due to the vast extent of the ISO 14001 requirements and the differences of the hotels according to location, operations, age, size, etc., the handbook developed within this thesis functions as a preliminary model. Further research has to be done in order to convert this basic guiding tool into a ready-to-use solution. Research Limitations and Implications As this thesis is written in collaboration with hotelleriesuisse and has the intention to develop a handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry, only aspects with are either relevant for the Swiss hotel industry or the ISO 14001 norm are taken into closer consideration. Moreover, not the benefits of environmental management systems are debated within this thesis, but the subject matter includes the implementation process of such systems in the hotel industry. Originality and Value Since no handbook describing the implementation process of the ISO 14001 environmental management system, specifically for the hotel industry, is already existing, all the relevant information have to be newly collated and combined. The outcome of this thesis is therefore, a case sui generis and of importance for the hotel industry. Keywords Environmental management system, environmental sustainability, hotel industry, handbook, ISO 14001
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Acknowledgment
At this point, the author would like to express her gratitude to all those, who have supported her in writing this bachelor thesis. Special thanks go to her internal advisor, Prof. Dr. Peter Tromm, who was affluently helpful and offered beneficial suggestions and representations. Thanks are also due to the external advisor, Orlando Gehrig from hotelleriesuisse, without whom the subject of this thesis would not have been identified. Moreover, the author thanks all the interview partners, whose knowledge and insights were invaluable. The author also wishes to express her love and gratitude to her family and friends for their endless motivation and understanding during the development of this thesis.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations .................................................................................................. IX List of Tables ............................................................................................................ X List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................. XIII 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 14
1.1 Research Problem ............................................................................................. 14 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4 1.2 1.3 Context ...................................................................................................14 Problem Statement.................................................................................14 Research Objectives ..............................................................................15 Importance of the Study .........................................................................15
Research Scope................................................................................................. 15 Research Design................................................................................................ 15
Literature Review ............................................................................................ 17

2.1 The Swiss Hotel Industry.................................................................................... 17 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.2 Definition ................................................................................................17 Hotel Typologies.....................................................................................18 Operating Equipment .............................................................................22 Operational and Organizational Structure ...............................................23
Environmental Sustainability in the Hotel Industry .............................................. 24 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 Definition ................................................................................................24 Environmental Dimensions of a Hotel .....................................................24 Swiss Environmental Legislations ..........................................................28
2.3
Environmental Management System .................................................................. 29 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 Definition ................................................................................................29 Environmental Management in the Hotel Industry ..................................30 Existing Environmental Management Systems .......................................30
2.4
Detailed Analysis of ISO 14001 .......................................................................... 36 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.4.3 ISO 14001 Requirements .......................................................................36 Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle .......................................................................40 Certification ............................................................................................42
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First Concept of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry ....................................................................................... 43
3.1 3.2 Explanatory Notes .............................................................................................. 43 Development of the First Version of the Handbook ............................................ 44 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 3.2.4 3.2.5 3.3 Set up.....................................................................................................44 Plan ........................................................................................................45 Do ..........................................................................................................46 Check .....................................................................................................48 Act ..........................................................................................................49
Statements to Test ............................................................................................. 49
Empirical Research ......................................................................................... 50

4.1 4.2 Data Collection ................................................................................................... 50 Data Evaluation .................................................................................................. 51
Results ............................................................................................................. 52
5.1 Design of the Handbook ..................................................................................... 52 5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.2 Comprehensibility and Arrangement of the Handbooks Structure ..........52 Comprehensibility and Arrangement of the Programs Structure ............52 Fulfillment of the ISO 14001 Requirements ............................................52
Content of the Handbook ................................................................................... 53 5.2.1 5.2.2 5.2.3 5.2.4 5.2.5 5.2.6 5.2.7 5.2.8 5.2.9 Applicability of the Handbook in the Hotel Industry .................................53 Choice of the Departments .....................................................................53 Choice of the Environmental Dimensions ...............................................53 Initial Environmental Review ..................................................................54 Evaluation of the Relevance of the Environmental Aspects ....................54 Identification of Legal and other Requirements .......................................55 Objectives, Targets and Programs .........................................................55 Documentation .......................................................................................56 Identification of Potential Emergencies ...................................................57
5.3
Further Comments ............................................................................................. 57 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3 5.3.4 Positive Aspects of the Handbook ..........................................................57 Necessary Improvements .......................................................................57 Missing Issues ........................................................................................58 Future Potential of the Handbook ...........................................................58
VII
Discussion ....................................................................................................... 59
6.1 Affirmations ........................................................................................................ 59 6.1.1 6.1.2 6.2 Collation and Allocation of the Affirmations.............................................59 Summary of the Affirmations ..................................................................62
Criticisms ........................................................................................................... 62 6.2.1 6.2.2 Collation and Allocation of the Criticisms ................................................62 Summary of the Criticisms ......................................................................68
6.3
Contradictions .................................................................................................... 69
Revision of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry............................................................................................ 71
7.1 Selection of the Realized Criticisms and Contradictions ..................................... 71 7.1.1 7.1.2 7.2 Realized and Rejected Contradictions ....................................................71 Realized and Rejected Criticisms ...........................................................73
Revised Handbook ............................................................................................. 75 7.2.1 7.2.2 7.2.3 7.2.4 7.2.5 7.2.6 7.2.7 7.2.8 7.2.9 Estimation of a Budget ...........................................................................75 Step 1: Management Commitment .........................................................76 Step 2: Initial Environmental Review ......................................................76 Step 3: Environmental Aspects...............................................................81 Step 4: Legal and Other Requirements ..................................................83 Step 6: Objectives Targets and Programs ..............................................84 Step 7: Resources, Roles, Responsibilities and Authority.......................89 Step 12: Operational Control ..................................................................90 Step 13: Emergency Preparedness and Response ................................90
7.2.10 Step 20: External Certification ................................................................91 7.2.11 Overview of the Steps ............................................................................91 7.2.12 Separation of the Information Part and the Tasks ...................................92
Conclusion....................................................................................................... 96
8.1 8.2 8.3 Theoretical and Practical Implications ................................................................ 96 Limitations .......................................................................................................... 96 Recommendations for Future Research ............................................................. 97
References .......................................................................................................... XCIX Appendices ............................................................................................................. CV

Appendix A: Quantity of Hotels labeled by a Specialization Category in 2011 ............ CV Appendix B: Buildings and Structures of a Hotel ....................................................... CVI Appendix C: Services rendered by Employees......................................................... CVII
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Appendix D: Catering Departments ......................................................................... CVIII Appendix E: Extract from the Swiss BKP .................................................................. CIX Appendix F: Operational Work Processes ................................................................ CXI Appendix G: Organizational Structure of a Hotel ...................................................... CXII Appendix H: Organizational Structure of a Department ........................................... CXIII Appendix I: The ISO 14000 Family ....................................................................... CXIV Appendix J: First Version of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry ....................................................... CXVI Appendix K: Transliterated Expert Interviews ........................................................ CLXV
Thesis Authors Attestation ........................................................................... CLXXIV
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List of Illustrations
Illustration 1: Illustration 2: Research Design (own illustration) Model of the Environmental Management System (own illustration according to Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle (own illustration according to Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003; International Organization for Standardization, Environmental Management System (EMS): Principles and Elements, 1998 and Sheldon & Yoxon, 2002) Information Sign (Frderverein Stadtbibliothek MarzahnHellersdorf) Task Sign (ArtistsValley, LLC, 2008-2011) Help Sign (Linuxtopia) Data Flow of the Empirical Research (own illustration) Added Preparation of a Budget (own illustration) Revised Management Commitment (own illustration) Revised Initial Environmental Review (own illustration) Revised Environmental Aspects (own illustration) Revised Legal and Other Requirements (own illustration) Revised Targets and Programs (own illustration) Revised Roles, Responsibilities and Authority (own illustration) Revised Documentation (own illustration) Revised Emergency Preparedness and Response (own illustration) Added External Certification (own illustration) Added Overview of the Steps (own illustration) Separation of the Information Part and the Tasks (own illustration) 16
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Illustration 3:
40 43 43 43 50 75 76 80 82 84 88 90 90 90 91 91 95
Illustration 4: Illustration 5: Illustration 6: Illustration 7: Illustration 8: Illustration 9: Illustration 10: Illustration 11: Illustration 12: Illustration 13: Illustration 14 Illustration 15: Illustration 16: Illustration 17: Illustration 18: Illustration 19: Illustration 20: Illustration 21: Illustration 22:
Illustration 23: Illustration 24 Illustration 25: Illustration 26:
Operational Work Processes in a Hotel (own illustration according to Gewald, 2001) (Gewald, 2001) CXI Organizational Structure of a Hotel (own illustration according to Hnssler, Die Aufbauorganisation von Hotelbetrieben, 2008) CXII Organizational Structure of a Department (own illustration according to Hnssler, Die Aufbauorganisation von Hotelbetrieben, 2008 CXIII Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle (own illustration) CXVI Management Commitment (own illustration according to Edwards, Planning the Project, 2001) CXVII Environmental Policy Crowne Plaza Zurich (own illustration according Crowne Plaza Zurich) CXXVI Organization Chart (own illustration according to DyllickBrenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) CLIII
List of Tables
Table 1: Size of Swiss Hotels in 2009 (own illustration according to Schweizer Tourismus Verband (STV), 2010) (Schweizer Tourismus Verband (STV), 2010) Cold and Hot Water Supply in the Hotel Industry (own illustration according to Kirk, Water Management, 1996 and Lin-Heng et al., 2010) Swiss Environmental Legislations (own illustration according to Bundesamt fr Umwelt BAFU, 2009) EMAS Process Steps (own illustration according to Engel, EGko-Audit-Verordnung, 2010; Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1221/ 2009 des Europischen Parlaments und des Rates, 2009 and Geschftsstelle des Umweltgutachterausschusses, 2010) Differences ISO 14001/ EMAS (own illustration according to Engel, Vergleich und Gesamtwrdigung der Umweltmanagementsysteme, 2010 and Wellge, 2009) Departments of a Hotel (own illustration) Areas of a Hotel (own illustration) Statements to Test (own illustration) Interview Partners and Statements to Test (own illustration) Acronyms of the Results (own illustration) Collation of the Affirmations (own illustration according to Berger, 2011; Gruber, 2011; Hberlin, 2011; Kly, 2011 and Rizzi, 2011) Allocation of the Affirmations (own illustration) Collocation of the Criticisms (own illustration according to Berger, 2011; Gruber, 2011; Hberlin, 2011; Kly, 2011 and Rizzi, 2011) Allocation of the Criticisms (own illustration) Contradictions (own illustration) Realized Contradictions (own illustration) Realized Criticisms (own illustration) Quantity of Hotels labeled by a Specialization Category in 2011 (own illustration according to Swisshotels) (Swisshotels) Buildings and Structure of a Hotel (own illustration according to Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000; Rutherford, 2002 and Walker, 2002) Services rendered by Employees (own illustration according to Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000; Rutherford, 2002 and Walker, 2002) Catering Departments (own illustration according to Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000; Rutherford, 2002 and Walker, 2002) The ISO 14000 Family (own illustration according to International Organization for Standardization, ISO Standards, 2011) The Hotels Total Water Consumption (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
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Table 2:
24 28
Table 3: Table 4:
32
Table 5:
Table 6: Table 7: Table 8: Table 9: Table 10: Table 11: Table 12: Table 13: Table 14: Table 15: Table 16: Table 17: Table 18: Table 19:
34 44 45 49 51 52 60 61 66 67 69 71 73 CV
CVI
Table 20:
CVII
Table 21:
CVIII CXV CXVIII
Table 22: Table 23:
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Table 24: Table 25: Table 26: Table 27: Table 28: Table 29: Table 30: Table 31: Table 32: Table 33: Table 34: Table 35: Table 36: Table 37: Table 38: Table 39: Table 40: Table 41: Table 42: Table 43: Table 44: Table 45: Table 46: Table 47:
Table 48:
Water Consumption per Department (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXVIII Energy Consumption per Department (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXIX The Hotels Total Energy Consumption (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXIX Energy Figures Converter (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXX Wastes per Department (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXX The Hotels Total Wastes (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXX Overview of Purchasing (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXXI Overview of Emissions (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXXI Relevance Calculation (own illustration according to Edwards, Policy and Planning, 2001) CXXII Water Aspects (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXXIII Energy Aspects (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXXIII Wastes Aspects (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXXIII Purchasing Aspects (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXXIII Emissions Aspects (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXXIV Legal and Other Requirements (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner, 1997) CXXV Water Targets (own illustration) CXXVIII Energy Targets (own illustration) CXXVIII Wastes Targets (own illustration) CXXVIII Purchasing Targets I (own illustration) CXXVIII Purchasing Targets II (own illustration) CXXIX Purchasing Targets III (own illustration) CXXIX Emissions Targets (own illustration) CXXIX Legal and Other Requirements Targets (own illustration) CXXX Water Program (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008; The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business/ Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development) CXXXIV Energy Program (own illustration according to Energie Schweiz, 2010; Lauber IWISA AG, 2010; Sustainable Business Associates, 2008 and The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business/ Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development) CXLI
XII
Table 49: Table 50:
Table 51: Table 52:
Table 53:
Table 54:
Table 55:
Table 56:
Table 57:
Table 58:
Table 59: Table 60: Table 61: Table 62: Table 63: Table 64: Table 65: Table 66: Table 67: Table 68:
Wastes Program (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXLIV Purchasing Program (own illustration according to Kirk, Materials and Waste Management, 1996 and Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) CXLVIII Emissions Program (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008 and Zein et al., 2008) CL Water Monitoring (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) CLVII Energy Monitoring (own illustration according to DyllickBrenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) CLVII Wastes Monitoring (own illustration according to DyllickBrenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) CLVIII Purchasing Monitoring I (own illustration according to DyllickBrenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) CLVIII Purchasing Monitoring II (own illustration according to DyllickBrenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) CLVIII Purchasing Monitoring III (own illustration according to DyllickBrenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) CLIX Emissions Monitoring (own illustration according to DyllickBrenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) CLIX Legal and Other Requirements Monitoring (own illustration) CLX Water Corrective Actions (own illustration) CLXI Energy Corrective Actions (own illustration) CLXI Wastes Corrective Actions (own illustration) CLXI Purchasing Corrective Actions I (own illustration) CLXI Purchasing Corrective Actions II (own illustration) CLXII Purchasing Corrective Actions III (own illustration) CLXII Emissions Corrective Actions (own illustration) CLXII Legal and Other Requirements Corrective Actions (own illustration) CLXII Acronyms of the transliterated Expert Interviews (own illustration) CLXV
XIII
List of Abbreviations
BAFU BKP EMAS EMS FF&E hotelleriesuisse LOHAS NOGA PDCA SAQ SQS TC UMS UNCD UNCTAD UNEP VOC WHO WTO Bundesamt fr Umwelt Baukostenplan Eco- Management and Audit Scheme Environmental Management System Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment Swiss Hotel Association Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability Nomenclature Gnrale des Activits conomiques Plan, Do, Check and Act Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft fr Qualittsmanagement Schweizerische Vereinigung fr Qualitts- und Management- Systeme Technical Committee Umweltmanagementsystem United Nations Conference on Environment and Development United Nations Conference on Trade and Development United Nations Environment Program Volatile Organic Compounds World Health Organization World Trade Organization
Introduction
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1
1.1
1.1.1
Introduction
Research Problem
Context
Since tourism is the largest industry in the world, it is responsible for a big share of the negative influences on the earths ecosystems caused by humans. The hotel industry forms the biggest sector of the tourism industry. Therefore, it is sensible to bring forward sustainable development in the hotel industry. Sustainability is an integrative approach and includes the environmental, economic and social dimension. In the case of a hotel, environmental sustainability means to minimize the environmental impacts on the flora, fauna, air, water, land and natural resources. Social sustainability asks for the maximization of the social well-being of all stakeholders and reaches from issues like public health to good working conditions. Since all organizations in the private sector aim for profit, the economic dimension is similar important than the other two. It has become clear, that improvements in the environmental and social dimension can help to strengthen the economic situation of an organization. The profit of an organization can be increased by saving costs with water or energy conservation practices or the good working conditions can enhance the staff motivation and productivity, to only name a few. (Sloan et al., Sustainable Development in the Hospitality Industry, 2009) Besides sustainable profit maximization through savings, the implementation of sustainability standards can also allure customers. The sustainable operation of an organization and the offering of sustainable products, positively impacts the buying behavior of certain consumer groups. (Prexl, 2010) One such a consumer group is called LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) and accounts for approximately 10 to 30% of the Swiss consumers, dependent on the type of product or service offered (Wstenhagen, 2009). Voluntary sustainability tools include amongst others, codes of conduct, best practices, management systems, lables and performance indicators (Burzis, 2010). A systematic approach to enhance environmental sustainability forms the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) (Aminatuzuhariah, 2007) like the ISO 14001 standard. 1.1.2 Problem Statement
As described above, environmental standards are crucial for the hotel industry, but the implementation of these is often too difficult and involving. Environmental management systems are effective but complex at the same time and hotel managers are no specialists in this field. Furthermore, such management systems are construed for all kinds of organizations and little research has been done on how the implementation in the hotel industry may look like. Every hotel is different, according to size, classification or services offered. This makes it even more difficult to find an implementation guideline appropriate for all hotels. As a consequence, not many hotels have an environmental management system in place, to not mention the low certification rate. The general question arising is, what is exactly needed to simplify the implementation of environmental management systems like the ISO 14001 standard in the hotel industry.
Introduction
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1.1.3
Research Objectives
The principal purpose of this thesis is to create a handbook which supports hotels in implementing the ISO 14001 certification. The handbook itself should: suite to all hotels regardless their size, classification or services offered function as a supportive tool for the hotels in order to achieve the ISO 14001 certification present a guideline according to the ISO 14001 requirements be understandable and simplified be specific to the hotel industry 1.1.4 Importance of the Study
A lot of research has been done in evaluating the importance and effectiveness of environmental management systems. Although, environmental management systems are an adequate tool to improve the environmental performance of an organization, no guideline which supports especially the hotel industry in implementing such a system has yet been created. The handbook, which is the outcome of this thesis, explains and simplifies exactly this implementation process of the ISO 14001 standard in the hotel industry. As then, achieving the ISO 14001 certification becomes manageable for the hotel industry, more hotels will be certified in the future. The wider choice of environmentally friendly hotels does not only positively affect the potential guests, but also strengthens the Swiss hotel industry as a whole. Another beneficial effect of this thesis is to turn the buzz word sustainability into a long-term engagement. Therefore, the accurate moment to develop hand-tight processes and to appeal ISO 14001 to the hotel industry is right now. Moreover, it is high time to support hotels, who are already interested in environmental aspects, before they lose courage.
1.2
Research Scope
The overall goal of this thesis is to develop a handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the Swiss hotel industry. Therefore, only aspects which are either relevant for the Swiss hotel industry or the ISO 14001 standard are taken into closer consideration. As a result, only sustainability issues which are crucial for Switzerland and related to the environmental dimension are discussed. Furthermore, the thesis does not describe the benefits of having an environmental management system in place, nor does it deliver a quality or sustainability measuring tool, but concentrates on the support hotels need when choosing to implement such a management system.
1.3
Research Design
Since the purpose of the handbook is to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry, it is crucial to understand the Swiss hotel industry, environmental sustainability in the hotel industry, environmental management systems and the ISO 14001 requirements. Therefore, exactly these four elements are discussed in the literature review, which forms the basis of the first version of the handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry. The next chapter 'First Concept of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry' gives general information concerning the first version of the
Introduction
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handbook, explains step by step how it was developed and indicates issues which need to be further examined. The chapter 'Empirical Research' states why empirical research is needed, how it is carried out and in what way the obtained information is applied. The sections 'Results' and 'Discussion' are aimed to analyze and debate the findings of the empirical research in order to create a revised and improved handbook in chapter 'Revised Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry'. The 'Conclusion' in the end states the practical and theoretical implications, limitations and the recommendations for future research. The illustration below visualizes the flow of information and data in this thesis from the literature review to the conclusion.
Literature Review
First Version of the Handbook
Empirical Research
Results
Discussion
Revised Handbook
Conclusion
Illustration 1: Research Design (own illustration)
(Sloan, Legrand, & Chen, Energy Efficiency, 2009) (Sloan, Legrand, & Chen, Sustainable Development in the Hospitality Industry, 2009)
Literature Review
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Literature Review
The literature review is divided into five main chapters. The first chapter, the Swiss hotel industry, gives insights into how the hotel industry is generally defined, what types of hotels exist and what kind of operational equipment is needed in a hotel. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the operational and organizational structure of hotels. The following chapter deals with the environmental sustainability in the hotel industry and therefore presents a selection of environmental dimensions relevant in the hotel industry and the Swiss environmental legislations. The two best know environmental management systems including a comparison of these and the application in the hotel industry are demonstrated in the third chapter. The last chapter explains in detail the requirements of the environmental management system ISO 14001 and its certification process.
2.1
2.1.1
The Swiss Hotel Industry

