How to use your data to drive sustainability improvements in hospitality design

We kicked off our SDS working groups by putting the spotlight on harnessing data to power sustainability in your hospitality design products. Using a project with Hyatt Hotels Corporation as a jumping off point, design studio DLR Group and data analytics company MindClick discussed setting client’s sustainability intention, creating sustainability frameworks and measuring results. In our first article following these working groups, we share with you our insights into how data really can simplify sustainable hospitality design…

As an interior designer for hospitality you will have noticed the inevitable increase in sustainability targets embedded in the RFPs you receive. Or, you may have your own desire to make sustainable design a cornerstone of your projects, while still meeting client goals. Good understanding and good communication of sustainable design standards, targets and results must flow between all stakeholders, across all stages of a project. But, how do you create sustainable spaces? And how do you ensure the client will see the value in sustainable selections?

Data can be your key to unlocking sustainability. The data you need is at your fingertips, available from green standards organisations, your clients, your vendors and the work you produce on each product. The secret is knowing how to apply it. In the first Working Group for the Sustainable Design Summit, Fred L Brandstrader, Vice President of Construction and Capital Expenditures, Hyatt Hotels Corporation discussed how, when he worked with DLR and MindClick, their approach to data helped shape a project that created a sustainable design benchmark. Pipa Bradbury, Interior Design Leader & Principal, and Vanessa Vu, Senior Interior Designer & Associate joined from DLR Group, while the session was moderated by JoAnna Abrams, CEO of Mindclick.

Here are just some of ways we learnt to use data to drive sustainability improvements:

Decide your sustainability goals with your client at the start of the project

Sustainability is multifaceted – it can take the form of material recyclability, reduction of carbon emissions or reduction of water waste, to name just a few. Therefore it’s important to set specific areas of sustainability for the project with your client. This helps you agree what sustainability success looks like for each project. DLR use action cards during their client kick-offs to draw out specific sustainability goals from their clients. This helps focus their shared idea of sustainability to a handful of priority criteria. This then lays the groundwork for easier selection once the product is underway; when choosing between two products that both claim to be sustainable, they are able to select the product that is sustainable according to their client’s priorities.

Utilise a robust framework to analyse the sustainability of each product for selection

Vendors may report their own sustainability credentials. However, in the absence of an industry standard, the metrics they use to measure their products’ sustainability will vary, creating a challenge for designers and procurement professionals hoping to compare like for like. Factors might include location of manufacture relative to project site, percentage of product that uses recycled material. 

Creating your own framework establishes a standard, by which you can compare vendors. This may sound daunting but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. MindClick and DLR Group both draw on existing green frameworks to create their own frameworks. MindClick present their analysis in easy-to-understand graphics. This helps the multiple stakeholders, including designers, clients and procurement companies, compare products and select.

Run sustainability evaluations throughout the project

As any designer knows, a project is always evolving. Don’t wait until the end of the project to discover whether you have met your sustainability objectives. MindClick use a three stage analysis, starting with a monoroom evaluation. At the POs stage they roll it out to include private guest rooms and public spaces. Introducing evaluations to your workflow may impact your project timings, so it’s important to build these into the deadlines from the very start. 

Decide how you will gauge impact and report wins

Sustainability stories are powerful tools. Provide your client with comprehensive reports breaking down the impact created by your sustainable hospitality designs and selections. Fred said, ‘There is absolute data that guests are willing to pay more for something that’s got more sustainable and environmental stories.’ He also pointed to the impact that sustainable stories had on guest experience, and the higher value held by sustainable properties. 

In order to tell this story, and to understand the success of the project, communicate the sustainability ‘wins’ to the client. For example, report percentage of spend that is spent on products that fit clients’ criteria for sustainability. MindClick also analyse their wins by surface area. For example if 89% of the products by surface area have a positive sustainability, this is a positive outcome. It’s possible to use more than one framework. 

Did you find this useful? The next Working Group for buyers and designers across all hospitality travel interiors will take place in-person Friday 7 June at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The event is titled Refurbishment: A circularity state of mind and will include a networking breakfast and roundtable. Learn more about simple approaches to lifetime extension of products in hospitality interiors and develop your own circularity state of mind. Speakers include Kim Bjørge Hofslundsengen, VP Hotel Operations, Hurtigruten. 

Sign up here

WordPress Cookie Plugin by Real Cookie Banner