FRANKFURT Accor has launched an interactive calculator designed to help event organisers cut the carbon footprint of their meetings and conferences.
Unlike other carbon calculators that only measure emissions from production and energy consumption, the hotel group claims its new tool takes into account other factors such as group size, the number of night stays, the length of the event and the size of the venue, among others. It also counts indirect emissions associated with organising events from waste treatment to paper and food choices.
Accor used data culled from its environment footprint report released in December 2011 to build the carbon optimiser, which is seen as a crucial step towards achieving the goals of the hotel group's Planet 21 sustainable development programme launched last month. (See related story here.)
"The ambition of Planet 21 is to involve more our customers in our continuous improvement drive on the sustainable development front," said Sophie Flak, Accor executive vice-president for academies and sustainable development. "The carbon optimiser, an innovative tool packed with completely new calculation variables, is a step in that direction."
All Accor sales team in roughly 2,000 hotels will have access to this tool by the end of the year.
Randall Sim