Definition
The hotel industry is defined as the entirety of the hotels (Duden Verlag, 1999). In Switzerland, no standardized or protected definition of hotels exists (Pasche, 2009). Referred to Christian Laesser and Thomas Bieger 'Was ist ein Hotel? Beitrag zu einer adaptierten Definition von Hotel' a hotel is an establishment for the accommodation of guests who stay overnight consisting of at least five keys (lockable spheres) and a minimal service offer including key- and information service as well as cleaning of the keys. Minimum five and more than 50 percent of the keys are available for transient guests, whereat transient means that the offer can be booked by days, weeks or up to a length of maximally three month. (Laesser & Bieger, 2008). Concerning the attempts of hotel definitions in Switzerland, this chapter differentiates between the industry approach of hotelleriesuisse and the legal definition fundament of NOGA (Nomenclature Gnrale des Activits conomiques) (Laesser & Bieger, 2008). Industry Approach of hotelleriesuisse Hotelleriesuisse differentiates between three categories of hotels: (1) fully serviced hotels and bed and breakfasts, (2) star categories, and (3) specialization categories (Laesser, Was ist ein Hotel? Beitrag zu einer adaptierten Definition von Hotel, 2009). Fully served hotels are establishments with at least five rooms and consist of facilities for accommodation and catering of the guests. They are characterized by the living- and residence standard and the degree of services which are according to the star categories and the specialization categories. In comparison, bed and breakfasts are hotels which are not endued with restaurants. (Laesser & Bieger, 2008) The terms star categories and specialization categories are explained in chapter '2.1.2 Hotel Typologies'. Legal Fundament of NOGA NOGA categorizes the accommodation industry into (1) hotels, guesthouses and pensions, (2) holiday accommodations and similar businesses, (3) camping sites and (4) other accommodations (Bundesamt fr Statistik, 2008).
Literature Review
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The accommodation types, hotel, bed and breakfast, guesthouse and pension belong to the hotel industry, while the others count to the non-hotel accommodation sector (Hnssler, Betriebsarten und Betriebstypen des Gastgewerbes, 2000). As his thesis focuses on the hotel industry, only the first category 'hotels, guest houses and pensions' are taken into consideration. The category 'hotels, guesthouses and pensions with restaurant' covers hotels, resort hotels, apart hotels, hotels with thermal bath, hotels with conference facilities, hotels with casinos, motels, pensions, guesthouses and similar businesses, which posses five or more rooms and provide additionally to the ordinary services also catering services. 'Hotels, guesthouses and pension without restaurant' include hotels, bed and breakfasts and similar businesses, which consist of five or more rooms but only serve breakfast supplementary to ordinary services. (Bundesamt fr Statistik, 2008) 2.1.2 Hotel Typologies
It is nearly impossible to outline the different types of hotels, as the transitions between the types of business are floating and a certain hotel can conform to several types of business (Seitz, 1997). According to Karl Heinz Hnssler 'Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie' the type of business of hotels can be structured according to quality of the offers, scope of the performances and the size (Hnssler, Betriebsarten und Betriebstypen des Gastgewerbes, 2000). The subchapters 'Hotel Classification' and 'Size of Swiss Hotels' are based exclusively on Swiss conditions, whereat the context of the other subchapters can be used internationally. Hotel Classification The Swiss hotel classification, which was introduced by hotelleriesuisse (Swiss Hotel Association) in 1979, is internationally known as exemplary. It was the first private classification system in a worldwide context and is still a case sui generis. It often forms the basis of classification systems in other countries. As international quality requirements and consumer needs in the hotel industry are constantly changing and increasing, the Swiss hotel classification system is adapted in a five years circle. (Hotelsterne, Entwicklung und Geschichte des Originals) (Hotelsterne) Today, approximately 77 percent of the Swiss hotels are classified according to the Swiss hotel classification (hotelleriesuisse, 2007). The Swiss classification system consists of two dimensions: the star system and the specialization categories (hotelleriesuisse, Jahrbuch der Schweizer Hotellerie 2010, 2010). (hotelleriesuisse, 2010) Star System Hotels can be classified into five star categories: 1-star (simple), 2-stars (comfortable), 3stars (middle class), 4-stars (first class) and 5-stars (luxury). Since 2011, a sixth category 'Swiss Lodge' for the declaration of hotels without any stars is into force. Additionally, within each category 'superior' can be reached if the hotel offers outstanding services. Bed and breakfast hotels are only allowed to reach four stars plus superior instead of the five stars plus superior. (Hotelstars, 2010) In order to classify hotels, hotelleriesuisse worked out a criteria check list. This check list is subdivided into six areas: building/ space on offer, furnishing/ equipment, services, leisure, composition of offers and seminar rooms. In total, the check list consists of 270 different
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criteria. A hotel fulfilling a criterion receives the amount of points the criterion is worth. In order to get classified to the accordant star category, two rules have to be taken into consideration. There are some criteria marked with a 'M' meaning this is a minimum criterion and has to be achieved and, additionally to the minimum criteria, a hotel has to reach a minimum amount of points. Hotels awarded with 'superior' reach the minimum amount of points of the next higher category, but do not have to fulfill the minimum criteria of this. Bed and breakfast hotels, which do not run a restaurant, are disadvantaged compared to fully serviced hotels, as they are not able to collect points in certain fields (criteria 172-180). Therefore, the minimum amount of points in each star category and superior is reduced by 20. (Hotelstars, 2010) The detailed criteria catalog including the evaluation scale can be found on the homepage of hotelleriesuisse. By the year 2011, 87 hotels reached 5-star classification, 441 hotels 4-star classification, 944 hotels 3-star classification, 253 2-star classification, 42 hotels 1-star classification and 10 'Swiss Lodge' classification (Swisshotels). Specialization Categories The specialization categories provide supplementary information concerning the character, target customers and infrastructure of a hotel (Hotelsterne, Spezialisierungskategorien). Additional to the star system, classified Swiss hotels can apply for the following specialization categories (hotelleriesuisse, Kriterienkataloge, Spezialisierungkategorien): 'Excellent Kitchen', 'Business Hotel', 'Design & Lifestyle Hotel', 'Health Hotel', 'Golf Hotel', 'Historic Hotel', 'Kids Hotel', 'Congress Hotel', 'Country Guest House', 'Eco Hotel', 'Seminar Hotel', 'Tennis Hotel', 'Bike Hotel', 'Hiking Hotel', 'Wellness Hotel I', 'Wellness Hotel II', 'Unique' and 'International Chain Hotel' (Hotelsterne, Spezialisierungskategorien). A hotel can be classified for maximum three different specialization categories (hotelleriesuisse, Geschftsbericht 2010, 2010). In order reach one of these specialization categories special requirements have to be fulfilled (Hotelsterne, Spezialisierungskategorien). The 'Requirements for the specialization categories' can be found on the homepage of Hotelsterne. The number of hotels labeled with one of these specialization categories is shown in 'Appendix A: Quantity of Hotels labeled by a Specialization Category in 2011'. (Hotelsterne) (hotelleriesuisse, 2010) (International Organization for Standardization, 2011) Hotel Performances The hotel industry can be seen as a part of the service industry. This means, the performances of the hotel industry are services. The supply of services involves different production factors as for example manpower, facilities or raw materials. The question is in which constitution and scope these are used in order to provide a service. A considerable characteristic of the hotel industry is that sometimes only the fact that a production factor is available forms the performance. For instance, the hotel rooms are the production factors and their usage through guests is already the service performed. Therefore, in comparison to industrial manufacturing processes, the production and the product in the hotel industry cannot always be examined separately. Since the basic functions of a hotel are accommodation and catering of the guests, the service types of a hotel can be divided into 'Accommodation Performance', 'Catering Performance' and 'Other Performances'. (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000)
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Accommodation Performance The accommodation performance is on the one hand, made up of buildings and structures and on the other hand, of the services rendered by employees (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000). The buildings and structures consists in general of: Guest rooms Reception area Circulation- and floor areas Engineering- and operation rooms Other areas (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000) (Rutherford, 2002) (Walker, 2002) A detailed list of these buildings and structures can be found in 'Appendix B: Buldings and Structures of a Hotel'. The size of the space and the furnishing of these buildings and structures are either applied to the needed space according to the number of guestrooms (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000) or are specified by the hotelleriesuisse criteria catalog (see chapter '2.1.2 Hotel Typologies'). Areas where services rendered by employees are needed are: Reception Housekeeping Security Other services Purchasing department (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000) (Rutherford, 2002) (Walker, 2002) A detailed list of these sevices can be found in 'Appendix C: Services rendered by Employees'. The number of employees is mainly dependent on the hotel classification, as for example a 5-star hotel has a higher employee to guest ratio then a 2-star hotel (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000). The extensiveness of these performances is again partly given by hotelleriesuisse criteria catalog (see chapter '2.1.2 Hotel Typologies').
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Catering Performance The catering performance consists of the food and beverages including the catering services a hotel is offering (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000). The main departments are: Restaurant Kitchen Bar Caf Purchasing department Banquet department Material usage control Stewarding Room service Bar and waiting personnel (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000) (Rutherford, 2002) (Walker, 2002) A detailed list of these sevices departments can be found in 'Appendix D: Catering Departments'. The choice of food and beverages can either be decided by the hotel itself (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000) or is given by the hotelleriesuisse criteria catalog (see chapter '2.1.2 Hotel Typologies'). Other Performances The other performances like the offering of conference rooms or swimming pools complete the accommodation and catering performances (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000). Parts of additional performances have, according to the hotelleriesuisse criteria catalog (see chapter '2.1.2 Hotel Typologies'), to be fulfilled by a hotel in order to comply with the requirements for classification. Hence, the single performances, which are in a relationship of dependence, form the total of performances. Depending on which types of performances a hotel is offering and on how these are designed and combined, the hotel represents a certain hotel category. (Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000)
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Size of Swiss Hotels In the year 2009, the sizes of the hotels in Switzerland looked as follows: Size of hotel Amount of hotels In % 0 to 10 beds 797 16.4 11 to 20 beds 1090 22.4 21 to 50 beds 1613 33.1 51 to 100 beds 886 18.2 101 to 150 beds 258 5.3 151 to 200 beds 97 2.0 201 to 300 beds 76 1.6 301 and more beds 50 1.0
Table 1: Size of Swiss Hotels in 2009 (own illustration according to Schweizer Tourismus Verband (STV), 2010) (Schweizer Tourismus Verband (STV), 2010)
2.1.3
Operating Equipment
The operating equipment of a hotel consists of furniture, fixtures and equipment, whereat furniture is movable and fixtures and equipment is immovable (Fidlschuster, 2007). The Swiss BKP (Baukostenplan) is originally an investment accounting plan providing an overview of the costs incurring when construction a building (BKP Baukostenplan). Although the construction costs of a hotel are in the context of this thesis not in demand, the author decided to consult this plan. By demonstrating an investment accounting plan, the Swiss BKP also shows what furniture, fixtures and equipment is actually needed to run a hotel. Relevant for this thesis are mainly: Operating equipment: Electricity Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, cooling devices Sanitary Transporation, storage Construction Surrounding: Garden Installations Line, Pipes Furniture and fixtures: Furniture Lightning Textiles Small inventory Transporation Consumable materials (BKP Baukostenplan) 'Appendix E: Extract from the Swiss BKP' states a summary of the Swiss BKP corresponding to the issues relevant for this thesis.
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2.1.4
Operational and Organizational Structure
Operational Structure The operational structure regulates the course of action of the processes in a hotel. The compliance of the hotel performance is analyzed in terms of side by side and one after the other duties. It is assumed that the task manager has to carry out different work processes in order to fulfill the duties. The sensible connectivity of the task manager, work processes and duties is called operational procedure. For this purpose, it has to be decided where, when and which processes are performed by whom. The execution of an operational structure is highly dependent on the size of the business; this means the bigger the business the higher the necessity. The operational structure bases on studies in which the as-is state of certain aspects of processes is examined. (Henschel, Die Ablauforganisation und ihr Instrumentarium, 2008) 'Appendix F: Operational Work Processes' shows the operational work processes in a hotel according to an overnight stay of a guest. The gained information help to make the work processes more efficient (Henschel, Die Ablauforganisation und ihr Instrumentarium, 2008). Organizational Structure Organizational structure means to allocate manpower and operating resources in order to compile the hotel performances. The goals are to reach the business objectives and to operate as efficient as possible. This organizational structure administrates the duties of the hotel and creates structures as well as a hierarchical decomposition. Thus, the duties of the hotel take the center stage and are in a next step combined to positions which are in turn, merged to departments. The positions and departments form organizational units which are differently connected with each other. (Henschel, Die Aufbauorganisation und ihr Instrumentarium, 2008) The organizational structure of a hotel can be illustrated by an organization chart. The most famous organizational forms are the functional organization (specialization according to performance), divisional organization (specialization according to objects) and matrix organization (specialization according to performance and objects). (Hnssler, Die Aufbauorganisation von Hotelbetrieben, 2008) To illustrate a hotels organizational structure it is reasonable to not only represent the departments and communication lines, but also to highlight the positions including job descriptions. (Hnssler, Die Aufbauorganisation von Hotelbetrieben, 2008) In general, the organization structure of a hotel is dependent on the size of the business, performance spectrum, quality standards, technological standards and strategic considerations (Hnssler, Die Aufbauorganisation von Hotelbetrieben, 2008). 'Appendix G: Organizational Structure of a Hotel' presents a classic organizational structure of a 300 room hotel. Furthermore, all the single departments can again be broken down as exemplarily shown in 'Appendix H: Organizational Structure of a Department'.
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2.2
2.2.1
Environmental Sustainability in the Hotel Industry

Definition
The Brundtland Report defines sustainability as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). As already mentionend in chapter '1. Introduction', sustainability consists of the three pillars: economy, society and environment. From the environmental perspective, it is important to conserve the physical resources and to minimize negative impacts on the physical environment. (Kirk, Introduction, 1996) Therefore, environmental sustainability is dedicated to use and maintain the natural resources in a carful way in order to not constrain future generations quality of life. (Andrews, 2009) When looking at the environment from a system point of view, the environment means everything lying outside of the system. The boundary between the system and the environment controls the exchanges from the environment into the system and vice versa. (Kirk, Introduction, 1996) A system has three main components: inputs into the system, outputs from the system and the system itself. The goal of a system is to convert inputs into outputs. In the case of a hotel the system looks like following: Inputs: customers, employees, food, raw materials, consumable supplies, energy, water and capital System: hotel including its production processes Outputs: satisfied customers and employees, financial returns, wastes and pollution (Kirk, Environmental Management, 1996) Since a hotel needs on the one hand, huge amounts of food, raw materials, consumable supplies, engery and water as inputs and on the other hand, generates negative outputs like waste and pollution, the hotel system has a huge potential impact on the environment. (Kirk, Environmental Management, 1996) 2.2.2 Environmental Dimensions of a Hotel
Water Water is probably the most crucial resource of a hotel and forms a major purchasing cost. Central water consumption areas are guestrooms, kitchen, laundries, cleaning and public toilets. The water consumption of a hotel per guestroom per year lies between 60m3 and 220 m3. It depends on the facilities a hotel is providing and whether the hotel has already established water conservation practices. (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) (Lin-Heng & Ofori, 2010) The table below shows for what purposes a hotel can need cold and hot water supply: Purpose Cold water Drinking water, fire-fighting, cold rooms Cold and hot water Bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, cleaning, toilets, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, pool
Table 2: Cold and Hot Water Supply in the Hotel Industry (own illustration according to Kirk, Water Management, 1996 and Lin-Heng et al., 2010)
The temperature of hot water depends on where it is used. The ideal temperature for water for example in the guestrooms is 50C, in the laundry 40-80C and in the kitchen 60C. (LinHeng et al., 2010) The heating, storage and supply method of hot water consumes a lot of
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energy (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) (Kirk, Water Management, 1996). Therefore, the reduction in hot water consumption also decreases the energy utilization (Lin-Heng et al., 2010). Since hotels need huge quantities of water, they in turn, produce enormous amounts of waste water. Waste water can be separated in to grey-water coming from washing machines, sinks, showers, bath and roof runoffs, and black-water resulting from toilets and dishwashing. (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) The disposal of this waste water is administrated by local regulations and costs the hotel money (Kirk, Water Management, 1996). There are a lot of ways how a hotel can reduce its water consumption. However, the core principle is to do nothing on the expenses of the guests comfort. (Kirk, Water Management, 1996) Sustainable water usage includes: Conservation of water supplies and sources Recycling of water as far as possible Re-establishment of lost water sources Reduction of irrigation losses Repairing of pipe leakages Re-usage of grey-water Installation of water-saving devices Avoidance of open taps Monitoring of the water consumption Investing in state-of-the-art technologies Information of personnel about water conservation practices Involvement of guests (Webster, 2000) (Zein et al., 2008) (Zein, Wazner, & Meylan, 2008) Energy After payroll, energy forms the biggest share of a hotels operating costs. Energy in the form of fossil fuel and electricity is for example needed for lighting, ventilation, heating, cooling, cooking, hot water, catering and electronic appliances. The energy usage of a hotel is depending on the type and size of the hotel, building, climate, geographic location, energy sources, energy-efficiency of the appliances, facilities a hotel is providing, and services the hotel is offering. (Kirk, Energy Management, 1996) (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) On average, 6% of a hotels operating costs is used for the energy consumption in the guestrooms, 20% for lightning and 15% for hot water (Sloan et al., Energy Efficiency, 2009). A hotel can decrease energy consumption by various measures including: Staff awareness training Involvement of guests Switching off equipment which is not in use Monitoring the energy consumption Regular maintenance of equipment in order to guarantee efficiency Investments in the building and state-of-the-art equipment Reviewing the mix of energy sources in use Improvements in the lighting system Minimization of energy losses Recoverment of energy (Kirk, Energy Management, 1996)) (Zein et al., 2008)
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It is best to start with measures which give the greatest savings at the lowest cost, as these will generate positive feedback and state a reason for more expansive investments. Furthermore, the actions taken should never end in a perceived loss of comfort by the guests. (Kirk, Energy Management, 1996) Wastes On the one hand, waste is a signal of inefficient use of resources, and on the other hand, the disposal of waste costs money (Sloan et al., Waste Management, 2009). Hotels produce huge amount of wastes including household waste, plastic, metal, glass, cloth, wood, organic waste, oils, fat, packaging, old furniture and equipment, and paper. Additionally, they generate hazardous waste as for example solvents, paint, flammable material, fertilizer, chemicals, and batteries. (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) (Zein et al., 2008) Instead of putting all this waste to the landfill, hotels can follow the strategy of : Avoid (Sloan, Legrand, & Chen, Waste Management, 2009) Reduce Reuse Recycle Recover (Kirk, Materials and Waste Management, 1996) (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) By thorough purchasing, waste can partly be avoided and reduced in the first place. However, some waste is always generated and should whenever possible be reused, even if it has a lower value. Materials which cannot be reused should be collected and carried to a recyling unit. There are still some materials left which have a high energy value or cannot be recylced and should be brought to incinerator or used for own power generating purposes. Concerning all the five processes, avoid, reduce, reuse, recycle and recover, legal requirements have to be taken into consideration. (Kirk, Materials and Waste management, 1996) Additionally, waste reduction practices should not limit the customer satisfaction and comfort (Sloan et al., Waste Management, 2009). Purchasing Hotels purchase large amounts of different products like food and beverages, laundry and cleaning supplies, toiletries, office supplies, equipment and bedding. The purchase of some products can have negative impacts on the environment. (Lin-Heng et al., 2010). Therefore, the whole life cycle of the product from manufacturing, marketing, transportation, and use to disposal have to be taken into account. (Zein et al., 2008) Furthermore, the purchasing decision also influences the amount of waste produced, energy consumed and the potential of water, air and soil pollution by the disposal or use of the product (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) (Zein et al., 2008). When purchasing so called 'green' products, these environmental impacts can be reduced (Zein et al., 2008). 'Green' products support recyclable, biodegradable, less processed and non-toxic substances, are more durable, require less energy during manufacturing and use, are manufactured in local and cleaner production processes and need as little packaging as possible (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) (Zein et al., 2008). Hotels can bring forward the use of 'green' products by advancing staff, supplier and guest awareness (Zein et al., 2008).
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Sustainable purchasing includes: Buy what is actually needed Buy good quality materials in order to decrease failing rate Buy from local suppliers to reduce transportation Buy in suitable quantities, as too little increases transportation and too much leads to waste Buy as energy-efficient products as possible Buy products consisting of recycled material and in recycled packaging Buy recyclable products in recyclable packaging Rent instead of buying whenever possible Prefer 'green' products Avoid disposable products Use as little packaging as possible (Kirk, Materials and Waste management, 1996) Emissions A hotel, like most other businesses, contributes to the atmospheric pollution. The negative emissions from a hotel consist of combustion gases from fossil fuels and gas-operated boilers, generators and stoves, cooling liquid from air-conditioning and refridgeration equipment, halons in fire extinguishers, vapors from cleaning solvents and road traffic emissions. (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) Hotels can reduce their atmospheric pollution by: Maintenance of equipment Cleaning of equipment Replacing old equipment with state-of-the-art ones Minimization of the use of atmospheric pollutants (Zein et al., 2008) Indoor Air Quality A poor indoor air quality can have an impact on the health, coziness and well-being of the employees and guests and may evoke headache, swims, breathing difficulties or allergic reactions. The indoor air quality of a hotel is dependent on the emissions flowing into the building from the outside and the ones produced within the building itself. The latter comes from fuel gas which is needed by stoves and boilers, tobacco smoke, emissions from copymachines and printers, microbic pollutants, pesticides, dust and other particles, radon gas emissions from construction materials, volatile organic compounds (VOC) from cleaning agents, paints and lacquer. (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) In order to upgrade the quality of the air in buildings the following can be done: Venting the building with fresh air by opening the windows or installing a sophisticated ventilation system Minimization the usage of products containing VOC (volatile organic compounds) Investments in state-of-the-art equipment Restriction of smoking in the building Usage of a vaccum instead of a paper-bag cleaner to capture as many particles as possible (Chai-chen, 2000) (Lin-Heng et al., 2010)
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Noise High exposure to noise above 70 decibel can support sick headache, disturbed blood flow, high blood pressure, abscesses, while a noise level of 130 decibel or higher can even be responsible for serious damages to the ears. If the noise level in a hotel is too high, the health of the guests is affected, the productivity of the employees is depleted and disputes with neighbors and the community can arise. The areas which generate the most noise in a hotel are the technical rooms, kitchens, laundries, driveways for the delivery of goods, waste separation areas, parkings, bars, clubs, and the reception. Noise can be managed and reduced by: Separation of noise-sensitive areas, like guest rooms or meeting rooms, from noisegenerating areas Implementation of noise audits Investment in noise controlling facilities (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) 2.2.3 Swiss Environmental Legislations
The Swiss environmental legislations which can be fundamental for the hotel industry are divided into four different subjects: environmental conservation, water conservation, natureand cultural heritage protection, and climate. Each of these four subjects is based on a separate main document which constitutes the federal law. Additionally, various regulations and treaties are used to complete the legal foundation. (Bundesamt fr Umwelt, 2009) As a detailed analysis of the federal law, regulations and treaties is not appropriate for this thesis, the author decided to only provide a tabular overview. Detailed information concerning the federal laws, regulations and treaties can be found on the homepage of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU). Subject Legal foundation Environmental Conservation Federal Law on Environmental Conservation 37 regulations 15 treaties Water Conservation Federal Law on Water Conservation 2 regulations 9 treaties Nature- and Cultural Heritage Federal Law on Nature- and Cultural Heritage Protection Protection 9 regulations 8 treaties Climate Federal Law on C02 4 regulations 2 treaties
Table 3: Swiss Environmental Legislations (own illustration according to Bundesamt fr Umwelt BAFU, 2009)
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2.3
Environmental Management System
2.3.1 Definition Environmental Management Environmental management means to control the activities one might undertake, in order to sustain physical resources and avoid polluting them. This is applicable to ones daily life, but normally it is in business where the environmental impact is greatest. (Edwards, Introduction to Environmental Management, 2001) Management System The fundamental procedure of a management system can, according to Wellge (2009), be divided into six core areas: Definition of goals Determination of need for action Allocation of resouces Planning and execution of measures Control of success, evaluation of performance and definition of new goals (Wellge, 2009) Additionally, a management system consists of elements intrinsic to the field it focuses on. In the case of a quality system this could be the evaluation of suppliers, while an environmental system includes methods to evaluate environmental impacts or systems to respond to emergencies. (Jackson, 1997) Environmental Management System In consideration of todays environmental problems and on the basis of the quality management system, environment concerning management models were developed. These environmental management systems give businesses the possibility to continuously decrease their environmental impacts. (Wellge, 2009). An environmental mangement system is not limited to certain fields of a buisness, but has to be seen as a vital element of the work of the management body. This means that all departments of a business, functional areas and production lines, are part of the development and implementation of such a system. The thorough composition of an environmental policy is utmost important, as environmental management is based on the freewill of a buisness and its self declared priorities concerning environmental aspects. As a matter of course, external requirements have to be fulfiled as a minimal objective. (DyllickBrenzinger et al., Umweltmanagementsysteme,1997) Especially requirements imposed by the government are still perceived as threats by businesses, but an environmental management system helps them to change their reactive behavior into a proactive one (Engel, Einleitung, 2010). Furthermore, the implementation of such a system not only enables to achieve the legal requirements, but motivates to voluntarily take over additional duties concerning the environment (Wellge, 2009). Once the policy is written, an environmental management system functions as an instrument to implement and realize this defined environmental policy (Dyllick-Brenzinger et al., 1997). With the help of the right allocation of resources, determination of responsibilities, and the constant optimization of practices, procedures, and processes, environmental issues can be address with a certain order and consistency (Haider, 2001).
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2.3.2
Environmental Management in the Hotel Industry
Since 1990 the hotel industry has made great efforts towards sustainability by implementing different tools on a voluntary basis. Voluntary environmental tools reach from codes of conduct, best environmental practices, environmental management systems, eco-labels to environmental performance indicators. (Burzis, 2010) According to Ayuso, 2007, eco-labels and environmental management systems are among the most used environmental tools in the hotel industry whereat the latter brought the greatest success. (Ayuso, 2007) The motivational drivers and the barriers for establishing an environmental management system in the hotel industry vary from country to country and are dependent on the characteristics of the businesses. (Burzis, 2010) Potential motivations are: Increased profitability (in example through costs savings) Improved public image Legal regulations Personal commitment (in example to save natural resources and conserve the environment) Competitive edge Governmental incentive (in example subsidies, tax benefits or penalties for noncompliance) Stakeholder satisfaction (in example guests and employees) (Burzis, 2010) Perceived barriers are: High implementation costs Lack of technology Time consuming implementation process High need for changes in the infrastructure (in example new electrical equipment) Lack of human resources Limited knowledge about environmental management systems (Burzis, 2010) 2.3.3 Existing Environmental Management Systems
The only three management systems focusing exclusively on the ecological dimension of sustainability are ISO 14001, EMAS and EcoStep. Additionally, these systems not only cover Switzerland, but are internationally oriented. (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 2011) Due to the fact that ISO 14001 and EMAS are the two most famous environmental management systems (Pischon, 1999 cit. in Wellge, 2009) and that EcoStep is completely based on ISO 14001 (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 2011), the author decided to only give insights into EMAS and the ISO 14000 series of standards. (Pischon, 1999)
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EMAS EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) is a voluntary scheme for environmental management and environmental auditing. It was introduced by the European Union in 1993. The intention was to create a tool for companies and other organizations to support them in improving their environmental performance. The actual legal foundation is the regulation No. 1221/ 2009 (EMAS III). (EMAS) According to article 48 and 50 of EMAS III regulation, the scheme is revised correspondingly to new operating experiences in the implementation procedure and to international development. (Europische Union, 2009) EMAS is a performance oriented system. Businesses should not only fulfill the legal requirements, but should continuously increase their environmental performance. It is important to involve the employees in the processes, in order to guarantee that employees identify with the environmental protection interest of the business. Furthermore, a business applying for EMAS registration has to provide the public with an environmental statement informing about resource- and energy consumption, emissions, waste and more. (EMAS) (Wellge, 2009) To reach EMAS validation, an environmental audit has to be carried out followed by subsequent circular eco-audits. These eco-audits are administrated by governmental licensed environmental verifiers, who inspect the internal documents and the environmental statement of a business. The verifiers not only respect compliance with formal rules of EMAS, but more important pay heed to real environmental performance. This includes conformance with the legal environmental protection laws and the self-set objectives. A validated business is part of a public register, receives a European wide registration number and is allowed to use the official EMAS logo. (EMAS) The registration is valid for three years. An annual assessment and actualization of the environmental statement ensures the continual development of the environmental performance in the meantime (Geschftsstelle des Umweltgutachterausschusses, 2010). The quality of EMAS is supervised by the member states of the European Union (EMAS). Since the revision of EMAS I, all businesses which want to increase their environmental performance are allowed to participate in EMAS, independet of their business activity. The only prerequisit is to be located in the European Union or in a country with bilateral treaties with the European Union. (Engel, Ansatz der Europischen Gemeinschaft, 2010) The EMAS III regulation consists of 52 articles and 8 annexes, and can be found in various languages on the homepage of the European Commission.
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According to article 4 of EMAS III regulation, the following standardized process steps have to be observed in order to become EMAS validated: Process Explanation EMAS III Steps documents Environmental Identification of all significant environmental According to the audit requirements of aspects and their impacts Pay attention to legal environmental requirements EMAS annex I and II number A.3.1 Analysis of strength and weaknesses Environmental management system Establishment of environmental policy, goals and concrete measures Implementation of a self-developed environmental management system on the basis of environmental audit and environmental policy Arrangement of tasks and responsibilities Setting of control- and early warning systems Setting of documentation- and information systems Internal evaluation of environmental performance All requirements of EMAS annex II have to be fulfilled.
Eco-audit
Envrionmental statement Auditing through verifier Registration Logo

