The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and its partners of the Nearly Zero Energy Hotels (NEZEH) initiative, have present the prototype of a new tool to engage the tourism sector in energy efficiency.
The neZEH toolkit is a practical instrument for hotel owners to assess their energy consumption levels and identify appropriate measures for energy efficiency improvement and reaching nearly-zero levels. This tool will be available for users by mid-March, 2016.
The neZEH initiative aims to support the tourism sector in Europe to comply with European Union regulations for nearly zero buildings (nZEB) according to which all 28 EU countries will need to reach nZEB levels by 2020.
The project, co-financed by the European Union, builds upon the UNWTO Hotel Energy Solutions, which has since 2011 engaged 20,000 users worldwide and 1,500 hotels in Europe in better understanding how to become energy efficient and more competitive.
NEZEH is developed within the principles of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns and particularly of the 10YFP Programme on Sustainable Tourism (10YFP STP), led by UNWTO together with the governments of Morocco, Republic of Korea and France, with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The initiative will provide technical expertise to the private sector while fostering tourism public policies in the areas of energy efficiency and help the tourism sector in its contribution to the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
