Winner of the Green Hotelier Awards 2016 in Europe, the London

Heathrow Marriott has innovated and invested in new technology to

improve its sustainability and reduce its consumption footprint. More
than once it has been a leader in the Marriott group or across hotels in
Europe for its forward-thinking approaches to sustainability and
willingness to trial new solutions. Ron Vos, General Manager at the
hotel describes their journey with the hope of inspiring others.
GH: Can you take us on your hotel or resort’s sustainability journey? When did it begin and where are
you now?
RV: Our journey began when the hotel opened in March 1999 and continues today. Although the hotel
had a green committee established much earlier, we pulled resources together in 2011, with more
involvement from the Director of Engineering, Department Heads and the GM. Each department has
its own energy action plan and ‘Green Team’ monthly meetings encourage an exchange of ideas,
initiatives and goals.
We wanted to do more and be creative with our solutions. We came up with ideas as a team, and as
these ideas were implemented we began to see the positive results. This has spurred us on to be
more committed to our sustainability projects.
Notable actions:

 2004 – Replaced compact fluorescent lamps to LED, reducing carbon emissions

further
 2006 – Introduced waste segregation, recycling 100% with 0% waste going to
landfill
 2007 – Fitted sensors in back of house areas and installed timed switches
 2008 – Flow of rubbish recorded in F&B areas to reduce waste and increase
recyclable items
 2009/10 – Introduction of woodchip and new shrubs to hotel grounds
 2011 – Composting Pit built, used for hotel plants and flowers
 2012 – Installed greenhouse, windmill, solar panels to power LED Marriott sign;
installed 2 electric car charging stations
 2013 – LED car park lights replaced 30 SON lamps, reducing carbon emissions;
installed Vito oil recycling machine, energy/water efficient dishwasher in kitchen, voltage
reduction transformers installed.
 2014 – Water restrictors throughout the hotel; modified cisterns to reduce flushed
water; upgraded CHP plant installed.
 2015 – Granuldisk pot wash system saving 92% of water in the kitchen. Daily
savings of 5.6m3 litres of water, 201kWh of energy and 12 litres of chemicals.
GH: Why did the hotel decide to become more sustainable?
RV: Sustainability has always been a focus from Marriott International who set clear goals on
saving energy, reducing water and using sustainable resources. And we as a hotel were happy to be
creative and build awareness of this to our hotel team, guests and community. Marriott International
made great steps by creating a new position within the Engineering discipline of Director of Energy
and Engineering and introduced new portals to share best practices on the Planet Europe website
- Planet Marriott Europe.
GH: What are the key initiatives that the hotel has undertaken to improve its sustainability?
RV: The initiatives we’ve taken to reduce our carbon footprint and positively impact our community
have involved many innovative programmes and had a great impact on guests and media.
 Energy: In the last five years combined energy consumption shows a steady reduction of 8% and
carbon emissions have reduced by 12%. Big savings were achieved with LED lighting, not only in
bedrooms, but in the car park too, including the spotlight on the façade.
Initiatives include:

 Hybrid Windmill & Solar Power System on the hotel roof to harness wind and solar
power to light the Marriott LED sign.
 Greenhouse on the hotel roof supplying local produce to the hotel restaurants and
bars, saving transportation
 LED lighting throughout the hotel includes all exterior and car park lighting
reducing energy and carbon emissions.
 Cheetah Extractor Fan Control System: automatic speed variation of
extractor/supply fan when kitchen is not in use.
 Triad Initiative 3.30pm-6.30pm daily: Turning off all non-essential lights and
equipment during peak times.
 Entech Program: specialist company, reporting and analysing consumption data to
help reduce energy waste.
 Kiwi Power Demand Reduction Strategy: to reduce KWH loads at set times thereby
reducing the load on the national grid at peak times.
 CHP: efficient way of producing heating and hot water than conventional boiler
system, it also produces electricity.
 Voltage Optimisation: voltage lowered from 240 - 245 volt range to a more
efficient 235 – 240 volt range.