Table 4:
Description and definition of goals and information for the public Auditing of compliance of environmental audit, environmental management system and ecoaudit with EMAS regulations Evaluation of environmental performance Application for registration number and acceptance to public register Utilization of the logo
According to EMAS annex II number A.5.5 and III. According to EMAS annex IV. According to EMAS annex VII.
According to EMAS annex VI. According to EMAS annex V.
EMAS Process Steps (own illustration according to Engel, EG-ko-Audit-Verordnung, 2010; Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1221/ 2009 des Europischen Parlaments und des Rates, 2009 and Geschftsstelle des Umweltgutachterausschusses, 2010)
The ISO 14000 Series of Standards (Engel, EG-ko-Audit-Verordnung, 2010) The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a standards institution located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1947, as a private, nongovernmental, international standards body. The goal is to bring forward international harmonization and development of standards as for example paper sizes, film speed or quality and environmental standards. (Theodore & Theodore, 2010) In total ISO has developed more than 18000 different standards (ISO Central Secretariat, 2009). Although, it is a private institution, governments are welcomed to participate in the development of standards. Even though, all standards developed by ISO are voluntary, various governments have included the ISO standards into their regulations and approximately 160 countries act as ISO members. (Theodore & Theodore, 2010)
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Due to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the subject sustainable development became a matter of importance. (Theodore & Theodore, 2010) ISO decided that it is not enough to only integrate environmental protection into the quality management. Therefore, a completely new and independent from ISO 9000 quality management system environmental management system was developed. For this purpose, the Technical Committee 207 Environmental Management (TC 207) was set up. (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010) Business and government experts from 75 countries take actively part in this technical committee and another 26 countries act as observers. Additionally, 41 international and regional organizations, including UNCTAD, UNEP, WHO and WTO, are participating in TC 207. (International Organization for Standardization, Origins and ISO/TC 207, 2011) TC 207 consists of 6 sub groups responsible for environmental management systems, environmental auditing and related environmental investigations, environmental labeling, environmental performance evaluation, life cycle assessment, and greenhouse gas management and related activities. (International Organization for Standardization, ISO Standards, 2011) In the year 1996 the series of standards 'ISO 14000 Environmental Management Systems' was published for the first time, as a uniform worldwide environmental management system. These series of standards support businesses in obtaining environment oriented performances and in verifying these efforts. To improve environmental protection, environment concerning impacts of the activities, products and services of a business are analyzed and appropriate goals are set. The environmental efforts are documented in the environmental policy. (Engel, Aussereuropische Anstze, 2010) (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010) With the help of ISO 14000 businesses can not only lower their negative environmental effects, but it supports them in meeting legal environmental requirements (Theodore & Theodore, 2010). ISO 14000 is appropriate for all businesses in the trade-, manufacturing- or service industry independent from their size (Dyllick-Brenzinger et al., Umweltmanagementsystem, 1997). At the beginning of the implementation of the ISO 14000 standard, the management has to define an appropriate environmental policy. This police must at least include dedication to permanent improvement, prevention of pollution, and observation of legal environmental requirements. The environmental policy has to be detailed enough, as concrete actions rely on it afterwards. Furthermore, this policy must be accessible for the public and communicated, implemented and complied with, within the business. Thereafter, a first review of the activities, products and services of the business is carried out, in order to find out about their interaction with the environment. The results of this review form the basis for the strategic plan. Strategic planning can be compared with project management, as it also includes scope, time, costs and responsibilities. The business then has to identify environmental aspects which can be influenced or even controlled by the business. Environmental objectives according to these aspects and to the legal environmental requirements have to be set. An environmental objective is an overall goal and is still very general. Therefore, specific targets consisting of quantified measurements have to define the objectives. The objectives and targets are worked out by the business itself and are not components of ISO 14000 standards. Last step is to take the strategic plan including the set objectives and targets into action. Internal and external audits and reviews are needed, to on the one hand, determine if the environmental management systems follows the ISO
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requirements and on the other hand, to guarantee continual improvement. Environmental management is never constant and adjustments have to be made regularly. (Theodore & Theodore, 2010) The series of standards ISO 14000 consist in total of 22 norms. 'Appendix I: The ISO 14000 Family' gives an overview of these norms including their numbers and titles. All of these norms, except ISO 14001 'Environmental Management System Requirements with Guidance for Use', are descriptive guidance documents. This means that these documents only act as assistance documents and do not have to be implemented or used in order to get certified. A business can only get certified for ISO 14001 and not for the whole ISO 14000 standards. (Cascio, 1996) Businesses fulfilling the ISO 14001 standard are qualified for certification. The certification is carried out by third-party organizations and not by ISO itself (Theodore & Theodore, 2010). ISO 14001 is therefore the central document of the ISO 14000 standards. It provides information about the structure and minimal requirements of environmental management systems. Additionally, it forms the basis for the implementation, maintenance, auditing and certification. (Dyllick-Brenzinger et al., Umweltmanagementsysteme, 1997) The standard includes six requirement categories within section 4 of the ISO 14001 document: general requirements, environmental policy, planning, implementation and operation, checking, and management review (Theodore & Theodore, 2010). This document 'Requirements for an Environmental Management System' ISO 14001 and the specific definitions can be found on the homepage of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Further explanations concerning these six requirement categories are documented in chapter '2.4 Detailed Analysis of ISO 14001'. Comparison As EMAS III regulation is built on the requirements of ISO 14001 'Environmental Management System Requirements with Guidance for Use', the two environmental management systems differ only little today. (Wellge, 2009) The differences are shown in the following table: ISO 14001 EMAS III Goal Constant improvement in the Constant improvement in the environmental management environmental management system system and the environmental performance Area of application Worldwide European Union and associated countries Test system Private Governmental Test procedure Certification Validation and entry in public register Verification Certificate Participation document and registration document Publicity effectiveness Certificate and Documents, EMAS Logo, environmental policy environmental policy, environmental statement
Table 5: Differences ISO 14001/ EMAS (own illustration according to Engel, Gesamtwrdigung der Umweltmanagementsysteme, 2010 and Wellge, 2009) Vergleich und
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Although, both systems name improvements in environmental protection as their superior goal, there are still discrepancies. While ISO 14001 only asks for continual enhancement of the environmental management system itself, EMAS III goes a step further and requires additionally advancements in environmental performance. (Engel, Vergleich und Gesamtwrdigung der Umweltmanagementsysteme, 2010) Due to the adoption of ISO 14001 'Environmental Management System Requirements with Guidance for Use' into EMAS III regulations, the two competing environmental management systems are now connected with each other. This can be an advantage for businesses, as they can implement the environmental management systems step-by-step. For instance, they first certificate for ISO 14001 and decide in a next step, whether to use this fundament for EMAS III participation or not. (Engel, Vergleich und Gesamtwrdigung der Umweltmanagementsysteme, 2010) The fact that ISO 14001 operates on a worldwide basis makes this environmental management system much more attractive. A norm which is independent from countries or regions is a huge advantage, since businesses today operate in a global context and frontiers and national legislations become less important. Therefore, ISO 14001 outplays EMAS III. (Engel, Vergleich und Gesamtwrdigung der Umweltmanagementsysteme, 2010) Nevertheless, there are also disadvantages occurring if norms are applicable worldwide. Businesses implementing ISO 14001 or EMAS III underlie different requirements varying from country to country. For instance, a business in a developing country is facing much lower legal environmental requirements and can position itself as highly environmentally friendly, while businesses in industrial countries have to deal with stricter legal environmental requirements and a market where a lot of the competitors have already adopted an environmental management system. This is especially for ISO 14001 a big challenge, as the worldwide differences are even higher than the ones which EMAS faces in the European Union. (Engel, Vergleich und Gesamtwrdigung der Umweltmanagementsysteme, 2010) The ISO 14000 series of standards benefit from the compatibility with the ISO 9000 series of standards (quality management system) and their high awareness level. Businesses which are ISO 9000 certified are already familiar with the basic structure of ISO 14001. Therefore, the certification potential for ISO 14001 is higher than for EMAS III. (Engel, Vergleich und Gesamtwrdigung der Umweltmanagementsysteme, 2010) In general, it can be said that the number of participants are increasing for ISO 14001 and constant to declining for EMAS III. (Engel, Zusammenfassung, 2010) By this year (2011) approximately 5000 businesses are EMAS validated while none of them is located in Switzerland (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 2011) (EMAS, 2011). Until 2009 businesses holding an ISO 14001 certificate account for circa 223000 thereof are 90000 European businesses and 1500 are located in Switzerland. (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 2011) (ISO Central Secretariat, 2009) Furthermore, approximately 30 hotels in Switzerland are ISO 14001 certified (SQS, 2011).
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2.4
Detailed Analysis of ISO 14001
As a result of the subchapter 'Comparison', the author has decided that ISO 14001 is superior to EMAS for the Swiss hotel industry. 2.4.1 ISO 14001 Requirements
The ISO 14001 norm is a management system consisting of five elements which are arranged in series and connected with each other (see 'Illustration 2: Model of the Environmental Management System') (Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestalung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997).
Illustration 2:
Model of the Environmental Management System (own illustration according to Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003)
General Requirements The overall goal of ISO 14001 is to improve the environmental-oriented performances of a business. The environmental management system provides a structured process, in order to reach continual improvement. Through regular evaluations of the environmental management system, enhanced environmental performance can be achieved. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) A business without an existing environmental management system should first, through an assessment, identify its environmental position. The goal is to use the environmental aspects of a business as basis for the development of an environmental management system. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) The assessment should include: Determination of significant environmental aspects Legal and other environmental requirements Examination of existing environmental practices and actions Evaluation of experiences of former emergency situations (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) A business has the flexibility to define its boundaries by itself and can realize ISO 14001 for the whole business or only for certain operating units. For the environmental management system all the activities, products and services of the business or operating units have to be
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taken into consideration. The degree of details and complexity of the environmental management system, the scope of documentation and the provided resources are dependent on the size of the business and its activities. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) Environmental Policy The environmental policy defines the intentions and the basic principles of a business concerning their overall environmental performances (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010). The policy should include the management commitment to be in compliance with the legal and other environmental requirements (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). Furthermore, the policy serves to establish environmental-oriented objectives and targets and is therefore the basis for the concrete action planning (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010). The environmental policy has to be clearly formulated so that it is understandable to internal and external stakeholders and it has to be regularly adapted to changing conditions and experiences (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). The environmental policy can be seen as the driving force for the implementation and improvement of the environmental management system. As a consequence, the environmental policy has to fit with the environmental impacts of the businesses activities, products and services. The continual improvement, which means to constantly enhance the environmental management system in order to reach improvement in environmental performance, is vitally important. The environmental policy has to be open to the employees, as the implementation occurs through the single employees and it has to be publicly available. (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010) Planning Environmental Aspects The business has to develop a procedure in order to indentify environmental aspects and to assess which of these are of significance. In order to do so, the actual and prospective activities, products and services as well as abnormal and emergency situations have to be taken into consideration. Additionally to environmental aspects which are directly controllable by the business, aspects which can be influence by the business should be considered as well. Changes in the environment, whether positive or negative, which are completely or partly generated by environmental aspects are called environmental impacts. Therefore, environmental aspects and impacts are in a cause and effect relationship. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) Legal and Other Requirements The business has to clarify which environmental laws and regulations are applicable to its activities, products and services (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). These can cover: National and international legal requirements Governmental and provincial legal requirements Requirements of local administrations Agreements with public authorities Voluntary principles Voluntary labels (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003)
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Objectives, Targets and Programs Based on the environmental policy, environmental aspects and impacts, legal context and the business itself (Theodore & Theodore, 2010), the business defines environmentaloriented objectives and targets which are specific and if possible measureable (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010). A business should use the best available technique if it is economically feasible, cost saving and appropriate (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). In order to reach the objectives and targets, the business develops programs including responsibilities, resources, measurements and time frames (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010) (Theodore & Theodore, 2010). Implementation and Operation Resources, Roles, Responsibilities and Authority The successful implementation of the environmental management system requires the commitment of all employees of the business. Environmental-oriented tasks and responsibilities should therefore, not be limited to the functions concerned with environmental questions, but should involve all functions outside of the environmental protection. The management of a business determines the environmental policy and ensures the realization of the environmental management system throughout the whole business. As part of its commitment, the top management authorizes a special environment agent, allocates sufficient resources and defines key functions, as well as responsibilities. Furthermore, the management informs all stakeholders working for or on behalf of the business about the environmental management system. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) Competence, Training and Awareness The management defines what knowledge, understanding and skills an employee participating in an activity with an environmental impact should have. Knowledge, understanding or skills are either already existing or are applied trough training, education or practical experiences. Additionally, the business should ensure that the employees of the contractors have the needed expertise or adequate education. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) Communication The business has to develop a procedure concerning internal and external communication (Theodore & Theodore, 2010) including acceptance, documentation and response of relevant information. Internal communication can consist of meetings of working groups, circular letters, notice boards or intranet-websites. External communication can take place with annual reports, circular letters or websites. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) Documentation The documentation has to be detailed enough, in order to describe the environmental management system and the interactions of the elements (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). The documentation includes explanations concerning planning, operation and control of the environmental management system and its compliance with the environmental policy, objectives and targets (Theodore & Theodore, 2010).
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Control of Documents The documents have of course to be reviewed and updated, but the main focus is the successful implementation of the environmental management system and the environmentaloriented performances (Theodore & Theodore, 2010) (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). Operational Control The overall goal is to reach the objectives and targets of the environmental policy. Therefore, the processes which are in connection with significant environmental aspects have to be accurately operated, so that the environmental impacts can be monitored or reduced. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) Emergency Preparedness and Response Each business is responsible to develop an emergency plan and a course of action which is tailored to their individual needs (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). Potential emergencies have to be indentified and procedures how to alleviate them (Theodore & Theodore, 2010). Checking Monitoring and Measurement In order to enhance environmental performance, the business has to determine performance measurements which quantify the significant environmental aspects (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). Evaluation of Compliance The business has to demonstrate that they act in compliance with legal and other environmental rules and regulations (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). Nonconformity, Corrective Action and Preventive Action First, the non-conformances should be identified through monitoring, audits and communication. Second, corrective actions have to be initiated and monitored concerning their effectiveness. Third, preventive actions should help to avoid non-conformances in the future. (Theodore & Theodore, 2010) Control of Records A business has to keep their records up-to-date, as they either demonstrate the business compliance with the environmental management system or help to reach compliance by analyzing the documentations (Theodore & Theodore, 2010). Environmental-oriented records can include complaints, trainings, process observations, inspections, emergency tests, communication and more (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). Internal Audit A procedure discussing the responsibilities and requirements for planning and conducting an audit, the documentation of results, and the scope and frequency of audits should be developed (Theodore & Theodore, 2010). An internal audit can be carried out by an employee or by an external person. By all means, the person has to be competent, neutral and objective. (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003) The effectivenes of the
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environmental management system is highly dependent on these internal audits. During the audit, the concrete adaption needs in relation to the changed conditions are identified. Management Review The management of a business is claimed to review the environmental management system to ensure its compliance and its effectiveness (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). 2.4.2 Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle
The ISO 14001 norm is based on the management rule 'Plan-Do-Check-Act' (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). This cycle constitutes a method for establishing an environmental management system according to the requirements of ISO 14001. By establishing this cycle, an organization is able to achieve continual improvements. (Cascio, 1996)
Illustration 3:
Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle (own illustration according to Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003; International Organization for Standardization, Environmental Management System (EMS): Principles and Elements, 1998 and Sheldon & Yoxon, 2002)
(Sheldon & Yoxon, 2002) (International Organization for Standardization, 1998)

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By comparing ISO 14001 requirements and the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle it becomes clear that the aspect 'General Requirements' of ISO 14001 Requirements is in some degree similar to 'Commitment' and 'Initial Review' of the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle (International Organization for Standardization, Environmental Management System (EMS): Principles and Elements, 1998) (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003). Since these aspects are not totally consistent they are further explained. Commitment At the beginning of an environmental management system stands the commitment of the management to enhance environmental management of the business activities, products and services (International Organization for Standardization, Environmental Management System (EMS): Principles and Elements, 1998). It is crucial to know that continual improvement of environmental performance cannot happen parallel to day-to-day operations. Therefore, dedication to environmental issues has to come from the management. Additionally, it is much easier to achieve employees acceptance if managem ent commitment has been secured. (International Organization of Standardization, Environmental Managment Systems: The ISO Approach, 1998) (International Organization for Standardization, 1998) Initial Review For businesses without an existing environmental management system an initial review is highly recommended. The goal of an initial review is to find out about the business relationships and interactions of its activities, products and services with the environment and to work out a data set in order to measure environmental enhancements. (International Organization of Standardization, Environmental Managment Systems: The ISO Approach, 1998) The initial review possibly covers the following: Determination of the scope of the initial review itself Determination of legal and other requirements Determination of environmental aspects of the business activities, products and services and prioritization of the significance of the environmental impacts Estimation of the required resources to plan, implement and maintain the environmental management system Determination of potential emergencies (International Organization for Standardization, Environmental Managment Systems: The ISO Approach, 1998) (International Organization of Standardization, Environmental Management System (EMS): Principles and Elements, 1998)
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2.4.3
Certification
The certification takes place on a voluntary basis and serves as a success verification and control. The certification is carried out by a specialist, who is entitled by the standardization organization. (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010) In Switzerland this is for example the 'Schweizerische Vereinigung fr Qualitts- und Management- Systeme' (Bundesamt fr Umwelt, Umweltmanagement: Normen und Zertifizierung). The ISO 14001 norm does not include references regarding the certification process. Therefore, the certification is conducted accoring to ISO 19011. The evaluation of the environmental management system is a pure system auditing and ends with the delivery of the certificate. The certificate ensures the conformity of the management system with the ISO 14001 norm. In general, a business has to repeat the certification every three years. (Engel, ISO 14000er Reihe, 2010) (Bundesamt fr Umwelt) (Dyllick-Brenzinger, Gilgen, Hfliger, & Wasmer, Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) (Dyllick-Brenzinger, Gilgen, Hfliger, & Wasmer, Umweltmanagementsysteme, 1997) (hotelleriesuisse)
First Concept of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry
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This chapter gives information to the first version of the handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry and explains step by step how it was developed. In the end, the issues which need to be further examined are stated in the subchapter '3.3 Statements to Test'.
3.1
Explanatory Notes
The handbook as well as this chapter is structured according to the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle which has been mentioned before in chapter '2.4.2 Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle'. Therefore, the handbook is arranged by the supertitles set up, plan, do, check and act and the 19 bullet points forming the steps. Each of these 19 steps is, in the handbook, divided into an information part, followed by the task(s) which has (have) to be worked off, and where appropriate and necessary some help is provided. The following illustrations signalize these three parts:
Illustration 4:
Information Sign (Frderverein Stadtbibliothek Marzahn-Hellersdorf)
Illustration 5:
Task Sign (ArtistsValley, LLC, 2008-2011)
Illustration 6:
Help Sign (Linuxtopia)
In order to develop a first version of the handbook, the author had to combine parts of the literature review, reject things from the literature review and add new data. Whenever parts are combined, rejected or added it is stated in this chapter. Objects which are transferred one-to-one from the literature review into the first version of the handbook are not mentioned again. The finished first version of the handbook can, due to its length, not be found in this chapter but in 'Appendix J: First Version of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry'. New data, which is not mentioned in the literature review, is marked with the corresponding sources in the handbook. By looking at the structure of the literature review, it becomes clear that this thesis focus on the hotel industry, environmental sustainability and the processes of the ISO 14001 certification. Consequently, the first version of the handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry puts emphasis on the same subjects. This means that the steps 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 14 and 16 are worked out in detail and offer clear solutions to the hotels, as these steps ask for a combination of the subjects of the literature review. Whereat the steps 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18 and 19 deal only with parts of the literature review and would demand further insights into other subject like for example communication,
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documentation or employee training theory. Of course, these steps are part of the handbook too, but mainly provide information and instructions and no ready-to-use concepts.
3.2
3.2.1
Development of the First Version of the Handbook

Set up
Management Commitment The first part of the handbook consists of an example of a documented management commitment, which has to be signed by the top management of the hotel and all the department heads. As an implication of chapter '2.1 The Swiss Hotel Industry' is can be said that a hotel might have the following departments: Department Details Accommodation Bathroom, storage room, sleeping area, working area, cosmetics area, communication area, living area, catering area Reception Front office, lounges, recreation areas, driveway Housekeeping Cleaning, laundry, sewing, wardrobe F&B Restaurant, bar, caf, banquet, room service, Kitchen Kitchen, pastry, stewarding, staff canteen Administration Accounting, purchase, storage, goods receiving Facility Management Sport facilities, leisure facilities, health facilities, beauty facilities, congress facilities, child care facilities, parking spaces, boutiques Sales Sales, Marketing, PR HR Personnel Engineering Electricity, heating, air-conditioning and ventilation, plumbing, lightning, sewerage, elevators, staircases, floors, corridors,
Table 6: Departments of a Hotel (own illustration)
Since this table only presents an excerpt of possible departments in a hotel and due to the fact that the departments vary from hotel to hotel according to their size and services, the author decided that it is not reasonable to include a list of possible departments within the handbook. Additionally, it can be assumed that each hotel has already an organizational structure (see chapter '2.1.4 Operational and Organizational Structure') which can directly be applied. Initial Environmental Review The initial environmental review helps hotels with no existing environmental management system to compile the information necessary for further steps in the handbook. Since water, energy, wastes, purchasing and emissions are the most significant environmental
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dimensions (Sloan et al., Sustainable Development in the Hospitality Industry, 2009), the other two from chapter '2.2.2 Environmental Dimensions of a Hotel' are neglected. However, if a hotel wants to take more environmental dimensions into consideration, they are free to do so. The reviews consist of various tables which contain information about the hotels total consumption or quantity, inform about the single areas or departments and state the use or the source of water, energy, wastes, purchasing and emissions. Out of chapter '2.1 The Swiss Hotel Industry' it appears that a hotel can possibly consist of the following areas: Area Details Accommodation area Bathroom, storage room, sleeping area, working area, cosmetics area, communication area, living area, catering area Reception area Front office, lounges, recreation areas, driveway Circulation- and floor areas Corridors, floors, staircases, elevators Engineering- and operation rooms Electricity, heating, air-conditioning and ventilation, plumbing, lightning, laundry, kitchen facilities, sewerage Other areas Sport facilities, leisure facilities, health facilities, beauty facilities, congress facilities, child care facilities, parking spaces, boutiques
Table 7: Areas of a Hotel (own illustration)
Like the table with the departments, this table is also not entirely perfect. Furthermore, the available areas in a hotel differ according to the size and offers the hotel has. Therefore, no list with possible areas and departments is included in the handbook. 3.2.2 Plan
Environmental Aspects In order to detect environmental aspects which are relevant for further measures within the handbook, the gained information from the 'Initial Environmental Review' has to be combined with a rating system. This rating system is made up of three components, extent of consumption or quantity, frequency of potential abnormal or emergency situations and severity. All components are divided into levels with corresponding numbers. By multiplying these three numbers, the relevance of the aspect can be identified. Legal and Other Requirements The ISO 14001 standard claims for compliance with all legal and other requirements. Since the legal requirements which are of relevance differ between hotels according to their size and services, and as the other requirements are absolutely individual, it is not possible to provide a pre-assembled list of all legal and other requirements. Nevertheless, the author created a table including the four most obvious Swiss environmental legislations, as well as further hints of existing sources of the potentially relevant requirements. Furthermore, the table asks for detailed information concerning the requirements which are of importance and helps to discover whether the hotel is in compliance with these or not. If hotels do not have
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the ability to identify their relevant legal and other requirements or have to deal with complex cases, they are advised to call a consulting firm or legal advisor in. Environmental Policy Every hotel has to write its own environmental policy including the individual intentions and principles concerning the environmental performance. For that reason, the handbook cannot contain a generally accepted environmental policy. However, a hotel specific example and a list with topics which can be integrated is, has a help, provided. Objectives, Targets and Programs The objectives procured in the handbook focus again on the five environmental dimensions already mentioned before and can either be directly applied by the hotels if appropriate, or taken as examples in order to work out individual ones. In any case, the hotels are advised to define objectives regarding the compliance with legal and other regulations, as this is mandatory within the ISO 14001 requirements. So as to set targets concerning the defined objectives, the information from 'Step 3: Environmental Aspects' have to be expanded by the distinctive targets the hotels want to reach. Hotels which have directly applied the example objectives beforehand can use the provided tables to do that. Whereat, hotels which have defined individual objectives need to adjust these tables according to their needs. Anyway, it is the hotels own decision which issues they want to look at and which not, except the ones concerning the legal and other requirements which have to be taken into consideration. They are also informed that an increase in the environmental effort is still possible afterwards. In order to reach the targets, adequate programs have to be defined. The comprehensive tables of the handbook, which are again structured according to five environmental dimensions, may help to form effective programs. First, the hotels have to decide which departments/ areas they have and which of these are actually affected by the environmental effort. Second, they have to mark the actions they want to take and prioritize these with high, medium or low in a third step. Furthermore, for each action, a responsible person, financial, technological and/ or human resources, and a completion date has to be determined. If hotels have departments/ areas where they want to improve the environmental performance or further actions which are not mentioned in the tables, they can simply add them. 3.2.3 Do
Resources, Roles, Responsibilities and Authority In 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' the hotels had already to define which resources are needed and in what amount to carry out each action. In order to successfully implement the ISO 14001 standard, the management of the hotels is requested to ensure that the right and sufficient resources are actually allocated and that future resource needs are recognized and subjected. To demonstrate the roles, responsibilities and authorities, the handbook suggests creating an organization chart including job descriptions. Since this organization chart and the job descriptions vary from hotel to hotel, the handbook cannot give clear instructions how to do this. Nonetheless, assistance is offered with an example of an organization chart and a list of potential contents of the job descriptions.
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Competence, Training and Awareness The employees of every hotel have different needs of training concerning environmental knowledge and understanding. The hotels have to identify these needs of training, develop a training plan, and document and evaluate the trainings. A catalog showing what employees should typically be informed about might help the hotels to identify the training needs of their employees. Communication Internal and external communication is utmost important, since it raises the awareness level of the employees, and increases the transparency and credibility of the hotel. Therefore, the handbook supports the hotels in developing an internal and external communication procedure by presenting potential communication tools. Documentation The ISO 14001 standard calls for a detailed documentation of the environmental management system including planning, operation and control. The author decided that it is best if the hotels structure their documentation according to the 19 steps of the handbook itself. Control of Documents The purpose of the documentation of the environmental management system is, among other things, to facilitate the control whether the management system is successfully implemented or not. Therefore, the handbook gives tips how to update, review and organize the documentation on a regular basis. Operational Control Since the overall goal of the environmental management system is to continually improve the environmental performance of a hotel, the set objectives and targets have to be met. Consequently, it is of high importance to accurately implement the programs defined in 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs'. To control the execution, every action taken within the programs has to be described and documented. As the list of actions to take in 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' is quiet voluminous and due to the fact that every hotel arranged its programs individually, it is not possible to provide descriptions of all these procedures in the handbook. But, reference points of what should be included in such a description are listed. Emergency Preparedness and Response Hotels have to be able to react in emergency situations. As a result, potential emergencies have to be identified and an emergency plan developed. Once again, it is impossible to attach a ready-to-use solution in the handbook, since the potential emergencies depend on the size of the hotel and the services it offers. A list with typical potential emergencies and contents of emergency plans might help the hotels to better solve the tasks.
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3.2.4
Check
Monitoring and Measurement To ensure continual improvement of the environmental performance, performance measurements which quantify the significant environmental aspects have to be determined. For that purpose, the information from 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' can be upgraded with the actual measurement of the consumption or quantity of water, energy, wastes, purchasing and emissions, and/ or what was individually enclosed by the hotels. In a next step, the hotels can state whether an improvement/ reduction has taken place or not. Organizational wise, the hotels have to fix the rhythm of the measurement and a responsible person. Last but not least, this table calls for a new target. Evaluation of Compliance The evaluation of compliance with legal and other requirements functions identically as 'Step 14: Monitoring and Measurement'. The handbook comprises a table which claims again the information from 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' regarding the legal and other requirements. Additionally, the hotels have to state whether they act in compliance with the various regulations or not, and have again to determine the rhythm of the measurement and a responsible person. If needed, a new need for action has to be defined. Nonconformity, Corrective Action and Preventive Action Since the nonconformity has already be identified in 'Step 14: Monitoring and Measurement' and 'Step 15: Evaluation of Compliance', the hotels only have to copy all the issues which have not reached the targets or are not in compliance with legal and other requirements into the new tables. Supplementary, the hotels have to determine new actions to take from 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' in order to reach the targets in the future. Control of Records The records help to prove the compliance of the implemented environmental management system with the ISO 14001 standard or to reach the compliance. Therefore, the handbook advises the hotels to continually up-date, analyze and improve their manual created in 'Step 10: Documentation'. Internal Audit The environmental management system has to be audited, so that the compliance with the ISO 14001 requirements can be assessed, and that the system can continually be improved. Since the separate ISO documents 14010, 14011 and 14012 deal with the internal audits regarding what criteria an environmental auditor has to fulfill and how an environmental audit has to be conducted, it is was, due to the scope of this thesis, not possible to go into details. Therefore, the handbook only indicates roughly what has to be considered in an internal audit and refers, for further information, to the ISO documents 14010, 14011 and 14012.
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3.2.5
Act
Management Review Since the management of the hotels is responsible for the environmental management system, the handbook quotes what the management has to pay attention to. This includes reviewing the objectives, targets and the environmental performance, checking the results and audits, and evaluating the appropriateness of the environmental policy.
3.3
Statements to Test
Some issues of the fist version of the handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry need to be further investigated, in order to guarantee the practical application. The table below shows the domains and their subjects which need to be more examined. Domains Subjects Practice Congruency with practical experiences Ecology Totality of the environmental dimensions Hotel industry Ecological reasonability of the measures Comprehensibility Clear arrangement Applicability for all hotels regardless their size and services offered Feasibility concerning the technological conditions Fulfillment of the ISO 14001 requirements Potential of achievement of the ISO 14001 certification
Technology ISO 14001 requirements

