Sandman Signature Gatwick Hotel achieves Green Key International Sustainability Award

A hotel near Gatwick Airport has met the stringent criteria of the prestigious Green Key International Sustainability Award. Sandman Signature Gatwick Hotel has recently implemented a number of initiatives in order to improve the ecological footprint of its operations.

Green Key sets the standard for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism sector. During the rigorous judging, each establishment is assessed against strict standards, which are set by the global Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and backed by the World Tourism Organisation and the UN Environment Programme. These criteria include staff involvement, guest information and sustainable management of energy, waste, water, cleaning products, food and drinks. Through making greener choices, each establishment is able to significantly reduce their environmental impact, reducing the consumption of energy and water and improve their guests’ experience.

The four-star, 151-bedroomed Sandman Signature Gatwick Hotel has undertaken a wide range of activity to improve its environmental footprint. A sizeable investment has been made in a new wireless building management system that controls all of the hotel’s major mechanical units. These units can be set to run at a certain time from any laptop/desktop and have resulted in a 20% reduction in monthly electricity use.

New control systems for guest room heating allows the front desk to control temperatures, with sensors recognising if there is no human presence in the room so the heating or cooling can be shut down to save waste.

The hotel has also been focussing on its local environment, planting flowers around the exterior of the hotel to support wildlife, and working closely with the local community and charities. Items such as shower gels and pillows have been donated to homeless shelters and visits have been made to local schools to talk to students about careers in the hospitality industry.

Gints Skieris, General Manager at Sandman Signature Gatwick Hotel, said: “The Green Key Certification is not easily achieved, which in my opinion makes it so much more valuable. It makes you think harder and more creatively about how to be a greener business and that can only be a good thing. During this journey, we learned a lot and found new ways to save water and electricity and ensure that less waste goes to landfill.

“Green Key is one of the leading ecolabels recognised by Google Travel as part of their recently announced ‘Sustainability Labelling’ within their Google powered booking engine. This recognition is important to guests, and we want to make sure we are doing our part in improving the world around us. We are looking forward to getting all of our UK properties accredited over the coming months.”

In England, the Green Key scheme is managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “We are delighted to award Sandman Signature Gatwick Hotel the Green Key certification. This award proves that luxury and sustainability can go hand in hand, meaning travellers do not have to compromise in order to curb their carbon impact.

“The Green Key programme not only serves to recognise the specific achievements of each establishment but also to create a network within the industry for the sharing of innovation and best practice.

It is our vision that the whole industry takes steps to reduce their carbon footprint as we strive to Build Back Better post pandemic and decarbonise the UK economy to meet the government’s 2050 net zero target.”