Hilton Worldwide, which initiated Carbon Offset Program in October 2012, measures carbon generated by meetings and events held at Hilton Worldwide properties in Southeast Asia and at no cost to customers, offsets this through the purchase of carbon credits.
Yesterday, it was announced that, the hotel group expands the program with three new renewable energy projects receiving support for 2014. The Mungcharoen Biomass Project in Thailand, the Musi Hydro Project in Indonesia, and the Song Ong Small Hydro Project in Vietnam will join the Borneo Rainforest Rehabilitation Project in Malaysia as beneficiaries of the program.
Hotels use the company’s proprietary LightStay™ Meeting Impact Calculator to calculate carbon emissions, and the program supports the ‘Living Sustainably’ pillar of Hilton Worldwide’s global corporate responsibility strategy, Travel with Purpose™.
As of January 1, 2014, four new hotels joined the existing 13 already taking part in the program since its launch. The new hotels are DoubleTree by Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok, Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok in Thailand, and two hotels in Vietnam - Hilton Hanoi Opera and Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi.
The 7,200 tons of carbon offset in the first 12 months of Hilton Worldwide’s Carbon Offset Program is equivalent to 758 economy class flights around the world.
Hilton Worldwide is one of the first major multi-brand hospitality companies to make sustainability measurement a brand standard and require performance against sustainability goals. In 2012, the company registered US$253 million in utility cost savings through a 12.8% reduction of carbon output, a 12.2% reduction in energy use, a 24.9% reduction of waste input and a 10.2% reduction in water use.