Table 8:
Statements to Test (own illustration)
Empirical Research
50
Empirical Research
This chapter is dedicated to explain for what reasons an empirical research is needed, how it is conducted and in what form the gained information is used. The illustration beneath represents the data flow of this empirical research.
First Version of the Handbook
Statements to Test
Practice Ecology Hotel Industry Technology ISO 14001 Requirements
Expert Interviews
Roland Berger Simone Gruber Sven Hberlin Urs Kly Hubert Rizzi
Results
Discussion
Revised Handbook
Illustration 7: Data Flow of the Empirical Research (own illustration)
4.1
Data Collection
As already mentioned in chapter '3.3 Statements to Test', some questions regarding the practical application of the first version of the handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry have still to be clarified. These open questions are, one the one hand, related to real life and on the other hand, specific to the developed handbook (see chapter '3.2 Development of the First Version of the Handbook'). As therefore, no theory can offer valuable clues, empirical research is essential. The author resolved to clarify and verify the open questions by conducting expert interviews.
Empirical Research
51
The table stated below shows again the domains and subjects (shown in chapter '3.3 Statements to Test'), which need to be tested plus the selected interview partners and their areas of activity. Name of the Expert Activity Area Domains Subjects Roland Berger Tune Management Practice Congruency with practical and Training AG experiences Simone Gruber Fachstelle fr Ecology Totality of the environmental Tourismus und dimensions Nachhaltige Ecological reasonability of the Entwicklung measures Sven Hberlin Welcome hotels & Hotel Comprehensibility restaurants industry Clear arrangement Applicability for all hotels regardless their size and services offered Urs Kly Planungsberatung Technology Feasibility concerning the fr Hotelbau technological conditions Hubert Rizzi SQS ISO 14001 Fulfillment of the ISO 14001 (Schweizerische requirements requirements Vereinigung fr Potential of achievement of Qualitts- und the ISO 14001 certification ManagementSysteme)
Table 9: Interview Partners and Statements to Test (own illustration)
Out of the table, it becomes clear that the experts and their areas of activity do principally correspond with the domains and subjects which need to be tested. Nevertheless, the interviews are carried out in an unstructured manner. This means, there are questions which are posed to more than one expert. The expert interviews are carried out either face to face or via e-mail.
4.2
Data Evaluation
'5. K: '6. '7.
The outcome of the expert interviews are written out in a paraphrased way in the chapter Results', while the transliterated expert interviews can be found in 'Appendix Transliterated Expert Interviews'. The maintained information is debated in chapter Discussion', until at last the data is used to work out the revised handbook in chapter Revision of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry'.
Results
52
Results
The findings of the expert interviews are structured by the answers concerning the design, and the content of the handbook and by general comments. Moreover, these three main elements are divided into components the respective answers are referring to. The table below shows the acronyms used in this chapter and states again the domains the interview partners are assigned to. Acronyms Name of the Expert Domains B Roland Berger Practice G Simone Gruber Ecology H Sven Hberlin Hotel industry K Urs Kly Technology R Hubert Rizzi ISO 14001 requirements
Table 10: Acronyms of the Results (own illustration)
5.1
5.1.1
Design of the Handbook

Comprehensibility and Arrangement of the Handbooks Structure
B: - The practice asks for the separation of the information part, the help and the tasks in the handbook. The centralization of all the tasks at the end of the handbook would form a better auxiliary and working tool. - Additionally, the handbook should include examples which are filled in. Considering that the responsible person is mostly practice oriented, an applied exemplar would definitely simplify the working procedures. (Berger, 2011) H:- For the hotel industry, the constitution of the handbook, which is structured by supertitles, steps, information, tasks and help, is comprehensible and clear. In general, the single procedures are perspicuous. (Hberlin, 2011) 5.1.2 Comprehensibility and Arrangement of the Programs Structure
G: - The programs are in general well-arranged and comprehensible. The table form of the programs is user-friendly and the arrangement of departments and the specific water, energy, waste, purchasing and emission programs support the readability. - However, the instruction how to use the programs is slightly confusing. Consequently, a list of the tasks or a description in keywords is suggested. (Gruber, 2011) 5.1.3 Fulfillment of the ISO 14001 Requirements
R: - According to the ISO 14001 requirements, the cycle which is based on set up, plan, do, check and act is understood and employed correctly. - Furthermore, the 19 steps of the handbook are clearly following the ISO 14001 requirements and are therefore, regarding the titles, applied in the right form. (Rizzi, 2011)
Results
53
5.2
5.2.1
Content of the Handbook

Applicability of the Handbook in the Hotel Industry
B: - Theoretically, after slight changes, the handbook is feasible for the hotel industry. - For small hotels, the implementation of ISO 14001 is too time-consuming, but they could use certain parts, as for example the programs, of the handbook. - In general, hotels can be convinced to implement the standard, if the potential to save money is clearly visible. (Berger, 2011) K: - The adaptability of this handbook is highly dependent on the hotels location, operations and age. For example, the water supply differs from hotel to hotel, the average duration of stay in a hotel influences whether the bed-linen is only changed on the guests request or not, and new buildings have a totally different starting position than old buildings. - Additionally, the ownership structure plays a central role. The implementation of environmental practices is much easier, if the owner and the operator of a hotel are the same person. On the other hand, it is much more complicated, if different persons are involved, like it is the case in chain hotels. - Usually, the implementation of an environmental management system in small hotels is not sensible. Since environmental protection is also possible and reasonable in the small scale, of course, parts of the developed handbook can still be used. - The employment structure of an organization is also a crucial factor. If, for example, a lot of foreigners are employed, cultural and linguistic problems can occur. The perception and understanding of environmental conservation varies from nation to nation, what makes the implementation of environmental practices challenging. (Kly, 2011) 5.2.2 Choice of the Departments
B: - It is sensible to leave the choice of the departments, where the hotels want to implement environmental efforts, to the hotels themselves. Hence, a list of predetermined departments is, in practice, not required. (Berger, 2011) H: - It is adequate to let the hotels decide how they want to structure the departments, in which environmental practices should be implemented, since an organizational structure is in the hotels already existing and also varies from hotel to hotel. Therefore, the hotels need no prearranged list of departments. Nevertheless, examples of typical departments like reception, kitchen or cleaning would further explain what needs to be done. (Hberlin, 2011) 5.2.3 Choice of the Environmental Dimensions
B: - The concentration on the environmental dimensions, water, energy, waste, emissions and purchasing is not reasonable, since practical experiences show that the relevant environmental dimensions are highly dependent on the organization itself. - Furthermore, the ISO 14001 standard involves, nowadays, also health protection, what in turn interfaces with job safety issues. Job safety includes for example the handling of hazardous and harmful substances.
Results
54
- In addition, topics like traveling and electro smog move more and more into the centre of attention. - Nevertheless, no environmental dimension should be added or removed, but examples should be stated. (Berger, 2011) G: - According to the ecological domain, all dimensions are covered (Gruber, 2011). K: - Hygiene and safety are also central topics. If, for example, the water temperature in the pool is too low or too thigh, the problem with legionella bacteria or the risk of burning can occur. (Kly, 2011) R: - On the basis of the current praxis, the dimensions relevant for the hotel industry are identified. It is therefore sufficient for the ISO 14001 certification. (Rizzi, 2011) 5.2.4 Initial Environmental Review
Feasibility of the Review B: - The tables of the initial environmental review can practically be filled in by the hotels without any problems. (Berger, 2011) H: - The hotels know by means of the invoices what amount of for example water or energy has been used. Therefore, the hotels know their consumption either per month or per quarter. - Approximately 70% of the hotels cannot exactly assign for example the water consumption in the kitchen; only hotel chains might have such measuring appliances. - The tables in this step are, in general, sensible, but they could be reworked, so that the consumption can also be stated by quarter and only needs to be assigned to departments where possible. (Hberlin, 2011) K: - Since not all hotels are equipped with the needed measuring appliances, the consumption cannot be assigned to the single departments. From a technical perspective, the installation of such measuring appliances is not everywhere possible. (Kly, 2011) Totality of the Review B: - To improve and simplify the initial environmental review, examples in the information part are implicitly needed (Berger, 2011). K: - The energy sources should be extended by district heating and alternative energy (Kly, 2011). 5.2.5 Evaluation of the Relevance of the Environmental Aspects
K: - The evaluation criteria are well selected, but comparative figures have to be added. Otherwise, the categorization into high, medium or low consumption is absolutely subjective. (Kly, 2011)
Results
55
R: - The approach, how the relevance is calculated is good. Also the chosen scale is appropriate and often used in the practice. - Normally, the relevant emissions are identified through an environment-relevance analysis, input-output scheme or an eco-balance. The results vary from hotel to hotel, dependent on whether they have, for example, a wellness area or not. (Rizzi, 2011) 5.2.6 Identification of Legal and other Requirements
H: - Most hotels are only informed about the laws concerning the food and job safety, since these are regularly inspected. Other laws are, in general, not known and implemented, unless it is revealed and the hotel has to pay for it. - Although, the hotels are not able to fill in the tables in this step by themselves, the link to external consultants is sufficient. (Hberlin, 2011) K: - Hotels are, in general, not able to identify all the legal and other legislations by themselves. The problem is that not only environmental laws are relevant. After installing, for example, flow-regulators on all taps, the water pressure has still to comply with the legal requirements. It is therefore, as mentioned in the handbook, advisable to consult experts. (Kly, 2011) 5.2.7 Objectives, Targets and Programs
Totality of the Objectives, Targets and Programs G: - According to the ecological domain, the programs are thorough and all dimensions are covered. - The programs can be used to ecologically reflect and improve activities and actions. - It is generally accepted that such catalogs are never terminatory, as the necessities and requirements have to be customized for every single organization. - Some actions in the programs are rather useless and subjective and should therefore be removed. One is example is 'buy only what is really needed'. - The lists of actions are very detailed and repetitive in different programs and departments, like for example the information of employees about water conservation practices. Categories which eliminate the crossovers are consequently worth considering. An option proposed is to structure the programs according to the subjects relevant for the employees, guests, operational equipment and investments. (Gruber, 2011 K: - The statement to use the best available technique is sensible, but examples of what the best available technique is, is missing. Therefore, reference to a homepage or experts is needed. - The company technician is often unable to cope with measures concerning the hygiene and safety, since it always includes consequences. If, for example, the water temperature in the pool is too low or too thigh, the problem with legionella bacteria or the risk of burning can occur. - Since the energy and water is extremely expansive in peak periods, fleet management systems which automatically switch off certain appliances in such periods are needed. - It is not sufficient to only assign a responsible person to each action in the programs, but the responsible person should also be controlled by someone. (Kly, 2011)
Results
56
Feasibility of the Objectives, Targets and Programs H: - The content of the programs is huge but feasible and gives hotels an overview of the spectrum of potential actions. - Another positive aspect is that the hotels do not have to fulfill all the actions, but can compile a catalog which fits to their individual needs. Hence, also small hotels, which do not want to get the ISO 14001 certification, can use the programs as a supportive tool to enhance their environmental performance. - Although, the actions are repetitive in each program and department, the structure of the programs is sensible. A categorization according to actions instead of departments would complicate the realization in the hotels. (Hberlin, 2011) K: - The energy supply or the waste management is dependent on the contractual basis of the suppliers and acceptors. Often, the suppliers ask for a certain quantity of energy or waste which has to be purchased or returned. Otherwise, the organization slips into another price category. - Since good lightning positively affects the sales and bad lightning negatively affects tripping hazards, what in turn is a safety problem, an expert has definitely to be called in. (Kly, 2011) R: - The examples of the objectives are well chosen and feasible for the hotel industry. - The created programs are interpreted correctly. (Rizzi, 2011) 5.2.8 Documentation
B: - In practice, the environmental management system according to ISO 14001 is not documented by the 19 steps of the first version of the handbook, but situation analysis and checklists are used. Out of these, specifications like environmental concepts or environmental guidelines are developed. As records, the filled checklists and the environmental auditing, which shows the temporal developments of the relevant environmental aspects, is suggested. (Berger, 2011) H: - Hotels which have already implemented the ISO 9000 standard will have no problems with the documentation guideline of the handbook. - Eventually, a link to a homepage showing an example of such a documentation would simplify the task. In any case, the inclusion of such an example into the handbook is not required, as the hotels would be demoralized by the amount of the pages they have to work off. (Hberlin, 2011) R: - According to the ISO 14001 requirements, the documentation approach, including the 19 steps of the handbook, is practicable (Rizzi, 2011).
Results
57
5.2.9
Identification of Potential Emergencies
H: - Actually, potential emergencies should already be documented by the hotels, but mostly these emergency plans are not very detailed and more often than not incomplete. - The provision of a list of potential emergencies would definitely simplify the identification process. The industry solution for job safety has already developed such an emergency plan. (Hberlin, 2011)
5.3
5.3.1
Further Comments
Positive Aspects of the Handbook
B: - It is positive that it is tried to develop a guideline for such an actual subject (Berger, 2011). R: - The PDCA structure and the composition of the single chapters are well done (Rizzi, 2011). 5.3.2 Necessary Improvements
B: - The knowledge transfer and the tasks should be separated in the handbook (Berger, 2011). K: - The hotel industry is highly coined by labor turnovers. That means, new employees have always to be trained and educated concerning the environmental conservation practices. An organization can enhance its environmental performance with constructional, technical or organizational measurements. Due to the high labor turnovers, hotels should mainly focus on constructional and technical solutions. - As a holistic view including the causes and effect of the environmental measures have to be taken into consideration, often specialists have to be called in. The handbook should more often refer to experts. - The environmental manager should not only take a function unit, but should directly report to the management of the hotel. - Furthermore, the job description of the environmental manager should clearly state its competences, tasks, employees and budget. (Kly, 2011) R: - 'Step 3: Environmental Aspects' and 'Step 12: Operational Control' should, according to the ISO 14001 requirements, be linked. The operational control asks for a description of the relevant environmental operations. This can take place in a process-oriented way, by referencing to the procedure of the environmental aspects. (Rizzi, 2011)
Results
58
5.3.3
Missing Issues
B: - It is not clear what the tasks of the environmental manager exactly are. An example of a job description would clarify this issue. - 'Step 11: Control of Documents' is a vital component of the ISO 14001 requirements. In order that the hotels are not overstrained, further assistance is needed. - The information of all employees about the environmental engagement of the organization is a big challenge. Therefore, training and education plans have to be treated in more detail. - The internal and external communication, as well as the communication with external partners concerning the sustainable course of action of the organization, is too cursorily described. (Berger, 2011) H: - A checklist, at the end, which gives an overview of all the steps of the handbook would be useful. This checklist helps hotels to tick the steps which have already been worked off. (Hberlin, 2011) K: - The handbook should be extended by a further step which explains the certification through an external organization. - Before starting the implementation of the environmental management system, a budget exclusively for the ISO 14001 certification should be determined. This budget should also include the salary of the environmental manager. (Kly, 2011) R: - In the introduction or in 'Step 12: Operational Control', the handbook could refer to the ISO 9001 certification, as this already includes the necessary operations and processes (Rizzi, 2011). 5.3.4 Future Potential of the Handbook
B: - The handbook does definitely have potential (Berger, 2011). H: - Since the guests, as well as Switzerland Tourism are more and more interested in sustainability issues, this handbook has certainly potential (Hberlin, 2011). K: - In general, the implementation of the ISO 14001 environmental management system should be supervised by an organization like SQS. In any case, a qualified person in the hotel is additionally needed. (Kly, 2011) R: This handbook has unconditionally potential (Rizzi, 2011).
Discussion
59
Discussion
The discussion of the findings of the expert interviews differentiates between the positive and the negative propositions. These affirmations and criticisms are in a first step collated and in a next step allocated to the corresponding parts of the handbook. Thereinafter, some contradictions are revealed and explained.
6.1
6.1.1
Affirmations
Collation and Allocation of the Affirmations
The table below lists all the positive aspects which have been mentioned by the interview partners. The structure of the table includes the components which have already been used in chapter '5. Results', the propositions of the empirical research and the domains the interview partners are assigned to. Additionally, each line is marked with a number, as this identification mark is needed in a later stage. If an interview partner has positively commented a component more than once, the characters 'a', 'b' and 'c' are used. Number Component Proposition Domain - Structure is comprehensible and Comprehensibility and 1a clear arrangement of the Hotel industry Procedures are perspicuous handbooks structure 1b 2a 2b 2c 3 4a 4b 5a 5b 6 7 Choice of the departments 8 Fulfillment of the ISO 14001 requirements Applicability of the handbook Comprehensibility and arrangement of the programs structure - Structure is well-arranged and comprehensible - Table form is user-friendly - Arrangement supports readability - The structure of the program is sensible - Plan-do-check-act cycle is correct - The 19 steps fulfill the requirements - The handbook is feasible - Small hotels can use certain parts - Small hotels can use certain parts - To leave the choice of the departments to the hotels is sensible - It is adequate to let the hotels choose the departments - All relevant dimensions concerning the ecology are covered - The dimensions relevant for the hotel industry are identified Hotel industry ISO 14001 requirements Practice Technology Practice
Ecology
Hotel industry
Choice of the environmental dimensions
Ecology ISO 14001 requirements
10
Discussion
60
11 12 13a 13b 14
Feasibility of the initial environmental review Evaluation of the relevance of the environmental aspects
Identification of legal and other requirements 15 16a 16b 16c 17 18a 18b 18c 19a 19b Feasibility of the objectives, targets and programs Totality of the objectives, targets and programs
- The review can practically be filled in - The evaluation criteria are well selected - The proposed approach is good - The scale used is appropriate - Although, the identification is not possible, the link to external consultants is sufficient - Although, the identification is not possible, the link to external consultants is sufficient - The programs are thorough - The programs reflect the activities and actions in an ecological way - It is normal that such catalogs are never terminatory - To establish the best available technique is good - The programs are huge, but feasible - It is good that hotels do not have to apply all the actions - Also small hotels can use the programs - The examples of objectives are well chosen and sensible - The programs are interpreted correctly - The provision of an example documentation in the handbook is not needed - The proposed documentation approach is practicable - The attempt of developing a handbook is positive - Plan-do-check-act cycle well implemented - Composition of the single steps is good
Practice Technology ISO 14001 requirements Hotel industry
Technology
Ecology
Technology
Hotel industry
ISO 14001 requirements
20 Documentation 21 22 23a 23b

