Covid-19 has once more reinforced in our minds that nature is the strongest force and we all must take the sustainable, green, minimalistic, and mindful path ahead. Even as the pandemic recedes and the world gets back to ‘normal,’ we hopefully will not forget the sustainable lessons learnt.

The session on ‘New Challenges and Unexplored Opportunities’ was moderated by Niranjan Khatri, Founder and Principal Consultant, iSambhav. Panellists included: Madan K. Sharma, Vice President - Engineering, IHCL; H.C. Vinayaka, VP Tech, EHS & Sustainability, ITC Hotels; Bhaskar Gurnath, Area Director of Engineering - South Asia, Marriott International; Sareena Kochar, Vice President - Housekeeping, Lemon Tree Hotels; Meenu Tognata, Divisional Housekeeper, ITC Hotels; Bhaskar Masineni, Corporate Chief Engineer, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts and Harinder Kishore, Director of Rooms, Andaz Delhi

Leading the conversation on strategy, challenges and opportunities, Niranjan Khatri articulates, “In light of the challenges that will come in the future on account of various ecological issues like deforestation, desertification, overdraft on natural resources, the hospitality industry needs to become more agile. We need to be minimalistic in our design, Covid-19 has taught us many lessons that should not be lost with time.”

Pointing out certain frivolities being used by hotels, he said, “I am told that only five per cent of the world’s travellers use the bathtub, yet most hotels have them. Toilet paper comes at the cost of trees. We can look at taking the daring decision of not keeping toilet paper in hotel rooms. Instead, we can promote the hygiene faucet in hotels. We need to change the service design collectively as an industry. Let the industry show the way forward to all through the responsible use of resources.” 

Elaborating on processes being followed, Sareena Kochar said, “Separation of biowaste is happening with the help of special agencies and bodies identified for the same. In this time employee safety is also one of the major concerns, for the same we purchased PPE kits, masks and kept up the level of sanitisation. Social distancing was also maintained. Daily services were being provided only on the customer request. Minimalistic design is trending nowadays. It is easier for the employees to clean as well as no laminates are being used. Also, furniture used is a straight line with few crevices so it's easier to clean.”

It remains essential to take more resource-intensive measures, especially where there is a sudden rise in costs due to COVID 19, but lack of liquidity in the market. Meenu Tognata said, “We are opening the hotels phase-wise and are trying to minimise the costs by ensuring the room temperatures are maintained well. Curtains are kept closed, not allowing the heat to enter the rooms. Staff has been trained to adapt to new practices and work efficiently.” 

Adding to the same Khatri said that it is important for us all to become climate friendly and wear clothes according to the seasonal weather. 

On the radical steps they are taking for water management, Harinder Kishore said, “Aerocity was dependant on tanker water previously, but thankfully in the last few months, GMR has started providing water. Our hotel infrastructure helps us in saving water. Post Covid-19, we have started operating the laundry for just a few specified hours. Water is recycled for reuse and helps reduction of water usage. We also have a system in place for storage of rainwater.”

Climate change is likely to reduce global GDP by 5 per cent. In this scenario, it is especially important to reduce emissions from hotels. Elucidating on the same Bhaskar Masineni said, “There is a serious need to cut emissions, due to Covid-19 this has been fast tracked. We have taken some extreme measures in terms of improving the efficiencies and introducing some technology into the hotels. We have created a roadmap for the next two years, each hotel will take measures for sustainability, energy, and operational efficiency. We have put timelines and are bringing in some energy-efficient equipment to achieve this.  Most of our hotels are fitted with wind-mill energy equipment, 90 per cent of the power is met by renewable energy source since 2008.”

Bhaskar Gurnath added, “Govt of India has issued guidelines for running Air conditioning during Covid-19. They want us to run the air handler unit with maximum fresh air. Fresh air needs to be filtered every time it is brought in. First through filtration, then by removing moisture and then by changing the temperature of the air that is being pumped into the building. So, in this process our energy consumption has increased multi-fold. With these increasing costs, hotel engineers need to budget as much as they can.” 

Madan K. Sharma said that laundry wastewater can be separately taken and reused in the laundry itself. He said, “We need to go back and revisit our design systems. IOT technology based operating systems need to be brought in for better performance, consistency, safety, and water saving at the same time. Simulations need to be carried out in terms of designing of buildings.”

H.C. Vinayaka said, “By 2025, all ITC hotels plan reduction by 20 per cent on freshwater consumption, energy and waste to be more sustainable. People have been sensitised to follow up on this.”

Sharing a solution for the plastic challenge, he added that the best practice for the same is segregation of the plastic right at the beginning.

No hotel in the world is water positive so there is another opportunity for the industry to collaborate and see how hotels could do so and take credit for the same.

Khatri concluded the session by adding, “The pandemic will give us enough time to introspect the difficult points to align with nature.”