Table 11:
Hotel industry ISO 14001 requirements Practice
Positive aspects of the handbook
Collation of the Affirmations (own illustration according to Berger, 2011; Gruber, 2011; Hberlin, 2011; Kly, 2011 and Rizzi, 2011)
Discussion
61
In a next step, the listed affirmations are allocated to the concerned parts of the handbook. In order to not mention all the propositions of the interview partners again, the corresponding numbers are used as identification marks. Concerned Part of the Handbook Corresponding Number 1a, 1b 4a, 4b 5a, 5b General 6 22 23a 23b 7 Step 1: Management commitment 8 7 8 Step 2:Initial environmental review 9 10 11 7 8 9 Step 3: Environmental aspects 10 12 13a 13b 14 Step 4: Legal and other requirements 15 2a, 2b, 2c 3 7 8 9 Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs 10 16a, 16b, 16c 17 18a, 18b, 18c 19a, 19b 20 Step 10: Documentation 21
Table 12: Allocation of the Affirmations (own illustration)
Discussion
62
6.1.2
Summary of the Affirmations
Due to the collation and the allocation of the affirmations, the following findings can be demonstrated. The structure of the handbook, namely the supertitles, steps, information, tasks and help, is perceives as comprehensible, clear and perspicuous. The PDCA cycle, as well as the 19 steps of the handbook follow the ISO 14001 requirements, are correctly applied and well managed. The handbook is generally applicable for the hotel industry and small hotels can use certain parts of it. The attempt of developing a handbook for such an actual subject is recognized has positive. Additionally, it is sensible to leave the choice of the departments, in which environmental practices are implemented, to the hotels themselves. The relevant environmental dimensions for the hotel industry are identified. Moreover, the initial environmental review can practically be filled in the by the hotels and the approach, criteria and scale to evaluate the relevant environmental aspects are well selected and appropriate. Although it is found that the hotels are not able to identify the legal and other requirements, the reference to external consultants is perceived as sufficient. The examples of objectives are well chosen and sensible, and the programs are generally thorough, feasible, sensible and correctly interpreted. The structure of the programs is well-arranged and user-friendly. Furthermore, it is stated as positive that not all actions of the programs have to be fulfilled by the hotels and that due to this; also the small hotels can use the programs. The described documentation process is practicable and an example of such a documentation is not needed within the handbook.
6.2
6.2.1
Criticisms
Collation and Allocation of the Criticisms
The following table lists all the negative aspects which have been mentioned by the interview partners. The structure of the table is the same as in chapter '6.1.1 Collation and Allocation of the Affirmations' and includes the components which have already been used in chapter '5. Results', the propositions of the empirical research and the domains the interview partners are assigned to. Additionally, each line is marked with a number, as this identification mark is needed in a later stage. If an interview partner has negatively commented a component more than one, the characters 'a', 'b', 'c' and 'd' are used.
Discussion
63
Number Component 24a 24b Comprehensibility and arrangement of the handbooks structure
25a
Proposition - The information part should be separated from the tasks - Examples which are filled in should be added - The instruction how to use the programs should be explained by a list of the tasks or with keywords - Since a lot of the actions are repeated in the different programs and departments, a categorization according to the subjects relevant for the employees, guest, operation, investment is suggested - For small hotels, the implementation of ISO 14001 is too time-consuming - The potentials to save money with ISO 14001 should be visible
Domain
Practice
Comprehensibility and arrangement of the programs structure 25b
Ecology
26a
Practice
26b Applicability of the handbook
27a
27b
- The implementation process is dependent on the hotels location, operations, age, ownership and organization structure Technology - For small hotels, the implementation of ISO 14001 is not sensible - Although, no prearranges list of departments is required, examples of typical departments should be included - The relevant environmental dimensions depend on the organization - Further relevant dimensions, which should be included as examples, are health protection, job safety, traveling and electro smog - Hygiene and safety are also central topics
28
Choice of the departments
Hotel industry
29a
29b
Choice of the environmental dimensions
Practice
30
Technology
Discussion
64
31a
31b
32
Feasibility of the initial environmental review
33
34 Totality of the initial environmental review
35
36
Evaluation of the relevance of the environmental aspects
- The consumption of energy and water is sometimes only known by quarter - Only big hotels might be able to assign the consumption to the departments - From a technical perspective, the installation of measuring appliances, with which the assignment of the consumption to the departments is practicable, is not everywhere possible - Normally, the emissions are identified trough an environmentrelevance analysis, input-output scheme or an eco-balance - Examples of the review are needed - District heating and alternative energy are missing as energy sources - The evaluation criteria need comparative figures - Most hotels are only informed about laws concerning the food or job safety - Generally, the hotels are not able to identify all the legal and other legislations, since not only environmental laws are relevant - Some actions, like 'buy only what is needed' are useless and subjective - The handbook should explain what the best available technique actually is - Concerning the actions, the handbook should more often refer to experts - Fleet management systems are needed to avoid a too high consumption in peak periods - The person responsible for an action, should also be controlled by someone
Hotel industry
Technology
Practice
Technology
Technology
37 Identification of legal and other requirements 38
Hotel industry
Technology
39
Ecology
40a
40b
Totality of the objectives, targets and programs
Technology
40c
40d
Discussion
65
41
Feasibility of the objectives, targets and programs
42 Documentation 43
44
Identification of potential emergencies
45
Necessary improvements 46
- As the energy supply and waste management are dependent on contractual agreements, the handbook should point that out - In practice, the ISO 14001 standard is documented by checklists and audits and not by the 19 steps of the handbook - The handbook should refer to an example documentation - Since hotels do not have concrete emergency plans, the handbook should provide a list of potential emergencies - The environmental manager should directly report to the management and not only take a function unit - Since the operational control asks for a description of the relevant environmental operations, it is best to link 'Step 12: Operational Control' to 'Step 3: Environmental Aspects'
Technology
Practice
Hotel industry
Hotel industry
Technology
Discussion
66
47a
47b
- The tasks of the environmental manager should be explained in more detail with an example job description - Since the control of the documents is vitally important, further assistance is needed - The internal and external communication procedure, as well as the communication with external partners should be extended - A checklist, at the end, which gives an overview of the steps of the handbook would be useful - The handbook should be extended by a step explaining the certification through an external organization - Before starting the implementation of ISO 14001, a budget exclusively for the certification and the salary of the environmental manager should be determined - In the introduction or in 'Step 12: Operational Control', the handbook could refer to the ISO 9001 standard, as this already includes the necessary operations and processes
Practice
47c
48 Missing issues 49a
Hotel industry
Technology
49b
50
Table 13:
Collocation of the Criticisms (own illustration according to Berger, 2011; Gruber, 2011; Hberlin, 2011; Kly, 2011 and Rizzi, 2011)
Discussion
67
In a next step, the listed criticisms are allocated to the concerned parts of the handbook. In order to not mention all the propositions of the interview partners again, the corresponding numbers are used as identification marks. Concerned Part of the Handbook Corresponding Number 24a, 24b 26a, 26b 27a, 27b General 48 49a, 49b 50 Step 1: Management commitment 28 28 29a, 29b 30 31a, 31b Step 2:Initial environmental review 32 33 34 35 28 29a, 29b Step 3: Environmental aspects 30 36 37 Step 4: Legal and other requirements 38 25a, 25b 28 29a, 29b Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs 30 39 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d 41 45 Step 7: Resources, roles, responsibilities and authority 47a Step 9: Communication 47c 42 Step 10: Documentation 43 Step 11: Control of documents 47b 46 Step 12: Operational control 50 Step 13: Emergency preparedness and response 44
Table 14: Allocation of the Criticisms (own illustration)
Discussion
68
6.2.2
Summary of the Criticisms
Based on the collocation and the allocation of the criticisms, some findings can be stated. In order to make the structure of the handbook more comprehensible, the information part needs to be separated from the tasks and filled examples should be included. For small hotels, the implementation of ISO 14001 is too time-consuming and therefore, not sensible. The potential of where money could be saved, due to the environmental management system, should be highlighted, as this convinces the hotels to implement such a system. The implementation process is, in general, highly dependent on the location, operations, age and, ownership structure and organizational structure of a hotel. A checklist, providing an overview of the steps would be useful. This checklist could be integrated at the end of the handbook. An additional step explaining the certification through an external organization should also be added. Before starting the implementation of the ISO 14001 standard, a budget exclusively for the ISO 14001 standard, including the salary of the environmental manager should be determined. Since the operational control is very similar as in the ISO 9001 standard, this should be mentioned either in the introduction or in 'Step 12: Operational Control'. Although, the choice of the departments, where environmental practices are implemented, is left to the hotels, examples of typical departments should be included. In general, the relevant environmental dimensions depend always on the organization itself. Nevertheless, the handbook should include examples concerning job safety, health protection, traveling and electro smog. Since only big hotels might have the possibility to assign the energy and water consumption etc. to the single departments and due to the fact that such measuring appliances are sometimes technically not feasible, the hotels often know the consumption/ quantity only by quarter. Therefore, the initial environmental review should correspond to this. Furthermore, filled in examples should be provided and district heating as well as alternative energy should be added to the energy sources. The criteria used to evaluate the relevance of the environmental aspects need comparative figures, as otherwise, the evaluation is absolutely subjective. In practice, the emissions are identified through an environment-relevance analysis, input-output scheme or an eco-balance. Generally, the hotels are not able to identify all the legal and other legislations, since not only environmental laws are relevant and most hotels only know the laws concerning the food and job safety. The instruction explaining how to use the programs is perceived as confusing and an explanation by a list of the tasks or with keywords is suggested. Some actions of the programs, like 'buy only what is needed', are apparently useless and subjective. Since a lot of the actions are repeated in the different programs and departments, a categorization according to the subjects relevant for the employees, guest, operation or investment is suggested. Although, the usage of the best available technique is sensible, the handbook should further state what the best available technique actually is. As the actions in the programs frequently comprise unpredictable consequences, the handbook should more often refer to experts. Energy and water supply is extremely expansive in peak periods. Hence, the installation of a fleet management system, which automatically switches off certain appliances in such periods, is recommended. As energy supply and waste management is dependent on the contractual agreements with suppliers and acceptors, the handbook should point that out. The environmental manager should directly report to the management and not only take a function unit. Additionally, the tasks of the environmental manager should be explained in more detail with an example job description. The communication procedure has to be more detailed and should also include the communication with external partners. In
Discussion
69
practice, the ISO 14001 standard is documented by checklist and audits and not by the 19 steps as proposed in the handbook. Furthermore, the handbook should refer to an example documentation. Since the operational control asks for a description of the relevant environmental operations, it is best to link 'Step 12: Operational Control' to 'Step 3: Environmental Aspects'. Most hotels do not have concrete emergency plans; consequently, the handbook should provide a list of potential emergencies.
6.3
Contradictions
There are mainly seven areas where the affirmations and the criticisms are contradicting. These contradictions occurred because some questions where posed to more than one interview partner. The table below depicts these contradictions. The middle column shows the components the respective contradictions take place. In order to not repeat all the propositions, the corresponding numbers are used as identification marks. The letters in the very first column are used to label the contradictions. Affirmations A B C D E F G
Table 15:
Criticisms Comprehensibility and arrangement of the handbooks structure Applicability of the handbook Choice of the environmental dimensions Feasibility of the initial environmental review Comprehensibility and arrangement of the programs structure Totality of the objectives, targets and programs Feasibility of the objectives, targets and programs 24a, 24b 27a 29a, 29b 30 31a, 31b 32 25b 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d 41
1a, 1b 5a 9 10 11 3 16a, 16b, 16c 18a, 18b, 18c
Contradictions (own illustration)
A: According to Sven Hberlin, the structure of the handbook is comprehensible and clear and the procedures are perspicuous. The practice (Roland Berger) asks for the separation of the information part and the tasks, and filled in examples. B: The practice (Roland Berger) states that the handbook is feasible for nearly all hotels, while Urs Kly highlights that the implementation process varies according to the hotels location, operations, age and, ownership and organizational structure. C: While Simone Gruber and Hubert Rizzi agree that all relevant environmental dimensions are identified, Roland Berger reveals that it is always dependent on the organization and that issues regarding the health protection and job safety are missing. Moreover, Urs Kly perceives the hygiene as crucial.
Discussion
70
D: According to Roland Berger, the initial environmental review can practically be filled in by hotels. Sven Hberlin remarks that some hotels know their energy or water consumption only per quarter. Furthermore, Urs Kly and Sven Hberlin agree that the assignment of the consumption to the single departments is not in all hotels possible. E: On the one hand, Sven Hberlin perceives the structure of the programs as sensible and on the other hand, Simone Gruber asks for a structure with fewer repetitions of the single actions and a better explanation of the tasks. F: Simone Gruber states that the programs are thorough and reflect the activities and actions in an ecological way. Moreover, according to her proposition, it is absolutely normal that such catalogs are never terminatory. Contrarily, Urs Kly says that the handbook should more often refer to experts and should suggest the installation of fleet management systems. Furthermore, he states that the responsible person has to be controlled by another person. G: Referred to Sven Hberlin, the programs are feasible, but Urs Kly mentions that energy supply and waste management is dependent on the contractual agreements and therefore, the handbook should point that out.
Revision of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry
71
This chapter consists of two parts. The first part focuses on the selection of the prepositions which should be adjusted, while the second one implements the selected prepositions.
7.1
Selection of the Realized Criticisms and Contradictions
Since some propositions of the expert interviews are contradicting, the author has to decide, in a first step, which of these should be realized or rejected. In a second step, the realized criticisms are selected and the rejection of the remaining propositions is explained. 7.1.1 Realized and Rejected Contradictions
The table below shows the contradictions which are realized in chapter '7.2 Revised Handbook' and the ones which are rejected. The second column states the corresponding identification marks of the realized propositions and the third column the rejected ones. The fourth column refers to the concerned parts of the handbook. The roman numerals in the very first column are used to label the realized contradictions. Realized Rejected Concerned Part of the Handbook Contradictions Contradictions I 24a 1a, 1b General 24b II 3 25b Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs III 27a 5a General IV 29a, 29b 9 Step 2:Initial environmental review 30 10 Step 3: Environmental aspects Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs V 31a, 31b 11 Step 2: Initial environmental review 32 VI 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d 16a, 16b, 16c Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs VII 41 18a, 18b, 18c Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs
Table 16: Realized Contradictions (own illustration)
I:
Although, Sven Hberlin perceives the structure of the handbook as comprehensible and clear, the author follows the suggestion of Roland Berger and separates the information part from the tasks, as this will only increase the comprehensibility. However, no filled examples will be included, since this would be counterproductive and lower the comprehensibility.
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II:
Simone Gruber asks for a structure of the programs with fewer repetitions of the single actions and proposes a solution where the actions are separated according to the relevance for employees, guest, operations, and investments. But Sven Hberlin mentions that although this structure includes a lot of repetitions, it is easier for the hotels to implement the programs than with the proposed structure of Simone Gruber. Therefore, the structure of the programs will not be changed.
III: Since Roland Berger states that the handbook is feasible for nearly all hotels, no major adaption will occur. Nevertheless, the considerations of Urs Kly, who says that the implementation process varies according to the hotels location, operations, age and, ownership and organizational structure will simply be mentioned in the revised handbook. IV: As all the relevant dimensions are, according to Simone Gruber and Hubert Rizzi, identified, the revised handbook will only list health protection, job safety, traveling, electro smog and hygiene as further potential dimensions. V: Although Roland Berger mentions that the initial environmental review can practically be filled in by the hotels, the inputs of Sven Hberlin and Urs Kly will be implemented. This will happen by changing the tables of the initial environmental review, so that the assignment of the consumption to the single departments is not necessarily needed and that the consumption can also be stated per quarter instead of per month. VI: The propositions of Urs Kly to refer more often to experts, to suggest the installation of a fleet management system and to control also the responsible person will be adapted, although it is, according to Simone Gruber, generally know that such catalogs are never terminatory. VII: Sven Hberlin says that the programs are feasible, but Urs Kly mentions that energy supply and waste management is generally dependent on the contractual agreements. The author decided to mention this input of Urs Kly in the revised handbook.
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7.1.2
Realized and Rejected Criticisms
The table below shows the criticisms which are realized in chapter '7.2 Revised Handbook'. The first column states the corresponding identification marks of the propositions and the second column refers to the concerned parts of the handbook. Corresponding Numbers Concerned Part of the Handbook 25a Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs 28 Step 1: Management commitment Step 2:Initial environmental review Step 3: Environmental aspects Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs 33 Step 2:Initial environmental review 35 Step 2:Initial environmental review 35 Step 6: Objectives, targets and programs 36 Step 3: Environmental aspects 37 Step 4: Legal and other requirements 38 Step 4: Legal and other requirements 44 Step 13: Emergency preparedness and response 45 Step 7: Resources, roles, responsibilities and authority 46 Step 12: Operational control 47a Step 7: Resources, roles, responsibilities and authority 48 General 49a, 49b General
Table 17: Realized Criticisms (own illustration)
Consequently, the propositions with the identification marks 26a, 26b, 27a, 27b, 34, 39, 42, 43, 47b, 47c and 50 are not realized in the revised handbook. Reasons why some of these are not taken into further consideration is that they refer to steps of the handbook which are, due to the focus of the literature review, not worked out in detail (see chapter '3. First Concept of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry') or go beyond the scope of this thesis (see chapter '1.2 Research Scope'). Nevertheless, the following section explains the other reasons of the rejection. 26a, 27b: - That the implementation of ISO 14001 is too time-consuming for small hotels is a closing statement. This means, the handbook could be revised howsoever, but the fact that it is too time-consuming will not change. 26b: - The author agrees with Roland Berger that the hotels can be convinced to implement ISO 14001 by highlighting the potential to save money. But as mentioned in chapter '1. Introduction', this thesis does not focus on the benefits hotels have when implementing ISO 14001. Consequently, the handbook will not be revised to this absolutely true statement of Roland Berger.
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27a: - Although Urs Kly mentioned that the implementation process is dependent on the hotels location, operations, age, and ownership and organizational structure, it is, within this thesis, not possible to change the handbook to totally support all kinds of hotels. 34: - On the one hand, the provision of examples of the initial environmental review would simplify the handling of the task, but on the other hand, this would lead to an enlarged handbook what in turn, negatively influences the comprehensibility. Therefore, the author decided to not follow the proposition of Roland Berger. 39: - Although Simone Gruber is definitely right in saying that some actions in the programs in 'Step 6: Objectives, Target and Programs' are useless and subjective, no actions are eliminated. The author holds that the sensibility and objectivity of the single actions have to be further tested. 42, 43: - Roland Berger mentioned that in practice, the ISO 14001 standard is documented by checklists and audits and not by the 19 steps of the handbook, he also states that the approach of the handbook is practicable. Furthermore, Sven Hberlin asks for a example documentation, but such an example is not available. Hence, the documentation process is not adapted. 47b, 47c: - Roland Berger is absolutely right by saying that 'Step 9: Communication' and 'Step 11: Control of Documents' are too cursorily. But as mentioned in chapter '3. First Concept of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry ', these steps are not the main focus of this thesis. Therefore, the specification of these two steps is neglected. 50: - Hubert Rizzi is certainly right with his statement that the ISO 9001 standard already includes the necessary operations and processes and hence, a link to ISO 9001 in the introduction of the handbook or in 'Step 12: Operational Control' would be sensible. Nevertheless, the author decided to not include this link, as the designed handbook should either be totally independent from ISO 9001 or, on the contrary, absolutely embedded into the ISO 9001 standard.
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7.2
Revised Handbook
Due to the length, not the entire handbook is presented, but only the parts which are adjusted. Since the steps 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 remain the same as in the first version of the handbook (see 'Appendix J: First Version of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry'), they are consequently not pictured again. Moreover, in order to not unnecessarily stretch this chapter, sometimes even the modified steps are not completely shown. 7.2.1 Estimation of a Budget
The handbook is extended by a preliminary stage called 'Preparation of a Budget'.
Illustration 8:
Added Preparation of a Budget (own illustration)
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7.2.2
Step 1: Management Commitment
The only change in 'Step 1: Management Commitment' is to provide the hotels with a list of typical departments.
Illustration 9:
Revised Management Commitment (own illustration)
7.2.3
Step 2: Initial Environmental Review
'Step 2: Initial Environmental Review' was modified by: providing typical examples of departments listing health protection, job safety, hygiene, traveling and electro smog as further potential environmental dimensions informing the hotels that the consumption/ quantity can also be stated in quarter, half yearly or yearly and that the use/ source has only to be filled in if possible letting the hotels know that the emissions are normally identified through an environment-relevance analysis, input-output scheme or an eco-balance and adding district heating and alternative energy to the list of energy sources
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79
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Illustration 10: Revised Initial Environmental Review (own illustration)
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7.2.4
Step 3: Environmental Aspects
The alterations in 'Step 3: Environmental Aspects' includes the notice that the tables can only be entirely filled in, if the consumption/ quantity could be assigned to the single departments and the use/ source was stated in the previous step. Additionally, the hotels are advised to redraw the individually added environmental dimensions from 'Step 2: Initial Environmental Review'. Furthermore, links with comparative figures are provided in order to better evaluate the relevance of the environmental aspects.
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Illustration 11: Revised Environmental Aspects (own illustration)
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7.2.5
Step 4: Legal and Other Requirements
'Step 4: Legal and Other Requirements' was augmented by informing the hotels that not only environmental laws and regulations can be of importance.
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Illustration 12: Revised Legal and Other Requirements (own illustration)
7.2.6
Step 6: Objectives Targets and Programs
The changes of 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' consist of the following: In the part of the targets: - The hotels are informed that they can only entirely fill in the tables if the consumption/ quantity could be assigned to the single departments and the use/ source was stated in the previous steps and are advised, if needed, to only work with the total consumption/ quantity figures. - The hotels are advised to redraw the individually added environmental dimensions from 'Step 2: Initial Environmental Review'. In the part of the programs: - The instruction how to use the programs is changed to bullet points. - The hotels are informed that they should consult external help if there are any uncertainties about the actions. - The action requesting a fleet management system to avoid peak periods is integrated. - A column asking for a person who controls the responsible person is added. - The hotels are advised to check their contracts with suppliers and acceptors regularly in order to not slip into a higher price category when lowering the amount of water, energy used or waste produced. Since only the targets and programs are modified, the objectives are not shown again. Furthermore, as only the structure of the actions was changed, not all actions are listed again.
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87
88
Illustration 13: Revised Targets and Programs (own illustration)
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7.2.7
Step 7: Resources, Roles, Responsibilities and Authority
The modifications of 'Step 7: Resources, Roles, Responsibilities and Authority' include the direct reporting of the environmental manager to the management and the extension of his job description.
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Illustration 14 Revised Roles, Responsibilities and Authority (own illustration)
7.2.8
Step 12: Operational Control
'Step 12: Operational Control' is only augmented by advising the hotels to consult again 'Step 3: Environmental Aspects'.
Illustration 15: Revised Documentation (own illustration)
7.2.9
Step 13: Emergency Preparedness and Response
'Step 13: Emergency Preparedness and Response' is extended by the reference to the emergency plan of the 'Branchenlsung fr Arbeitssicherheit'.
Illustration 16:
Revised Emergency Preparedness and Response (own illustration)
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7.2.10 Step 20: External Certification The handbook is extended by 'Step 20: External Certification'.
Illustration 17: Added External Certification (own illustration)
7.2.11 Overview of the Steps The handbook is augmented by the 'Overview of the Steps'.
Illustration 18: Added Overview of the Steps (own illustration)
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7.2.12 Separation of the Information Part and the Tasks In order to not include the entire handbook, an excerpt of the handbook demonstrates the separation of the information part and the tasks.
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Illustration 19: Separation of the Information Part and the Tasks (own illustration)
Conclusion
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Conclusion
This last chapter of this thesis gives a rsum of the positive aspects of the fist version of the handbook and summarizes the enhancements due to the empirical research. Furthermore, the limitations of the revised handbook as well as the recommendations for future research are indicated.
8.1
Theoretical and Practical Implications
Built on the theory of the literature review, a first version of a handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry was developed. Since this first version needed to be tested according to its integrity and application, empirical research was conducted. Due to the empirical research, it became apparent which subjects of the first version of the handbook are already well implemented and what has to be improved. In general, the structure of the first version of the handbook was perceived as comprehensible and understandable. Moreover, the composition of the single steps of the handbook is, with the exception of some details, practically convertible and fulfils the ISO 14001 requirements. Since the handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 certification in the hotel industry demonstrates a basic guiding tool, which has certainly to be worked out in greater detail, it has definitely potential to support the hotels in achieving the ISO 14001 certification. Under the circumstances that the handbook is merely a preliminary model, it is applicable for nearly all hotels and feasible concerning the contemporary technical conditions. Regarding the aspect of the environmental sustainability in the hotel industry, the handbook implies the most crucial environmental dimensions and provides ecologically reasonable measures. Nevertheless, the first version of the handbook could be improved by implementing some considerations out of the empirical research. The comprehensibility and understandability of the handbook could be further enhanced by separating the auxiliary material from the working material. Although the 19 steps of the first version of the handbook already complied with the ISO 14001 requirements, the insertion of the three steps 'Estimation of a Budget', 'External Certification' and 'Overview of the Steps' rounds the handbook off and provides additional support to the hotels. As the handbook functions as a basic guiding tool and should be applicable for all hotels regardless their size and services offered, the revised handbook lists further environmental dimensions which are possibly of importance for some hotels. Furthermore, the tables of the initial environmental review have been altered, in order to guarantee the adaptability for all hotels. Another issue of significance is the reference to comparative figures, like the energy indicators in 'Step 3: Environmental Aspects'. Lots of other minor enhancements, like the augmentation of the energy sources or the provision of typical departments, complete the revised handbook.
8.2
Limitations
What the title of this thesis is already explaining, the handbook is, on the one hand, limited to the environmental management system according to the ISO 14001 requirements and, on the other hand, to the hotel industry. Furthermore, the handbook is developed in agreement with hotelleriesuisse and therefore focuses on Switzerland. As a consequence, only sustainability issues which are of importance for the Swiss hotel industry and related to the environmental dimension of sustainability are part of the handbook. Due to the fact that the literature review forms the theoretical basis of the handbook and because of the vast extent
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of the ISO 14001 standard, not all essential steps to achieve the ISO 14001 certification have been worked out in detail. As the implementation of ISO 14001 is highly dependent on the hotels location, operations, age, and ownership and organizational structure, it became clear that the handbook developed within this thesis cannot function as a ready-to-use tool. It acts more as a preliminary model which has to be finalized and customized. Moreover, environmental management systems are very time-consuming and therefore, the implementation of such a system is often not desirable for small hotels. However, environmental protection is also possible in the small scale and thus, the developed handbook can also be used by small hotels, even though only parts are beneficial. In addition, the handbook only consists of blank tables and corresponding instructions, but offers no practical examples. Such practical examples would help to ease the implementation process, but also extend the length of the handbook and hence, reduce the simplicity of its structure. It is difficult to estimate which actions to improve the environmental performance are, by the hotels, perceived as obvious and therefore only unnecessarily lengthening the handbook and which of these are implicitly needed. As a result, the handbook definitely consists of some useless actions. The revised handbook retains the documentation procedure according to the 19 steps of the handbook what is, in principle, conceivable, but, so far, differently practiced. Another limitation of the handbook is the missing linkage to the ISO 9001 quality management system. Since the basic concept of ISO 14001 is similar to the one of ISO 9001, hotels which have already the ISO 9001 quality management system in place would enormously profit from a connection of the two. Furthermore, hotels with the intention of implementing both, the ISO 14001 and ISO 9001, would be able to do this concurrently.
8.3
Recommendations for Future Research
In order to convert the preliminary model handbook into a ready-to use handbook, further investigations are needed. Firstly, all the 19 steps of the handbook have to be worked out in detail. Thereby, the focal points are the control of the documents, employee training and the documentation procedure. Since the handbook already suggests a certain documentation procedure which is conceivable but not yet applied in practice, its functional adaptability has to be tested. Secondly, the additional environmental dimensions, hygiene, job safety, health protection, traveling and electro smog, which are mentioned in the revised handbook, need to be finalized. It is not sufficient to only list them, but they have to provide equal support to the hotels like the environmental dimensions which have been involved from the very start. Thirdly, the evaluation of the environmental aspects has to be better bedighted with comparative figures. The handbook already refers to hotel specific comparative figures concerning water and energy consumption and quantity of emissions, though reference values in respect of purchasing and waste are still missing. Furthermore, a method to analyze the amount of emissions needs to be discussed in greater detail. Possible methods which are applied in practice are the environmental-relevance analysis, input-output scheme or the eco-balance. Fourthly, the programs to enhance the environmental performance of a hotel include partly useless actions. Since it is difficult to determine, from a theoretical point of view, between the obvious and the valuable actions, real life related research has to be conducted. According to the authors opinion, one possibility is to question employees of different hotels and hierarchical levels concerning the objectivity and sensitivity of the single
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actions. Furthermore, the various actions in the programs need to be readjusted according to their effectiveness, since it is always best to start with those measures with the highest outcome. As the hotel industry is affected by high personnel fluctuations, technical and constructional measures are superior to the organizational ones. Besides other minor required advancements, like the development of a hotel specific emergency plan or the explanation of the term 'best available technique', the following two main issues need to be subjected to further research. The handbook has to establish a connection to the ISO 9001 quality management system, so that the implementation process of ISO 14001 can be simplified for those hotels already certified by ISO 9001 and to enable the launching of both systems at the same time. In addition, the handbook has to be customized for the various types of hotels in due consideration of the differences according to location, operations, age, size, and ownership and organizational structure of the hotels. Due to the reason that ISO 14001 is often no option for small hotels, it is vitally important that also only parts of the handbook are accessible. After the realization of all the issues discussed above, it would be best to practically test the handbook with a hotel. This means to accompany the implementation process of ISO 14001 from the beginning to the end.
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hotelleriesuisse. (n.d.). Kriterienkataloge. Spezialisierungskategorien. Retrieved May 04, 2011, from hotelleriesuisse: http://www.hotelleriesuisse.ch/index.cfm?uuid=F1D3BC7C1143DAD15433B3115CFD0 D39&&IRACER_AUTOLINK&& Hotelstars. (2010, December 01). Erluterung zum Kriterienkatalog. Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary. Hotelsterne. (n.d.). Geschichte und Entwicklung des Originals. Retrieved May 04, 2011, from Hotelsterne: http://www.hotelsterne.ch/index.cfm?A0F5C6001143DAD1544A54A56FBBCDD4 Hotelsterne. (n.d.). Spezalisierungskategorien. Retrieved May 04, 2011, from Hotelsterne: http://www.hotelsterne.ch/index.cfm?A0536BEA1143DAD154BB3AC678D0493A International Organization for Standardization. (1998). Environmental Management System (EMS): Principles and Elements. In ISO Standards Compendium - ISO 14000 Environmental Management (pp. 42-63). Geneva: International Organization for Standardization. International Organization for Standardization. (1998). Environmental Management Systems: The ISO Approach. In Development Manual - Environmental Management and ISO 14000 (pp. 27-60). Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization. International Organization for Standardization. (1998). International Standard ISO 14004: 1996 (E): Environmental Management Systems - General Guidelines on Principles, Systems and Supporting Techniques. In ISO Standards Compendium, ISO 14000 Environmental Management (p. 35.69). Geneva: International Organization for Standardization. International Organization for Standardization. (2011). ISO Standards. Retrieved April 30, 2011, from International Organization for Standardization: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue.htm International Organization for Standardization. (2011). Origins and ISO/ TC 207. Retrieved May 02, 2011, from International Organization for Standardization: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_and_leadership_standards/environ mental_management/origins_and_iso_tc207.htm ISO Central Secretariat. (2009, October). Environmental Management The ISO 14000 Family of International Standards. Geneva, Switzerland. Jackson, S. (1997). Introduction to Integrated Management Systems. In S. Jackson, The ISO 14001 Implementation Guide: Creating an Integrated Management System (p. 4). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Kirk, D. (1996). Energy Management. In D. Kirk, Environmental Management for Hotels (pp. 47-79). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Kirk, D. (1996). Environmental Management. In D. Kirk, Environmental Management for Hotels (pp. 16-31). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Kirk, D. (1996). Introduction. In D. Kirk, Environmental Management for Hotels (pp. 1-15). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd.
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Kirk, D. (1996). Materials and Waste Management. In D. Kirk, Environmental Management for Hotels (pp. 103-125). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Kirk, D. (1996). Water Management. In D. Kirk, Environmental Management for Hotels (pp. 32-46). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Kly, U. (2011, July 18). Planungsberatung fr Hotelbau. (T. Bgler, Interviewer) Laesser, C. (2009). Was ist ein Hotel? Beitrag zu einer adaptierten Definition von Hotel. In hotelleriesuisse, Jahrbuch der Schweizer Hotellerie 2009 (pp. 99-102). Bern: Stmpli Publikationen AG. Laesser, C., & Bieger, T. (2008, September). Was ist ein Hotel? Beitrag zu einer adaptierten Defintion von Hotel. St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland. Lauber IWISA AG. (2010, October 04). Merkblatt 1: Hotelpower Warmwasser, Energie- und Gebudetechnik. Naters, Switzerland. Lin-Heng, L., & Ofori, G. S. (2010). The Environmental Dimensions of the Hotel Industry. In L. Lin-Heng, & G. S. Ofori, Sustainability Matters (pp. 37-43). New, Jersey, London, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Chennai: World Scientific. Linuxtopia. (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2011, from 3.2. Which Architecture Is My Computer? : http://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=http://www.linuxtopia.org/online_books/installation _guides/fedora_10_installation_guide/stylesheetimages/tip.png&imgrefurl=http://www.linuxtopia.org/online_books/installation_guides/fe dora_10_installation_guide/fedora_1 Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. (2011, February 08). Nachhaltigkeitslabels in Tourismus und Hotellerie Schlussbericht 2. Teil (Nachhaltigkeit in der Hotelklassifikation). Lucerne, Switzerland. Pasche, P. (2009). Hotellerie - Touristenbeherbergung - Ferienwohnungen? In hotelleriesuisse, Jahrbuch der Schweizer Hotellerie 2009 (pp. 73-75). Bern: Stmpfli Publikationen AG. Pischon, A. (1999). Integrierte Managementsysteme fr Qualitt, Umweltschutz und Arbeitssicherheit. Berlin: Springer. Prexl, A. (2010). Nachhaltigkeit als Motor fr Konsumenten-Kaufentscheidungen? In A. Prexl, Nachhaltigkeit kommunizieren - nachhaltig kommunizieren: Analyse des Potenzials der Public Relations fr eine nachhaltige Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsentwicklung (pp. 103-106). Salzburg: VS Verlag fr Sozialwissenschaften. Rizzi, H. (2011, July 08). SQS. (T. Bgler, Interviewer) Rutherford, D. G. (2002). Organization. In D. G. Rutherford, Hotel Management and Operations (pp. 45-49). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Schweizer Tourismus Verband (STV). (2010, July). Schweizer Tourismus in Zahlen 2009. Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Seitz, G. (1997). Bezugsrahmen zur Erfassung der Hotellerie in Deutschland. In G. Seitz, Hotelmanagement (p. 8). Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer-Verlag.
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Sheldon, C., & Yoxon, M. (2002). Environmental Management Systems - A Step by Step Guide to Implementation & Maintenance. London - Sterling, VA: Earthscan. Sloan, P., Legrand, W., & Chen, J. S. (2009). Energy Efficiency. In P. Sloan, W. Legrand, & J. S. Chen, Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of Sustainable Operations (pp. 13-26). Oxford, Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann. Sloan, P., Legrand, W., & Chen, J. S. (2009). Sustainable Development in the Hospitality Industry. In P. Sloan, W. Legrand, & J. S. Chen, Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of Sustainable Operations (pp. 1-12). Oxford, Burlingtion: Butterworth-Heinemann. Sloan, P., Legrand, W., & Chen, J. S. (2009). Waste Management. In P. Sloan, W. Legrand, & J. S. Chen, Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of Sustainable Operations (pp. 27-47). Oxford, Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann. SQS. (2011, May 24). Retrieved May 25, 2011, from SQS Schweizerische Vereinigung fr Qualitts- und Management-Systeme: http://www.sqs.ch/zertifizierte_unternehmen_ergebnis.htm?seite=1&startrow=0&endro w=9&firma=&plz=&ort=&land=&norm=H.144&scope=S.30&mitarbeiter=&regnum=&ord erby=cert.sqsmlname&submit=Suche+starten Sustainable Business Associates. (2008, June). Best Environmental Practices for the Hotel Industry. Lausanne, Switzerland. Swisshotels. (n.d.). Die Schweiz von ihren schnsten Seiten. Retrieved May 04, 2011, from Swisshotels: http://www.swisshotels.com/ The center for Environmental Leadership in Business/ Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. (n.d.). A Practical Guide to Good Practice: Managing Environmental and Social Issues in the Accommodations Sector. Washington, Paris Cedex 15, United States of America, France. Theodore, M. K., & Theodore, L. (2010). ISO 14000. In M. K. Theodore, & L. Theodore, Introduction to Envrionmental Management (pp. 45-60). Boca Raton: CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group. Walker, J. R. (2002). Hotel and Rooms Division Operation. In J. R. Walker, Introduction to Hospitality (pp. 150-201). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Webster, K. (2000). Water. In K. Webster, Environmental Management in the Hospitality Industry (pp. 90-107). London: Cassell. Wellge, S. (2009). Umweltmanagement. In S. Wellge, Evaluation von betrieblichen Umweltmanagementsystemen (pp. 7-9, 11-18). Darmstadt: Institut WAR. World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Zein, K., Wazner, M. S., & Meylan, G. (2008, June). Best Environmental Practices for the Hotel Industry. Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Quantity of Hotels labeled by a Specialization Category in 2011
Specialization category Excellent Kitchen Business Hotel Design & Lifestyle Hotel Health Hotel Golf Hotel Historic Hotel Kids Hotel Congress Hotel Country Guest House Eco Hotel Seminar Hotel Tennis Hotel Bike Hotel Hiking Hotel Wellness Hotel I Wellness Hotel II Unique International chain Hotel
Table 18:
Quantity 139 171 68 17 72 38 47 53 52 33 324 9 117 245 41 50 36 8
Quantity of Hotels labeled by a Specialization Category in 2011 (own illustration according to Swisshotels) (Swisshotels)
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Appendix B: Buildings and Structures of a Hotel

Buildings and Structures Guest rooms Details - Bathroom - Storage areas - Sleeping area - Working area - Cosmetics area - Communication area - Living area - Catering area - Reception - Lounges - Recreation areas - Driveway - Corridors - Floors - Staircases - Elevators - Electricity - Heating - Air-conditioning and ventilation - Plumbing - Lightning - Laundry - Kitchen facilities - Sewerage - Sport facilities - Leisure facilities - Health facilities - Beauty facilities - Congress facilities - Child care facilities - Parking spaces - Boutiques
Reception area
Circulation- and floor areas
Engineering- and operation rooms
Other areas
Table 19:
Buildings and Structure of a Hotel (own illustration according to Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000; Rutherford, 2002 and Walker, 2002)
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Appendix C: Services rendered by Employees

Services Reception Details - Planning of the room occupancy - Room reservations and cancelations - Welcome and consulting of the guests - Invoicing and accounting - Telephone conversations - Correspondence and communication with the guests - Administrative work including statistics and reports - Safekeeping of valuables - Portage of luggage - Messenger services - Car parking - Night audit - Cleaning and maintenance of rooms, corridors, floors and other public areas - Laundry (washing and ironing) - Room inventory control - Operation and maintenance of physical plant - Minor repairs and renovations - Guest safety - Alarm systems - According to the facilities a hotel is offering - Procurement of goods
Housekeeping
Security Other services Purchasing department

Table 20:
Services rendered by Employees (own illustration according to Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000; Rutherford, 2002 and Walker, 2002)
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Appendix D: Catering Departments

Departments Restaurant Details - Gourmet restaurant - Specialty restaurant - Traditional restaurant - Hybrid forms - Preparation of food and beverages - Kitchen equipment (i.e. refrigerator) - Communication centre for guests in the evening - Wide variety of beverages - Small catering offers - Communication centre for guests during the day - Hot beverages - Refreshment beverages - Cakes - Procurement of food and beverages - Arrangements with clients - Planning of the event - Mentoring of the event - Inventory - Dinnerware logistics - Dish and ware washing - Disposal of waste - Clearance of the back-of-the-house area - Delivery of food and beverages - Set-ups (i.e. fruits, chocolates) - Inventory control - Serving of food and beverages
Kitchen Bar
Caf
Purchasing department Banquet department
Material usage control Stewarding
Room service
Bar and waiting personnel

Table 21:
Catering Departments (own illustration according to Hnssler, Leistungen und Leistungserstellung in der Hotellerie, 2000; Rutherford, 2002 and Walker, 2002)
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Appendix E: Extract from the Swiss BKP

3 Operating equipment 33 Electrical systems 332 Heavy current installations 333 Lightning 34 Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, cooling devices 342 Heat generation 343 Heat distribution 344 Ventilation systems 345 Air-conditioning systems 346 Cooling equipment 348 Insulations 35 Sanitary installations 351 Sanitary equipment 353 Sanitary supply and disposal equipment 354 Sanitary lines 355 Insulations 356 Sanitary installation elements 358 Kitchen equipment 36 Transportation and storage equipment 361 Elevators 364 Conveyor systems 366 Parking 37 Construction 1 374 Glazing 38 Construction 2 381 Floor covering 382 Wall covering 383 Ceiling covering 388 Garden 4 Surrounding 42 Garden 423 Garden equipment 424 Play and sport areas 44 Installations 443 Electrical systems 444 Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, cooling devices 445 Sanitary installations 446 Transportation 45 Lines and pipes 452 Canalization 453 Electrical lines 454 Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and cooling devices lines 455 Sanitary lines
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9 Furniture and fixtures 90 Furniture 901 Wardrobe, shelves 902 Sport facilities 91 Lightning 92 Textiles 921 Curtains, decoration 94 Small inventory 96 Transportation 97 Consumable materials (BKP Baukostenplan)
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Appendix F: Operational Work Processes
Illustration 20: Operational Work Processes in a Hotel (own illustration according to Gewald, 2001) (Gewald, 2001)
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Appendix G: Organizational Structure of a Hotel
Illustration 21: Organizational Structure of a Hotel (own illustration according to Hnssler, Die Aufbauorganisation von Hotelbetrieben, 2008)
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Appendix H: Organizational Structure of a Department
Illustration 22: Organizational Structure of a Department (own illustration according to Hnssler, Die Aufbauorganisation von Hotelbetrieben, 2008
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Appendix I: The ISO 14000 Family

Number ISO 14001: 2004/ cor 1:2009 ISO 14004: 2004 Title Environmental management systems Requirements with guidance for use Environmental management systems General guidelines on principles, systems and support techniques Environmental management systems Guidelines for the phased implementation of an environmental management system, including the use of environmental performance evaluation Environmental management Environmental assessment of sites and organizations (EASO) Environmental labels and declarations General principles Environmental labels and declarations Self-declared environmental claims (type II environmental labeling) Environmental labels and declarations Type I environmental labeling Principles and procedures Environmental labels and declarations Type III environmental declarations Principles and procedures Environmental management Environmental performance evaluation - Guidelines Environmental management Life cycle assessment Principles and framework Environmental management Life cycle assessment Requirements and guidelines Environmental management Life cycle assessment Data documentation format Environmental Management Vocabulary Environmental management Integrating environmental aspects into product design and development Environmental management Environmental communication Guidelines and examples
ISO 14005: 2010
ISO 14015: 2001
ISO 14020: 2000 ISO 14021: 1999
ISO 14024: 1999
ISO 14025: 2006
ISO 14031: 1999 ISO 14040: 2006
ISO 14044: 2006
ISO 14048: 2002
ISO 14050: 2009 ISO 14062: 2002
ISO 14063: 2006
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ISO 14064-1: 2006
ISO 14064-2: 2006
ISO 14064-3: 2006
ISO 14065: 2007
ISO 14066: 2011
ISO Guide 64: 2008 ISO 19011: 2002

Table 22:
Greenhouse gases Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals Greenhouse gases Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements Greenhouse gases Part 3: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions Greenhouse gases Requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition Greenhouse gases Competence requirements for greenhouse gas validation teams and verification teams Guide for addressing environmental issues in product standards Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing
The ISO 14000 Family (own illustration according to International Organization for Standardization, ISO Standards, 2011)
(International Organization for Standardization, 2011)
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Appendix J: First Version of the Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry Introduction
This handbook assists hotels in achieving the ISO 14001 certification. The structure follows the plan-do-check-act cycle and includes 19 steps in total. Each of these 19 steps is divided into: an information part followed by the task(s) which have to be worked off where appropriate and necessary some help is given The illustration below gives an overview of the content of this handbook.
Illustration 23: Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle (own illustration)
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SET UP
Step 1: Management Commitment Information In order to successfully implement an environmental management system in your hotel, the commitment of the management to enhance environmental management of the hotels operations is required. It is crucial to know that continual improvement of environmental performance cannot happen parallel to day-to-day operations. Therefore, dedication to environmental issues has to come from the management. Additionally, it is much easier to achieve employees acceptance if management commitment have been secured. The management commitment should be documented and signed by the top management and the management of the departments. Task Create a documented management commitment like the one shown below and let all your department heads sign it. Management Commitment [Name of the hotel] is a hotel which pays attention to the environment. We will conform to all relevant environmental legislations. We will identify the environmental impacts our operations have and encourage good environmental practice in order to eliminate or reduce these impacts. In order to achieve this, we will implement an environmental management system according to the ISO 14001 requirements. Furthermore, we aim for ISO 14001 certification. All managers are committed to this intention. Director Department head xy Department head xy [Date]
Illustration 24 Management Commitment (own illustration according to Edwards, Planning the Project, 2001) (Edwards, Planning the Project, 2001)
Deputy Director Department head xy Department head xy
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Step 2: Initial Environmental Review Information If your hotel does not have an environmental management system in place, an initial environmental review is highly recommended. The goal of this initial review is to find out about the hotels relationships and interactions of its activities, product and services with the environment and to work out a data set in order to measure environmental enhancements. The following section enables you to render an initial environmental review concerning the environmental dimensions: water, energy, wastes, purchasing and emissions. 1. Water Tasks Fill out the following tables with the available data. Involve in a second step the different departments you have in your hotel.
The Hotel's Total Water Consumption Period Consumption Use in month in m3/ liters January February March Total Consumption
Table 23: The Hotels Total Water Consumption (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
Water Consumption per Department Department Period in month January February March Total Consumption
Table 24: Water Consumption per Department (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
Consumption in m3/ liters
Use
Information Since water consumption is dependent on the time of the year and the occupancy rate of the hotel rooms, it is best to measure it per month. (Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) By combining the two tables, you can find out the proportion of each departments consumption. (Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
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Help The necessary data can be acquired by checking the meters. (Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) 2. Energy Tasks Fill out the following tables with the available data. Involve in a second step the different departments you have in your hotel.
The Hotel's Total Energy Consumption Period Energy Source Electricity Gas Diesel Fuel Butane Coal Total Consumption
Table 26: The Hotels Total Energy Consumption (own ill ustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
Energy Consumption per Department Period [month] Consumption in kWh Use
[month] Consumption in kWh Use
Department
Total Consumption
Table 25: Energy Consumption per Department (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
Help State for what the form of energy is used (i.e. cooking, heating ). Translate the consumption figures for each form of energy into kWh to achieve the total consumption.
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1m3 natural gas 1 ton oil 1 ton coal 1 ton butane

Table 27:
= = = =
10,54 kWh 12602 kWh 8012 kWh 12703 kWh
Energy Figures Converter (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
Information Since energy consumption is dependent on the time of the year and the occupancy rate of the hotel rooms, it is best to measure it per month. (Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) By combining the two tables, you can find out the proportion of each departments consumption. 3. Wastes Tasks Fill out the following tables with the available data. Involve in a second step the different departments you have in your hotel.
The Hotel's Total Wastes Period Kind of Waste [month] Quantity in kg/ m3/ t Period Source Department Wastes per Department [month] Quantity in kg/ m3/ t
Source
Total Wastes
Table 29: The Hotels Total Wastes (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
Total Wastes
Table 28: Wastes per Department (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
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Information Since waste quantity is dependent on the occupancy rate of the hotel rooms, it is best to measure it per month. (Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) By combining the two tables, you can find out the proportion of each departments waste quantity 4. Purchasing Task Fill out the following table with the available data.
Overview of Purchasing Item Quantity per year Department Supplier
Table 30: Overview of Purchasing (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
5. Emissions Task Fill out the following table with the available data.
Overview of Emissions Emission Source Concerned Area Rough Quantity in tons per year
Table 31: Overview of Emissions (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
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PLAN
Step 3: Environmental Aspects Information You have to develop a procedure in order to indentify environmental aspects and to assess which of these are of significance. In order to do so, the actual and prospective activities, products and services as well as abnormal and emergency situations have to be taken into consideration. Additionally to environmental aspects which are directly controllable by your hotel, aspects which can be influence by your hotel should be considered as well. Changes in the environment, whether positive or negative, which are completely or partly generated by environmental aspects are called environmental impacts. Therefore environmental aspects and impacts are in a cause and effect relationship. The following section enables you to find out which environmental aspects are relevant for further measures within the environmental management system. Again, the tasks are divided into the five environmental domains: water, energy, wastes, purchasing and emissions. Help All the columns, expect the one named 'Relevance', can be filled out with the data from 'Step 2: Initial Environmental Review'. Do not forget to think about environmental aspects of prospective activities, products and services. If there is something planned, estimate figures. The column 'Relevance' can be calculated as shown in the table below. With the application of this table, the highest relevance will be 90 and the lowest 1.
Extent of Consumption/ Quantity Description High Medium Low Factor 1 2 3 Frequency of Potential Abnormal or Emergency Situations Description Unlikely Common Frequent Factor 1 2 3 Severity
Description Minimal environmental impact Low environmental impact Moderate environmental impact High environmental impact Severe environmental impact
Factor 1 2 3 6 10
Relevance = Extent of Consumption/ Quantity x Frequency of Potential Abnormal or Emergency Situations x Severity
Table 32: Relevance Calculation (own illustration according to Edwards, Policy and Planning, 2001)
(Edwards, Policy and Planning, 2001)
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Tasks Fill out the following tables with the information from 'Step 2: Initial Environmental Review' and assign the points according to the relevance of each aspect.
Water Aspects Department Use Consumption in m3/ liters Relevance
Table 33: Water Aspects (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
Energy Aspects Department Use Consumption in kWh Relevance
Table 34: Energy Aspects (own illustration Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) according to
Wastes Aspects Department Source Quantity in kg/ m3/ t Relevance
Table 35: Wastes Aspects (own illustration Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) according to
Purchasing Aspects Department Item Quantity per year Relevance
Table 36: Purchasing Aspects (own illustration Sustainable Business Associates, 2008) according to
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Emissions Aspects Concerned Area Source Emission Rough quantity in tons per year Relevance
Table 37: Emissions Aspects (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
Step 4: Legal and Other Requirements Information Your hotel has to clarify which environmental laws and regulations are applicable to your activities, products and services. These can cover: National and international legal requirements Governmental and provincial legal requirements Requirements of local administrations Agreements with public authorities Voluntary principles Voluntary labels Task List all the laws, regulations, permissions and instructions with are relevant for your hotel incuding the remission date and articles. The federal laws which are most important for your hotel are already filled in. Derive, in a second step, the concrete requirements and identify the concerned areas in your hotel. In a last step, you have to check if your hotel is in compliance with these requirements. Make sure that this table is always up-to-date.
Source of requirement Remission Article date Concrete requirement Concerned Compliance areas Yes Federal laws Federal Law on Environmental Conservation Federal Law on Water Conservation Federal Law on Nature- and Cultural Heritage Protection Federal Law on C02 No
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Cantonal laws
Regulations
Permissions
Internal instructions
Others
Table 38: Legal and Other Requirements (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner, 1997)
Help In terms of the documentation and updating of the federal laws it could be vice to call a consulting firm in. (Dylick-Brenzinger et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) If you have to deal with complex cases within the evaluation of compliance with the environmental laws and regulations, it is best to bring in a legal advisor. (DylickBrenzinger et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) Step 5: Environmental Policy Information The environmental policy defines the intentions and the basic principles of your hotel concerning your overall environmental performances. Furthermore, the policy serves to establish environmental-oriented objectives and targets and is therefore the basis for the concrete action planning. The environmental policy has to be clearly formulated so that it is understandable to internal and external stakeholders and it has to be regularly adapted to changing conditions and experiences. The environmental policy can be seen as the driving force for the implementation and improvement of the environmental management system. The environmental policy has to be open to the employees, as the implementation occurs through the single employees and it has to be publicly available.
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Task Write your environmental policy. Below you find a hotel specific example. Environmental Policy Hotel Crowne Plaza Zurich Continual improvement of the environmental performance The Hotel Crowne Plaza Zurich admits to an environmentally sound business activity and commits to a continual improvement of its environmental performance. The environmental management system is an integrated component of the overall management system and is reviewed on a regular basis. Cooperation with partners and guests Crowne Plaza Zurich achieves the holistic environmental responsibility program in cooperation with its partners and suppliers. Individual responsibility is introduced to the employees and the guests. Compliance with legal requirements The Crowne Plaza Zurich respects not only the legal requirements of the Swiss federation and the Canton of Zurich, but acts in an open and cooperative concert with public authorities and interested parties. Sensitization of employees The sense of responsibility for the environment of the employees is brought forward, in order to ensure their ecological responsibility at work and in leisure. Internal and external communication Crowne Plaza Zurich communicates its environmental improvements internally as well as externally.
Illustration 25: Environmental Policy Crowne Plaza Zurich (own illustration according Crowne Plaza Zurich)
Help (Crowne Plaza Zurich) Your environmental policy can include the following: Your mission, vision, core values and beliefs concerning the environment Your commitment to act in compliance with the relevant environmental laws and regulations Your commitment to continually improve of the environmental performance Your commitment to prevent pollution Your commitment to set and progress objectives and targets Your statement that you follow the requirements of the ISO 14001 environmental management system Your internal and external communication approach (Dylick-Brenzinger et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) (Edwards, Policy and Planning, 2001)
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Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs Information Based on the environmental review, environmental policy, environmental aspects, legal context and your hotel you have to define environmental-oriented objectives and targets which are specific and if possible measureable. Your hotel should use the best available technique if it is economically feasible, cost saving and appropriate. In order to reach the objectives and targets, you have to develop programs including responsibilities, resources, measurements and time frame. The following section helps you to define objectives, targets and appropriate programs. 1. Objectives Task Define the objectives of your hotel concerning the environmental dimensions: water, energy, wastes, purchasing and emissions. You can either choose the ones listed below or work them out by yourselves, but it is mandatory to set an objective regarding the compliance with legal and other requirements. Water: Reduction in the water consumption Compliance with legal and other requirements Energy: Reduction in energy consumption Compliance with legal and other requirements Wastes: Reduction in waste quantity Compliance with legal and other requirements Purchasing: Increase the purchase of ecologically friendly products Reduction in purchasing Increase the purchase from ecologically friendly suppliers Compliance with legal and other requirements Emissions: Reduction in emission quantity Compliance with legal and other requirements 2. Targets Information Targets have to be set for the individual objectives and the compliance with legal and other requirements. Therefore, the tasks are split up in tables concerning your individual objectives and compliance with legal and other requirements. Tasks Fill out the following tables concerning your individual objectives. Take the issues, which you have classified as relevant in 'Step 3: Environmental Aspects' and fill in the corresponding department, use/ source or item and the actual consumption/ quantity/ item or supplier. Next you have to state the target you want to reach.
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Water Targets Department Use Actual consumption in m3/ liters Target consumption in m3/ liters
Table 39: Water Targets (own illustration)
Department
Energy Targets Actual consumption Use in kWh
Target consumption in kWh
Table 40: Energy Targets (own illustration)
Department
Wastes Targets Actual quantity Source in kg/ m3/ t
Target quantity in kg/ m3/ t
Table 41: Wastes Targets (own illustration)
Department
Purchasing Targets I Actual item
Target item
Table 42: Purchasing Targets I (own illustration)
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Department
Purchasing Targets II Actual Item quantity
Target quantity
Table 43: Purchasing Targets II (own illustration)
Department
Purchasing Targets III Actual Item supplier
Target supplier
Table 44: Purchasing Targets III (own illustration)
Concerned area
Emissions Targets Actual Emission & quantity Source in tons per year
Target quantity in tons per year
Table 45: Emissions Targets (own illustration)
Help You are free to decide where you want to draw the line concerning which issues you want to take into closer examination and which not. It is a question of how far you want to go. Be aware that you can increase your efforts also afterwards. This means you can either take more issues into closer consideration or/ and adapt the respective targets.
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Task Fill out the following table concerning your objective to be in compliance with legal and other requirements. Take all the issues from the table in 'Step 4: Legal and Other Requirements' which are not in compliance with the legal and other requirements. In a second step, you have to define the need for action. This means you have to find out what needs to be done in order to be in compliance with the legal and other requirements.
Legal and Other Requirements Targets Concerned area Source of requirement Concrete requirement Need for action
Table 46: Legal and Other Requirements Targets (own illustration)
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3. Programs Tasks To reach the set objectives and targets, appropriate programs are necessary. Fill out the following tables according to your needs. First, you have to decide a) which departments/ areas you actually have in your hotel and b) which of these departments/ areas are affected. Tick your selection in the first column. Second, mark the actions you want to take in the third column. Third, prioritize the action to take with high, medium and low. Fourth, determine for each action a responsible person. Fifth, define the financial, technological and/ or human resources which are needed to carry out the action. In the end, you should set in a completion date in the last column.
Water Program Department Accommodation Inform employees about water conservation practices Install flow regulators on all showerheads Install flow regulators on all taps Install low-flush or dual-flush toilets Install self-closing taps Invite guests to re-use linen and towels Invite guests to save water Re-use grey-water for flushing toilets Cleaning Inform employees about water conservation practices Re-use grey-water for cleaning floors Use biodegradable detergents and cleaning agents to reduce water pollution Action to take Priority Responsible person Resources Completed by
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Engineering Check all hotel equipment regularly to avoid water leaks Inform employees about water conservation practices Invest in state-of-the-art equipment to improve efficiency Maintain plumbing fixtures and piping regularly to avoid losses Garden/ Golf course Avoid flower beds that quickly dry up Choose plants that fit to your region's climate and rainfall Collect rainwater for watering the garden Inform employees about water conservation practices Install automatic sprinkler systems and localized devices Re-use the grey-water for watering the garden Use less polluting fertilizer to reduce water pollution Water garden early in the morning and late at night to limit evaporation Kitchen Adjust the water flow according to the type of cleaning Avoid leaving taps open unnecessary Do not defrost food in water Do not let water flow while cleaning or rinsing Fill dishwasher to the maximum capacity Inform employees about water conservation practices Install flow regulators on all taps Replace old kitchen equipment with state-of-the-art ones
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Laundry Do not use prewash function Fill washing machine to the maximum capacity Inform employees about water conservation practices Recover the relatively unsoiled rinse water for another washing cycle Replace old laundry equipment with state-of-the-art ones Sort the laundry according to the degree of soiling Use biodegradable detergents to reduce water pollution Wash towels and linen only at the request of guests Public areas Inform employees about water conservation practices Install flow regulators on all taps Install low-flush or dual-flush toilets Install self-closing taps Invite the guests to save water Re-use grey-water for flushing toilets Wellness/ Pool/ Whirlpool Cover the pool outside of the opening hours Inform employees about water conservation practices Install flow regulators on all showerheads Install flow regulators on all taps Install low-flush or dual-flush toilets Install self-closing taps Invite the guests to save water Reduce the use of chlorine or choose other treatment systems Re-use the pool's water to clean floors
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Table 47: Water Program (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008; The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business/ Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development)
(The center for Environmental Leadership in Business/ Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development)
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Energy Program Department Accommodation Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Close the curtains to reduce the heating and cooling effort Code the light switches to switch on only the right ones Decrease room temperature to reduce heating and air-conditioning effort Do not leave electronic devices on standby Improve reflection from walls with the use of bright colors Inform employees about lightning reduction practices Inform employees about energy reduction practices Install air-conditioning that automatically switches off when the windows are open Install dimming functions Install double glazed windows Invest in energy-efficient electronic devices Invite the guests to only switch on the needed lights Invite the guests to save energy and hot water Replace electronic equipment with energy-efficient ones Switch off mini-bars in rooms that are unoccupied for three or more days Switch off the lights in unoccupied rooms Turn off air-conditioning and set heating at minimum in unoccupied rooms Use energy saving light bulbs Use rooms allocated next to each other, during low occupancy times Action to take Priority Responsible person Resources Completed by
CXXXVI
Administration Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Close doors and windows to reduce heating and cooling effort Close the curtains to reduce the heating and cooling effort Code the light switches to switch on only the right ones Decrease room temperature to reduce heating and cooling effort Do not leave electronic devices on standby Improve reflection from walls with the use of bright colors Inform employees about energy reduction practices Inform employees about lightning reduction practices Install air-conditioning that automatically switches off when the windows are open Install dimming functions Install double glazed windows Re-arrange workplaces to make optimal use of natural lightning Replace electronic equipment with energy-efficient ones Switch off electronic devices when taking breaks longer than 30 minutes Use energy saving light bulbs Use natural light rather than artificial lightning as much as possible Cleaning Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Do not air rooms for more than 15 minutes to reduce heating and cooling effort Inform employees about energy reduction practices Inform employees about lightning reduction practices Use only hot water for cleaning where necessary
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Engineering Check the insulation on hot water pipes to reduce heat losses Choose high performance insulation systems to minimize heat losses Clean and change the air-conditioning filters regularly Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Code the light switches to switch on only the right ones Improve reflection from walls with the use of bright colors Inform employees about energy reduction practices Inform employees about lightning reduction practices Install dimming functions Invest in alternative, renewable energy sources Install timers and movement detectors to reduce lightning time in selected locations Invest in energy-efficient equipment Repair equipment on a regular basis Switch off water boilers during night Switch on exterior lightning only at night Use energy saving light bulbs Use machines according to operating instructions for better energy-efficiency Kitchen Use only hot water where necessary Avoid turning on kitchen equipment without thinking when arriving in the morning Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Code the light switches to switch on only the right ones Cover pots when cooking Defrost food in refrigerator or cold room Defrost refrigerators and clean the door seals monthly Do not exceed preheating times
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Do not place hot food directly into refrigerators, freezer or cold room Fill dishwasher to their maximum capacity in order to minimize the number of cycles Fill oven and dishwasher to the maximum capacity If you have more than one kitchen, centralize them Improve reflection of from walls with the use of bright colors Inform employees about energy reduction practices Inform employees about lightning reduction practices Install plastic curtains outside refrigerators or freezers to retain cold air Install timers and movement detectors to reduce lightning time in selected locations Invest in energy-efficient kitchen equipment Invest in high-performance cooking units Locate refrigerator and freezer sensible to kitchen temperatures Open refrigerators, freezers, ovens and steamers only when necessary Recover the heat generated by the refrigerator and freezer Regulate water temperature according to the kitchen needs Switch off kitchen equipment when it is not required Use energy saving bulbs Use equipment according to operating instructions for better energy-efficiency Use pressure cookers to increase efficiency Use the fan appropriate to the cooking intensity Laundry Avoid overloading the dryer and thereby increasing drying time Choose washing machines with high spinning speed in order to limit drying time Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Code the light switches to switch on only the right ones Fill washing machine to the maximum capacity Fill washing machine to the maximum capacity
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Improve reflection from walls with the use of bright colors Inform employees about energy reduction practices Inform employees about lightning reduction practices Install timers and movement detectors to reduce lightning time at selected locations Invest in energy-efficient laundry equipment Regulate water temperature according to the cleaning needs Use energy saving light bulbs Use equipment according to operating instructions for better energy-efficiency Use low temperature washing programs Public areas Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Close doors and windows to reduce heating and cooling effort Close the curtains to reduce the heating and cooling effort Code the light switches so that you switch on only those light that you need Decrease room temperature to reduce heating and cooling effort Improve reflection from walls with the use of bright colors Inform employees about energy reduction practices Inform employees about lightning reduction practices Install air-conditioning that automatically switches off when the windows are open Install dimming functions Install double glazed windows Install timers and movement detectors to reduce lightning time in selected locations Invite the guests to only switch on the needed lights Invite the guests to save energy and hot water Reduce the number of lifts that are operated during off-peak hours Replace electronic equipment with energy-efficient ones
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Switch on exterior lightning only at night Use energy saving light bulbs Wellness/ Pool/ Whirlpool Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Clean lightning fixtures to improve efficiency Define operating hours and switch off the facilities during non-opening hours Do not leave electronic devices on standby Improve reflection from walls with the use of bright colors Improve reflection from walls with the use of bright colors Inform employees about energy reduction practices Inform employees about lightning reduction practices Install a demand-oriented switching on of the attractions in the whirlpool Install dimming functions Install double glazed windows Install timers and movement detectors to reduce lightning time in selected locations Invest in energy-efficient wellness equipment Invite the guests to only switch on the needed lights Invite the guests to save energy and hot water Keep the water temperature at 24C Recover the heat generated by the sauna and solarium Replace electronic equipment with energy-efficient ones Retain the pool's heat by covering it with a thermal cover at night Switch on exterior lightning only at night Switch on exterior lightning only at night Use energy saving light bulbs Use energy saving light bulbs
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Table 48: Energy Program (own illustration according to Energie Schweiz, 2010; Lauber IWISA AG, 2010; Sustainable Business Associates, 2008 and The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business/ Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development)
(Energie Schweiz, 2010) (Lauber IWISA AG, 2010)
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Wastes Program Department Accommodation Choose the products which are least polluting and most sustainable Donate old furniture Inform employees about waste reduction practices Invite guest to reduce waste Limit the use of individual packaged products Organize waste separation in the guest rooms by providing adequate means Recycle electric and electronic appliances and donate unwanted appliances Use refillable dispenser for hygiene products Administration Avoid using disposable tableware Limit color printing and copying Limit the use of individual packaged products Reduce the printing of documents whenever possible and use e-mail Recycle PET and non-deposit glass bottles, metal packaging, cardboard, paper, batteries and accumulators Recycle electric and electronic appliances and donate unwanted appliances Return toner and ink cartridges of printers and copying machines to suppliers Re-use the blank side of used paper for scrap paper Use recycled paper where possible Use the two-sided printing option on printers/ copying machines where possible Action to take Priority Responsible person Resources Completed by
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Cleaning Avoid leaving detergents in humid places Choose adequate detergents and use recommended dosages Choose the products which are least polluting and most sustainable Improve waste collection by adding compartments to room service trolleys Limit the use of individual packaged products Replace plastic laundry bags with wicker baskets or cloth bags Re-use old bedding and napkins as rags Use refillable products instead of disposable ones Engineering Maintain and repair hotel equipment regularly to expand its lifespan Kitchen Avoid using disposable tableware Check expiration dates of food and use older food items first Choose the products which are least polluting and most sustainable Collect used oil and dispose it in an environmentally friendly manner Compost biodegradable organic wastes or re-use them as animal feed Inform employees about waste reduction practices Limit the use of individual packaged products Promote waste separation by providing specific containers Recycle PET and non-deposit glass bottles, metal packaging, plastic and cardboard Recycle electric and electronic appliances and donate unwanted appliances Reduce the use of individual portions Store fresh and perishable products at the appropriate temperatures Store liquid wastes in adequate containers and dispose them correctly Use refillable products instead of disposable ones
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Laundry Avoid leaving detergents in humid places Choose adequate detergents and use recommended dosages Choose the products which are least polluting and most sustainable Collect chemicals and send them back to the suppliers Limit the use of individual packaged products Recycle electric and electronic appliances and donate unwanted appliances Replace plastic laundry bags with wicker baskets or cloth bags Sort textiles according to their degree of soiling and color to not damage them Transform old bed sheets into laundry bags Use refillable products instead of disposable ones
Table 49: Wastes Program (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
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Purchasing Program Department Accommodation Buy good quality materials to decrease failing rate Buy in suitable quantities due to transportation efforts and waste generation Buy local products to reduce pollution from transportation Buy only what is needed Buy products consisting of recyclable material Buy products consisting of the maximum amount of recycled material Buy products packaged in recycled and recyclable material Identify suppliers that have already implemented eco-efficient measures Install refillable soap and shampoo dispensers due to packaging and amount used Prefer FSC labeled wood and avoid exotic wood Prefer furniture which is easily disposable and recyclable Use recycled toilet paper Cleaning Choose concentrated, environmentally friendly cleaning agents Buy only what is needed Buy good quality materials to decrease failing rate Buy in suitable quantities due to transportation efforts and waste generation Buy products packaged in recycled and recyclable material Kitchen Avoid disposable (one-trip) products Buy good quality materials to decrease failing rate Buy in suitable quantities due to transportation efforts and waste generation Buy local products to reduce pollution from transportation Action to take Priority Responsible person Resources Completed by
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Buy only what is needed Buy products packaged in recycled and recyclable material Choose seasonal fruits and vegetables Choose, whenever possible, organic products Identify suppliers that have already implemented eco-efficient measures Purchase in bulk rather than individually packaged items Rent equipment that is seldom used, instead of buying it Use fresh products with little or no preservatives Laundry Buy compact, concentrated products and eco-refills to limit packaging Buy ecologically friendly detergents Buy good quality materials to decrease failing rate Buy in suitable quantities due to transportation efforts and waste generation Buy local products to reduce pollution from transportation Buy only what is needed Identify suppliers that have already implemented eco-efficient measures Prefer detergents whose components are active at low temperature Public areas Buy good quality materials to decrease failing rate Buy in suitable quantities due to transportation efforts and waste generation Buy local products to reduce pollution from transportation Buy only what is needed Buy products consisting of recyclable material Buy products consisting of the maximum amount of recycled material Buy products packaged in recycled and recyclable material Identify suppliers that have already implemented eco-efficient measures
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Install refillable soap and shampoo dispensers due to packaging and amount used Prefer FSC labeled wood and avoid exotic wood Prefer furniture which is easily disposable and recyclable Rent equipment that is seldom used, instead of buying it Replace paper towel dispensers with energy-saving hot air blowers Use recycled toilet paper Restaurant/ Bar Avoid using disposable tableware Avoid using paper tablecloths and napkins Buy good quality materials to decrease failing rate Buy in suitable quantities due to transportation efforts and waste generation Buy local products to reduce pollution from transportation Buy only what is needed Buy products consisting of recyclable material Buy products consisting of the maximum amount of recycled material Buy products packaged in recycled and recyclable material Choose wash-resistant materials Identify suppliers that have already implemented eco-efficient measures Involve guest in the selection of "green products" Prefer draft drinks or deposit bottles Prefer products with little packaging Rent equipment that is seldom used, instead of buying it Use table linen made with environmentally friendly materials
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Shops Encourage the shops to sell products that are made in ecologically friendly ways
Table 50: Purchasing Program (own illustration according to Kirk, Materials and Waste Management, 1996 and Sustainable Business Associates, 2008)
(Kirk, Materials and Waste Management, 1996)
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Emissions Program Concerned area Accommodation Choose sprays that do not use propellant gases Limit the use of aerosols Administration Ask your suppliers to switch off their vehicles when delivering supplies Cleaning Choose biodegradable cleaning agents Choose sprays that do not use propellant gases Do not mix cleaning agents (interactions can increase toxicity) Ensure close adherence to the instructions for the use of cleaning agents Limit the use of aerosols Prefer solvent-free products due to emissions of VOC Company cars In cases where fuel oil is specifically required, use low sulfur fuel Replacing old equipment with state-of-the-art ones Engineering Change the filters of air conditioning equipment regularly Check and maintain boilers and cooling equipment regularly In cases where fuel oil is specifically required, use low sulfur fuel Limit the use of aerosols Monitor leaks in refrigerating systems Prefer solvent-free products due to emissions of VOC Action to take Priority Responsible person Resources Completed by
CL
Replace old oil-fired burners with natural gas ones Select fire-extinguishers and fire fighting systems that are halon-free Kitchen Choose sprays that do not use propellant gases Limit the use of aerosols Prefer solvent-free products due to emissions of VOC Replace refrigerators containing CFC with environmentally friendly ones Replacing old equipment with state-of-the-art ones Laundry Choose biodegradable cleaning agents Do not mix cleaning agents (interactions can increase toxicity) Ensure close adherence to the instructions for the use of cleaning agents Prefer solvent-free products due to emissions of VOC Replacing old equipment with state-of-the-art ones
Table 51: Emissions Program (own illustration according to Sustainable Business Associates, 2008 and Zein et al., 2008)
Help If you have departments/ areas in your hotel where you want to improve your environmental performance which are not mentioned in the tables above, you can simply add them. If you want to take actions which are not listed in the table below, you can simply add them. Grey water can come from washing machines, sinks, showers, bathrooms and roof runoffs. (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) Since hot water uses energy, the water conservation practices from the water program also help to reduce the energy consumption. (Kirk, Water Management, 1996) (Lin-Heng et al., 2010) For further help you can visit hotelpower.ch and consult for example:
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> > > > >
information sheet for renewing the heating information sheet for alternative energy sources information sheet for lightning information sheet for heating etc.
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DO
Step 7: Resources, Roles, Responsibilities and Authority Information The successful implementation of the environmental management system in your hotel requires the commitment of all employees. Environmental-oriented tasks and responsibilities should therefore not be limited to the functions concerned with environmental questions, but should involve all functions outside of the environmental protection. As part of its commitment, the top management authorizes a special environment agent, allocates sufficient resources and defines key function as well as responsibilities. 1. Resources Information To implement an environmental management system in your hotel financial, technological and/ or human resources are needed. By defining your environmental programs, you have already identified the needed resources. Task Make the topic 'resources' an agenda item at your management meetings in order to ensure that: the right and sufficient resources are actually allocated. future resource needs are recognized and subjected. (Edwards, Implementation and Operation, 2001) 2. Roles, Responsibilities and Authority Information Since environmental protection is a cross-sectional task, an organisational structure is required. For this, it is best to design an organisation chart which shows all employees involved in the implementation of the environmental management system including job descriptions. Moreover, the management of your hotel has to appoint an environmental manager. (Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) (Edwards, Implementation and Operation, 2001) Tasks Create an organization chart including job descripitons. Appoint an environmental manager. Help An organization chart could look like the following:
CLIII
Management Line function
Environmental Manager
Illustration 26: Organization Chart (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
The job descriptions could include: > Tasks of the management: - Integration of environmental protection in the strategic planning - Determination of the environmental policy - Definition of objectives, targets and programs - Determination of resouces, roles and responsibilities - Appointment of an environmental manager - Assessment of the performance of the environmental management system - Identification of measures for the continual improvement of the environmental management system > Line function: - Compliance with envrionemental legislations - Assistance to define objectives, targets and responsibilities - Implementation of the evironmental programs - Passing on of relevant information - Taking steps for corrective measures - Control of the implementation of the environmental management system > Tasks of the environmental manager: - Analysis of risks, opportunities and weak spots - Assistance to the implementation process - Reporting of the environmental performance - Motivation and sensitization - Training of employees - Control of the environmental management system - External communication (Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
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Step 8: Competence, Training and Awareness Information The management defines what knowledge, understanding and skills an employee participating in an activity with an environmental impact should have. Knowledge, understanding or skills are either already existing or are applied trough training, education or practical experiences. Tasks Identify the training needs of your employees Develop a training and/ or education plan to adress the training needs of your employees Document the trainings Evaluate the trainings (Edwards, Implementation and Operation, 2001) Help Employees should typically be informed about: The context and importance of the environmental policy of your hotel The requirements of the environmental management system The environmental consequences of their activities The legal environmental requirements of their activities The behavior in emergency situations (Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) Step 9: Communication Information Internal communication ensures that all employees of your hotel are aware of their responsibilities and helps therefore to implement the environmental management system at all hierarchical levels. External communication increases transparency and credibility of your hotel. (Edwards, Implementation and Operation, 2001) Task Develop a procedure concerning internal and external communication. Help Internal communication can consist of: Meetings of working groups Circular letters Notice board Intranet-website External communication can consist of: Annual reports Circular letters Website (Europisches Komitee fr Normung, 2003)
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Step 10: Documentation Information The documentation has to be detailed enough in order to describe the environmental management system and the interactions of the elements. The documentation includes explanations concerning planning, operation and control of the environmental management system and its compliance with the environmental policy, objectives and targets. The documentation of the environmental management system helps on the one hand your employees to get aware of what should be achieved and, on the other hand enables the evaluation of the environmental performance and the system itself. (International Organization for Standardization, International Standard ISO 14004: 1996 (E): Environmental Management Systems - General Guidelines on Principles, Systems and Supporting Techniques, 1998) (International Organization for Standardization, 1998) Task Document your environmental management system by writing a manual. Help You can structure your manual according to this handbook. Copy the 19 steps of this handbook and write down all the information concerning your environmental management system under each of these steps. Step 11: Control of Documents Information The documents have of course to be reviewed and updated, but the main focus is the successful implementation of the environmental management system. Tasks Organize your documents by: - adding dates and dates of revision - adding the appropriate division, function, activtiy, and/ or contact person Review and revise your documents periodically Make the actual version of the documents available to all the relevant employees Withdraw obsolete documents immediately (International Organization for Standardization, International Standard ISO 14004: 1996 (E): Environmental Management Systems - General Guidelines on Principles, Systems and Supporting Techniques, 1998)
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Step 12: Operational Control Information The overall goal is to reach the objectives and targets of the environmental policy. Therefore, the processes which are in connection with significant environmental aspects have to be accurately operated so that the environmental impacts can be monitored or reduced. Task Describe all the procedures taken in order to achieve the set objectives and targets. Help When developing your environmental program, you have already decided which actions you want to take in order to reach your set objectives and targets. Now you have to describe the context of each action including procedures, instructions, control invervals, limiting values etc. (Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) Step 13: Emergency Preparedness and Response Information Your hotel is responsible to develop an emergency plan and a course of action which is tailored to your individual needs. Potential emergencies have to be indentified and procedures how to alleviate them. Tasks Identify potential emergencies Develop an emergency plan Help Potential emergencies can include: Emissions to the atmosphere due to accidents Pollution of water and land due to accidents Harmful effects on the environment and ecosystems due to accidents An emergency plan can include: Organization and responsiblities in emergency situations A list with emergency services (i.e fire-fighters) Communication plans (internals and external) Action plan Training and testing plans (International Organization for Standardization, International Standard ISO 14004: 1996 (E): Environmental Management Systems - General Guidelines on Principles, Systems and Supporting Techniques, 1998)
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CHECK
Step 14: Monitoring and Measurement Information In order to enhance environmental performance, your hotel has to determine performance measurements which quantify the significant environmental aspects. Tasks Fill out the following tables with the information form 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' and measure/ state the actual consumption/ quantity/ item or supplier. In a next step you should indicate if an improvement/ reduction has taken place. Furthermore, you have to determine the rhythm of the measurement, a responsible person and a new target.
Water Monitoring Department Use Actual measurement in m3/ liters Reduction in % Target reached yes/ no Rhythm of measurement Responsible person New target in m3/ liters
Table 52: Water Monitoring (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
Energy Monitoring Department Use Actual measurement in kWh Reduction in % Target reached yes/ no Rhythm of measurement Responsible person New target in kWh
Table 53: Energy Monitoring (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
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Wastes Monitoring Department Source Actual measurement in kg/ m3/ t Reduction in % Target reached yes/ no Rhythm of measurement Responsible person New target in kg/ m3/ t
Table 54: Wastes Monitoring (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
Purchasing Monitoring I Department Actual item Improvement yes/ no Rhythm of measurement Target reached yes/ no Responsible person New target item
Table 55: Purchasing Monitoring I (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
Purchasing Monitoring II Department Item Actual measurement in quantity Reduction in % Target reached yes/ no Rhythm of measurement Responsible person New target in quantity
Table 56: Purchasing Monitoring II (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
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Department
Item
Actual supplier
Purchasing Monitoring III Target Improvement reached yes/ no yes/ no
Rhythm of measurement
Responsible person
New target item
Table 57: Purchasing Monitoring III (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
Emissions Monitoring Concerned area Emission & Source Actual measurement in tons per year Reduction in % Target reached yes/ no Rhythm of measurement Responsible person New target in tons per year
Table 58: Emissions Monitoring (own illustration according to Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
CLX Step 15: Evaluation of Compliance Information Your hotel has to demonstrate that they act in compliance with legal and other environmental rules and regulations. Task Fill out the following table with the information form 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' and state whether you act in compliance or not. In a next step you should indicate determine the rhythm of the monitoring, a responsible person and if needed a new need for action.
Legal and Other Requirements Monitoring Concerned area Source of requirement Concrete requirement Compliance yes/ no Rhythm of measurement Responsible person New need for action
Table 59: Legal and Other Requirements Monitoring (own illustration)
CLXI Step 16: Nonconformity, Corrective Action and Preventive Action Information The non-conformances should be identified through monitoring, audits and communication and corrective actions have to be initiated. Tasks Fill out the follwing tables by taking over all the lines from 'Step 14: Monitoring and Measurement' and 'Step 15: Evaluation of Compliance' which have not reached the targets or are not in compliance with the legal and other requirements. In a next step you have to determine new actions to take from 'Step 6: Objectives, Targets and Programs' in other to fulfil the targets in the future.
Department Water Corrective Actions Responsible Use person Action to take
Table 60: Water Corrective Actions (own illustration)
Department
Energy Corrective Actions Responsible Use person
Action to take
Table 61: Energy Corrective Actions (own illustration)
Department
Wastes Corrective Actions Responsible Source person
Action to take
Table 62: Wastes Corrective Actions (own illustration)
Department
Purchasing Corrective Actions I Responsible Actual item person
Action to take
Table 63: Purchasing Corrective Actions I (own illustration)
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Department
Purchasing Corrective Actions II Responsible Item person
Action to take
Table 64: Purchasing Corrective Actions II (own illustration)
Department
Purchasing Corrective Actions III Responsible Item person
Action to take
Table 65: Purchasing Corrective Actions III (own illustration)
Concerned area
Emissions Corrective Actions Responsible Emission & Source person
Action to take
Table 66: Emissions Corrective Actions (own illustration)
Legal and Other Requirements Corrective Actions Concerned area Source of requirement Concrete requirement Responsible person Action to take
Table 67: Legal and Other Requirements Corrective Actions (own illustration)
Step 17: Control of Records Information Your hotel has to keep the records up-to-date, as they either demonstrate your compliance with the environmental management system or help to reach compliance by analyzing the documentations. Environmental-oriented records can include complaints, trainings, process observations, inspections, emergency tests, communication and more. Task Continually up-date, analyze and improve your environmental management system manual which you designed at 'Step 10: Documentation'.
CLXIII Step 18: Internal Audit Information You have to audit your environmental management system regularly and systematically in order to check if you are in compliance with the guidelines and requirements and if the system is implemented and maintained correctly. The results indicate the effectiveness of your environmental management system and help to continually improve the system and the environmental performance. (Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) Tasks Determine a responsible person for the audits Define an audit procedure which discovers non-conformances and proposes corrective actions with clear completion dates Inform you employees about the audit Ensure that the results are reported to the management Determine the rhythm of the audits (Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997) Help The responsible person can either be an employee or an external person. By all means, the person has to be competent, neutral and objective. The ISO 14012 compendium 'Qualification Criteria for Environmental Auditors' defines what qualifications an appropriate auditor has to fulfill. Compendium ISO 14010 and 14011 contain information how to conduct an environmental audit. Yearly environmental audits are advisable (Dyllick-Brenzigner et al., Aufbau und Gestaltung eines UMS gemss ISO 14001, 1997)
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ACT
Step 19: Management Review Information The management of your hotel is claimed to review the environmental management system to ensure its compliance and its effectiveness. Tasks Review the objectives, targets and the environmental performance Check the results of the audits Evaluate the effectiveness of the environmental management system Evaluate the appropriateness of the environmental policy concerning: - Changes in legal and other requirements - Newly available technologies - Learned lessons from environmental incidents (International Organization for Standardization, International Standard ISO 14004: 1996 (E): Environmental Management Systems - General Guidelines on Principles, Systems and Supporting Techniques, 1998)
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Appendix K: Transliterated Expert Interviews

The expert interviews are arranged according to the last name of interview partners. The acronyms in the transliterated interviews stand for: Acronym Name of the Person B Roland Berger, Tune Management and Training AG G Simone Gruber, Fachstelle Tourismus und Nachhaltige Entwicklung H Sven Hberlin, welcome hotels & restaurants K Urs Kly, Planungsberatung fr Hotelbau R Hubert Rizzi, SQS I Interviewer
Table 68: Acronyms of the transliterated Expert Interviews (own illustration)
Interview with Roland Berger, Tune Management and Training AG Question regarding the design of the handbook: I: Ist der Aufbau des Handbuches (bertitel, Schritte, Informationen, Aufgaben und Hilfestellungen) verstndlich und bersichtlich? B: Wir haben jeweils beim Aufbau des Branchenleitfadens mit ausgefllten Beispielen gearbeitet. Diese helfen den, meist praktisch orientierten, Verantwortlichen bei der Arbeit. Aus meiner Sicht wre die Anordnung der Aufgaben-Listen am Schluss zusammengefasst ein besseres Hilfs- und Arbeitsmittel. Questions regarding the content of the handbook: I: Ist es sinnvoll den Hotels jeweils die Wahl der betreffenden Abteilungen zu berlassen? B: Ja. I: Oder sollte man eine Aufzhlung an Abteilungen zur Auswahl stellen? B: Nein. I: Ist die Konzentration auf die Umweltdimensionen Wasser, Energie, Abflle, Emissionen und Einkauf sinnvoll? B: Nein. Dies hngt sehr stark vom Betrieb ab. Die Norm ist heute auch sehr eng beim Gesundheitsschutz. Hier kommen die Berhrungspunkte zu Arbeitssicherheit (Umgang mit gefhrlichen Stoffen Schadstoffen). Auch werden Themen wie: Reisettigkeit und Elektrosmog immer mehr erwhnt. I: Wrden Sie eine Dimension hinzufgen oder entfernen? B: Wrde nur mit Beispielen die Dimensionen aufzeigen. I: B: I: B: Knnen die Tabellen beim Schritt 2 von Hotels problemlos ausgefllt werden? Ja. Sind die Tabellen sinnvoll? Wie knnte dieser erste Umweltreview verbessert werden? Unbedingt ein Beispiel im Text. Ich wrde die Task-Liste in den Anhang als Arbeitshandbuch stellen.
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I: Wie knnte man die Programme (Schritt 6) verbessern? B: Fr mich ist die Aufgaben-Liste wiederum eher Trainingsprogramm. Mir fehlt der Schulungsplan.
eine
Checkliste
als
ein
I: Ist eine Dokumentation des Umweltmanagementsystems gemss den 19 Schritten des Handbuches realisierbar? Wre eine solche Dokumentation ausfhrlich genug? Was wre eine bessere Dokumentationsvariante? B. Wir arbeiten in der Situationsanalyse mit den Checklisten, daraus erstellen wir Vorgabedokumente (Umweltkonzept und Umwelt-Leitfaden). Diese sind die Grundlage fr die Schulung und das Training. Und als Nachweisdokumente empfehlen wir die ausgefllten Checklisten, die Umweltbilanz (zeigt die zeitliche Entwicklung der Umweltrelevanten Aspekte) und die Audits. General questions: I: Was ist gut an diesem Handbuch? B: Der Versuch den Hoteliers einen Leitfaden fr ein aktuelles Thema zu liefern. I: Wo sollten unbedingt Verbesserungen vorgenommen werden? B: Trennung von Inhaltsvermittlung und Arbeitshandbuch. I: Fehlt etwas komplett? B: - Die Umwelt-Organisation ist in der EN ISO 14001 vorgegeben. Jedoch ist nicht klar, was genau die Aufgaben eines Umweltbeauftragten sind. Hier wrde ich ein Muster Stellenbeschrieb aufnehmen. - Zustzlich ist die Dokumentenlenkung ein wesentlicher Bestandteil der Normanforderung. Hier muss den Betrieben eine Hilfestellung gegeben werden. Ansonsten sind die Fachpersonen deutlich berfordert. - Die EN ISO 14001:2004 fordert die Bestimmung der Umweltrelevanten Aspekte. Dieser Punkt ist je nach Betrieb unterschiedlich, muss jedoch klar definiert werden. Hier fehlt mir noch der Fokus. Wo muss der Betrieb diese Aspekte klar definieren? - Einer der wesentlichen Herausforderungen ist die Sicherstellung, dass bis zum letzten Mitarbeitenden der Nachhaltigkeitsgedanke verankert wird. Dieser Aspekt wird meist durch Schulung und Training erreicht. Es sollte nach meinem Empfinden ebenfalls ein Schritt sein, damit Schulungen/Trainings geplant werden. - Die Norm verlangt zustzlich, dass Sie bezglich dem UMS aktiv gegen innen und aussen kommunizieren. Habe diesen Punkt nicht gefunden. Ebenfalls mssen externe Partner (Handwerker, Serviceunternehmen) auf die Handlungsweise des Unternehmens aufmerksam gemacht werden. I: Hat ihrer Meinung nach dieses Handbuch Potential um Hotels zur ISO 14001 Zertifizierung zu verhelfen? B: Sicher.
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Interview with Simone Gruber, Fachstelle Tourismus und Nachhaltige Entwicklung Questions regarding the programs (step 6): I: Ist der Aufbau der Programme bersichtlich und verstndlich? G: Es ist bersichtlich gestaltet. Der tabellarische Aufbau ist benutzerfreundlich. Die Gliederung durch die Abteilungen und Programme (Wasser, Energie, etc.) untersttzt die Lesbarkeit. Jedoch ist die Anleitung zum Gebrauch der Programme etwas unbersichtlich (evtl. eine Auflistung oder stichwortartig wre besser). I: Was sollte man unbedingt noch hinzufgen? G: Ihre Programme scheinen mir soweit vollstndig. Alle Bereiche sind abgedeckt und knnen helfen das eigene tun 'kologisch' zu reflektieren und zu verbessern. Grundstzlich ist eine solche Checkliste nie abschliessend, da die Bedrfnisse/ Anforderungen pro Betrieb angepasst werden mssen. I: Was knnte man weglassen? G: Es hat ein paar eher lehrmeisterliche Fragen, wie z.B. kaufen Sie nur das Ntigste Ist eher berflssig und subjektiv. Was ist das Ntigste? I: Was strt Sie an den Programmen? G: Die Auflistung der Massnahmen/ Handlungen sind sehr detailliert und wiederholen sich bei den unterschiedlichen Programmen und Abteilungen. Z.B. Informieren der Mitarbeitenden ber Wassersparmethoden. Diese Handlung ist z.B. bei Kche, Reinigung oder Technik aufgelistet. Weiter sind z.B. informieren ber (Wasser, Energie etc.)Sparmethoden bei den meisten Programmen aufgelistet. Man knnte sich berlegen ob die Kategorien anderes gewhlt werden. Damit die Wiederholungen wegfallen. I: Haben Sie eine Idee wie man diese Wiederholungen vermeiden knnte? G: - Was betrifft das Personal? Z.B. Einweisung des Personals, Aufklrung ber Sparmethode, hausinterne Kurse, Weiterbildung, etc. - Was betrifft die Gste? Z.B. sichtbares, kommuniziertes Leitbild des Hotels fr die Gste, Wasser sparen, Handtcher fters brauchen, etc. - Was betrifft die bestehende Einrichtung/ Technik? Z.B. nicht unntig das Licht brennen lassen, kein Standby-Modus, etc. - Was betrifft Neuanschaffungen/ Technik/ Einrichtung? Z.B. Energiesparlampen, etc.
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Interview with Sven Hberlin, welcome hotels & restaurants Question regarding the design of the handbook: I: Ist der Aufbau des Handbuches (bertitel, Schritte, Informationen, Aufgaben und Hilfestellungen) verstndlich und bersichtlich? H: Ja, es ist verstndlich und bersichtlich. Man versteht was man tun sollte. Questions regarding the content of the handbook: I: Ist es sinnvoll den Hotels jeweils die Wahl der betreffenden Abteilungen zu berlassen? H: Generell ist es sinnvoll, da die Abteilungen in den Hotels schon vorhanden sind und auch in jedem Hotel anders sind. I: Oder sollte man eine Aufzhlung an Abteilungen zur Auswahl stellen? H: Nein, aber man knnte ein paar typische Abteilungen erwhnen, damit ganz klar ist was gemeint ist. Typische Abteilungen wren Rezeption, Kche oder Reinigung. I: Knnen die Tabellen beim Schritt 2 von Hotels problemlos ausgefllt werden? H: Die Hotels wissen, anhand der Rechnungen, wie hoch zum Beispiel ihr Wasser- oder Stromverbrauch ist. Sie wissen es entweder pro Monat oder pro Quartal, es kommt immer auf die Rechnung darauf an. Etwa 70% der Hotels knnen zum Beispiel nicht zuordnen wie viel Wasser in der Kche oder wie viel Strom in den Zimmern verbraucht wurde. Meistens haben nur die grossen Hotelketten solche Messdaten, aber fr die meisten ist es zu aufwendig und zu teuer. I: Sind die Tabellen sinnvoll? Wie knnte dieser erste Umweltreview verbessert werden? H: Generell sind die Tabellen sinnvoll. Man knnte es jedoch so formulieren, dass die Messung auch pro Quartal stattfinden kann und, dass der Verbrauch nur zugeordnet werden muss, wenn dies mglich ist. I: Ist es fr die Hotels mglich, die relevanten gesetzlichen und anderen Forderungen (Schritt 4) zu erkennen? H: Die meisten Hotels wissen nur ber Gesetze der Lebensmittel- und Arbeitssicherheit Bescheid, da diese auch geprft werden. Die anderen Gesetze kennt man eigentlich nicht, ausser man luft rein und es kommt die Hotels teuer zu stehen. I: Bruchte es eine detailliertere Hilfestellung? H: Den Verweis auf externe Berater ist ausreichend. I: Sind die Inhalte der Programme (Schritt 6) von Hotels problemlos umsetzbar? H: Es sind viele, aber das ist gut. So sehen die Hoteliers was sie alles tun knnen. Es ist gut, dass man nicht alle Massnahmen whlen muss. Auch fr kleinere Betriebe, welche ISO 14001 nicht einfhren wollen, ist das gut, da sie so trotzdem eine Hilfestellung zur Verbesserung ihrer Umweltleistung haben. I: Ist die Aufteilung der Programme in die einzelnen Abteilungen gut? Oder wiederholen sich die Massnahmen so zu oft? H: Die Aufteilung ist gut. Es wiederholt sich zwar, aber eine Aufteilung nach Massnahmen wre komplizierter in der Umsetzung.
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I: Wie knnte man diese Programme verbessern? H: Man knnte eine Sparte einfgen, welche ein Visum der Mitarbeiter erfordert. Wie bei der Arbeitssicherheit htte man dann das Controlling Instrument gleich in der Tabelle. Somit htte man eine Sicherheit gegenber den Mitarbeitern, dass sie auch wirklich informiert wurden. I: Ist es fr die Hotels mglich mit den Angaben in Schritt 10, 11 und 12 das Umweltmanagementsystem zu dokumentieren und zu lenken? H: Ich wsste jetzt wie, aber ich habe auch mit ISO 9000 zu tun, wo der Ablauf hnlich ist. I: Bruchte es eine detailliertere Hilfestellung? H: Eventuell knnte man einen Verweis zu einer Homepage machen, welche eine Beispielsdokumentation aufzeigt. Aber ein Beispiel in das Handbuch einzufgen macht keinen Sinn, da die Hotels sonst von der Anzahl der Seiten erschlagen wrden. I: Sind Hotels in der Lage potentielle Notflle (Schritt 13) zu erkennen? H: Eigentlich sollten potentielle Notflle in den Hotels dokumentiert sein, aber diese sind meistens nicht fertig gedacht. I: Bruchte es eventuell eine Auswahl an potentiellen Notfllen? H: Ja, das ist eine gute Idee. Die Branchenlsung fr Arbeitssicherheit hat bereits einen solchen Notfallplan entwickelt, und dieser knnte man bernehmen. General questions: I: Denken Sie dieses Handbuch ist fr alle Hotels, unabhngig von der Grsse und der Anzahl Sterne, anwendbar? H: Theoretisch, wenn die besprochenen Punkte verbessert sind, wre es machbar. Aber fr kleinere Betriebe ist es viel zu aufwendig. Generell kann man die Hotels berzeugen, indem man ihnen aufzeigt, dass sie damit Geld sparen knnen. Kleinere Betriebe knnten einfach Teile, wie zum Beispiel die Programme, nutzen. I: Fehlt etwas komplett? H: Am Schluss des Handbuches knnte man eine Checkliste einbauen, welche alle Schritte nochmals bersichtlich darstellt. In dieser Checkliste knnte man dann auch abhacken was man bereits erledigt hat. I: Hat ihrer Meinung nach dieses Handbuch Potential um Hotels zur ISO 14001 Zertifizierung zu verhelfen? H: Das Handbuch hat definitiv Potential. Vor allem schauen auch immer mehr Kunden auf die Nachhaltigkeit und Schweiz Tourismus setzt auch auf die Nachhaltigkeitskarte.
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Interview with Urs Kly, Planungsberatung fr Hotelbau Questions regarding the content of the handbook: I: Ist das Handbuch fr alle Hotels, unabhngig der Grsse und der Anzahl Sterne, anwendbar? K: - Es ist sehr stark Betriebs- und Standortabhngig. Zum Beispiel funktioniert die Wasserversorgung in einem grossen Hotels anders als in einem kleinen Hotel. Auch funktioniert es anders in einem Stadthotel als in einem Hotel auf einem Berg. Ein anderes Beispiel ist die Aufenthaltsdauer. Ist die Aufenthaltsdauer niedrig, kann es unterumstnden zu kompliziert werden, die Bettwsche nur auf Verlangen der Gste zu waschen. Hat ein Hotel jedoch im Schnitt eine Aufenthaltsdauer von 7 Tagen, kann man die Mitarbeiter konkret darauf schulen. - Das Besitzverhltnis spielt eine zentrale Rolle. Ein kleiner Betrieb, in welchem der Besitzer und der Geschftsfhrer dieselbe Person ist, knnen kologische Zielsetzungen wesentlich einfacher umgesetzt werden als zum Beispiel in einer Hotelkette. In Kettenhotels mssen viel mehr Personen (z.B. Besitzer, Betreiber etc.) mit einbezogen werden, was unweigerlich zu Meinungsverschiedenheiten fhrt. - Fr Kleinbetriebe macht es oft keinen Sinn, sich nach ISO 14001 zertifizieren zu lassen. Aber diese knnen einzelne Teile des Handbuches nutzen. Kleine Betriebe sollten kleine aber wesentliche Schritte machen und diese konkret vermarkten. Umweltschutz ist auch ohne ISO 14001 im kleinen Rahmen mglich. - In einem Neubau sind die Massnahmen vllig anders als in einem Altbau. - Die Struktur des Betriebes in ein weiteres Problem. Sind viele Auslnder angestellt kommt es zu sprachlichen und kulturellen Problemen. Das heisst, andere Nationen haben zum Teil eine andere Einstellung zur Umwelt. I: Ist die erste Umweltbewertung (Schritt 2) technisch umsetzbar? Oder wo stellen sich Probleme? K: Nicht alle Hotels sind mit Messgerten, mit welchen man den Verbrauch per Abteilung und per Monat messen kann ausgerstet. Es ist vielerorts technisch gar nicht mglich. I: Was fehlt bei der ersten Umweltbewertung (Schritt 2)? K: Bei den Energiequellen sollte Fernwrme und alternative Energien hinzugefgt werden. I: Ist die Bewertung der Relevanz (Schritt 3) sinnvoll und anwendbar? K: Generell sind die Bewertungskriterien sinnvoll gewhlt, aber es mssen Vergleichszahlen aufgezeigt werden. Ansonsten weiss man nicht was z.B. ein hoher Verbrauch ist. Die Menge in Zeiteinheit muss messbar sein. I: Sind die Hotels in der Lage, die gesetzlichen und anderen Forderungen (Schritt 4) zu erkennen? K: Nein. Das Problem ist, dass nicht nur kologische Gesetze relevant sind. Z.B. mssen auch die Wasserdruckverhltnisse nach Gesetz erfolgen, wenn man z.B. Wasserspardsen installiert. Hier ist es, wie im Handbuch erwhnt, sinnvoll einen Experten hinzuzuziehen.
CLXXI
I: Sind die Zielsetzungen, Einzelziele und Programme (Schritt 6) umsetzbar und sinnvoll? Oder wo stellen sich Probleme? K: - Z.B. beim Energiebezug oder Abfallmanagement kommt es auf die Vertragsgrundlagen darauf an. Zum Teil werden mit Anbietern Vertrge ausgehandelt, welche besagen, dass so und so viel Energie bezogen werden muss oder so und so viel Abfall zurckgegeben werden muss. Wenn man weniger bezieht/ zurck gibt rutscht man in eine hhere Preiskategorie. Daher ist es wichtig, sinnvolle Vertrge auszuhandeln. - Bei der Beleuchtung muss ein Experte hinzugezogen werden, da gutes Licht verkaufsuntersttzend ist und schlechtes Licht Stolperfallen frdert. Das ist wiederum ein Sicherheitsproblem. - Dass man die beste verfgbare Technik nutzen sollte ist sinnvoll, aber was ist die beste verfgbare Technik. Hier sollte man auf eine Internetseite oder Experten verweisen. - Die Hygiene und die Sicherheit sind zentrale Themen. Ist z.B. die Wassertemperatur im Pool zu tief, kommt das Problem der Legionellen auf. Ist die Wassertemperatur aber zu hoch, besteht eine Verbrennungsgefahr. Hier ist der Haustechniker oftmals berfordert, daher ist ein Experte gefragt. Man muss die Massnahmen ganzheitlich, inklusive deren Folgen betrachten. Die SOS Formel kommt hier zum Zug. Sicherheit + Organisation + Sauberkeit = Werterhaltung der Anlagen und Wirtschaftlichkeit. - Grauwasser wieder verwenden ist sinnvoll, aber es muss aufgezeigt werden, wie das Grauwasser gesammelt werden kann. Ein Verweis auf einen Experten ist sinnvoll. I: Was wrden Sie unbedingt hinzufgen/ streichen? K: - In den Spitzenzeiten ist die Energie/ das Wasser besonders teuer. Deswegen muss ein Leitsystem integriert werden, damit einige Gerte in Spitzenseiten automatisch fr ein paar Minuten ausschalten. - Die Zielsetzungen mssen in Zeiteinheit messbar sein. General questions: I: Wo sollten unbedingt Verbesserungen vorgenommen werden? K: - Die Hotelindustrie ist von starker Personalfluktuation geprgt. Das heisst, die neuen Mitarbeiter mssen jeweils wieder neu eingearbeitet und geschult werden. So ist am stndig mit der Schulung von Mitarbeitern beschftigt. Ein Betrieb kann sich mittels baulichen, technischen oder organisatorischen/ personellen Massnahmen kologisch verbessern. Aufgrund der hohen Personalfluktuation, sollte in einem Hotel mglichst bauliche und technische Massnahmen ergriffen werden. - Es sollte besser auf die verschiedenen Rahmenbedingungen wie die Personalfluktuation, Standort, Besitzverhltnis etc. hingewiesen werden. - Viele Dinge sind von den Hotels selber nicht zu bewltigen. Zum Beispiel kann die Montage von Wassersparduschkpfen sich negativ auf den Wasserdruck auswirken. Es muss immer das Ganze und die mglichen Folgen angeschaut werden und nicht nur einzelne Teile. Dazu sind Fachpersonen wie z.B. Ingenieure notwendig. Das Handbuch sollte fters auf den Einbezug von solchen Experten verweisen. - Es reicht nicht, fr jede Massnahme im Schritt 6 eine verantwortliche Person zu bestimmen. Die verantwortliche Person muss auch von jemandem kontrolliert werden. Hier kommt die KKK Formel zum Zug: kommandieren, kontrollieren, korrigieren. - Beim Schritt 7, sollte der Umweltbeauftragte nicht eine Stabstelle einnehmen, sondern dem Management direkt unterstellt sein. Ausserdem sollten die externen Firmen/ Berater nicht vergessen werden. Der Stellenbeschrieb des Umweltbeauftragten sollte
CLXXII
ein Budget, seine Kompetenzen und Aufgabenbereiche enthalten. Ausserdem sollte klar definiert sein, an wen er zu rapportieren hat und zu wie vielen Prozenten er z.B. eine Sekretrin nutzen darf. I: Fehlt etwas komplett? K: - Das Handbuch sollte um einen Schritt, der externen Zertifizierung, erweitert werden. - Bevor das Umweltmanagementsystem ins Rollen kommt, sollte ein Budget fr die Zertifizierung festgelegt werden, inklusive dem Lohn des Umweltbeauftragten. I: Hat ihrer Meinung nach dieses Handbuch Potential um Hotels zur ISO 14001 Zertifizierung zu verhelfen? K: - Das Umweltmanagementsystem nach ISO 14001 sollte von einer Firma wie z.B. SQS eingefhrt werden. Auf jeden Fall aber braucht es eine kompetente Anspruchsperson im Betrieb selbst. Interview with Hubert Rizzi, SQS Question regarding the constitution of the handbook: I: Ist die Strukturierung des Handbuches in Set up, Plan, Do, Check und Act richtig angewendet? R: Ja, das ist aus meiner Sicht richtig verstanden. I: Sind die 19 Schritte richtig verstanden? R: Die Schritte folgen klar der ISO 14001 ist somit gemss Arbeitstitel korrekt. Questions regarding the content of the handbook: I: Das Handbuch konzentriert sich auf die Umweltdimensionen Wasser, Energie, Abflle, Emissionen und Einkauf. Reicht dies um eine Zertifizierung zu erreichen? Wenn nein, welche Dimensionen sollten unbedingt hinzugefgt werden? R: - Die relevanten Emissionen werden durch eine Umwelt-Relevanzanalyse/ Input-Output Schema/ kobilanz oder dergleichen ermittelt. Die Ergebnisse variieren je nach Betrieb (z.B. mit/ ohne Wellness = Chemikalien zur Badewasserdesinfektion) - Die Norm fordert einen systematischen Ansatz, jedoch keine kobilanz. Aufgrund der gngigen Praxis haben Sie die hotelspezifischen Relevanzen identifiziert und die Systematik ist adquat. Fr eine Zertifizierung ist das gengend - die Norm fordert ja die stndige Verbesserung, somit knnen in den Folgejahren ja noch weitere hotelspezifische Relevanzen dazu genommen werden. I: Die Beurteilung der Relevanz der einzelnen Umweltaspekten erfolgt mittels einer Tabelle (siehe Schritt 3: Umweltaspekte). Diese Tabelle umfasst die 3 Teilbereiche welche mit einem Faktor bewerten werden. Am Schluss werden diese 3 Faktoren multipliziert und stellen die Relevanz dar. Sind die 3 Teilbereiche: Ausmass von Konsum oder Menge, Hufigkeit von anormalen und Notfallsituationen und Schweregrad der Umweltauswirkung sinnvoll gewhlt? Wenn nein, auf was sollte geachtet werden? R: Ja, es ist ein guter Ansatz.
CLXXIII
I: Sind die Faktorenzahlen gut gewhlt? Wenn nein, welche Faktorenzahlen sollte man whlen? R: Diese Skalierung sieht man sehr oft in der Praxis. I: Sind die Beispiel-Zielsetzungen (siehe Schritt 6: Zielsetzungen, Einzelziele und Programme) ausreichen? Wenn nein, wie sollten Zielsetzungen mindestens aussehen? R: Sie haben da gute Beispiele. I: Ist die Idee des Inhalts der Programme (siehe Schritt 6:Zielsetzungen, Einzelziele und Programme) richtig? Wenn nein, was sollte in ein Programm rein kommen? R: Sie haben das so richtig interpretiert. I: Kann die Dokumentation (siehe Schritt 10: Dokumentation) des Umweltmanagementsystems nach ISO 14001 entsprechend den 19 Schritten des Handbuches erfolgen? Wenn nein, was sollte gendert werden? R: Ja, ist ein praktikabler Ansatz. General questions: I: Was ist gut an diesem Handbuch? R: Die PDCA Struktur und der Aufbau innerhalb der Kapitel finde ich gut gelungen. I: Wo sollten unbedingt Verbesserungen vorgenommen werden? R: Bei Schritt 3 und Schritt 12 gibt es Verknpfungen. Den Schritt 12 haben Sie etwas kurz ausgestaltet. Unter Ablauflenkung wird gefordert, dass die umweltrelevanten Verfahren beschrieben werden mssen. Dies kann prozessorientiert erfolgen, indem Sie bei den einzelnen Prozessschritten dann die Vorgaben gemss Schritt 3 referenzieren knnen. I: Fehlt etwas komplett? R: Gemss Norm haben Sie die Eckpfeiler integriert. Sie knnen in der Einleitung oder unter Punkt 12 auf den Nutzen einer parallelen oder vorgngigen Zertifizierung nach ISO 9001 / QQ/ QQQ hinweisen, da in diesen Vorgaben das Abbilden der betrieblichen Ablufe/Prozesse bereits enthalten ist. I: Hat ihrer Meinung nach dieses Handbuch Potential um Hotels zur ISO 14001 Zertifizierung zu verhelfen? R: Ja, unbedingt.
CLXXIV
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Handbook To Achieve The ISO 14001 Certification in The Hotel Industry TanjaBgler

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Handbook to achieve the ISO 14001 Certification in the Hotel Industry

Author: Tanja Bgler Mhleweg 1 8413 Neftenbach tanjabuegler@infoworks.ch +41 79 575 41 69