Case Study: Green Experience Meetings at Radisson Blu Hotels Around the World

Radisson Blu® is one of the world’s leading hotel brands under the Carlson Rezidor umbrella, a hotel group that includes 1,400 hotels in 115 countries. As a global leader, Carlson Rezidor has achieved a great deal of progress when it comes to designing and operating sustainable hotels. This article will focus on the sustainable achievements made by Radisson Blu Hotels in Sweden, USA, and India. It is a huge turning point in events right now with more and more venues implementing sustainability, and Carlson Rezidor have teamed up with both Positive Impact and Triple Pundit to tell their story and inspire others across the globe with best practice examples.

Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel Stockholm, Sweden

Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel Stockholm was the first building in Sweden to achieve the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification; this is a green building program that recognizes “best-in-class” building strategies for a new construction. Part of this achievement is owed to the fact that 100% of the material from the previous building was used to reconstruct the hotel as it is today. A huge double glass wall acts as an energy collector which generates on average 1MW of heat energy each day, teamed with LED and long life lighting this significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the venue. The hotel also utilises its surrounding resources by using 250 tonnes of water form the lake to cool the building, a great example of how the hotel plays an active role in protecting and preserving the local environment.

In terms of Brain Food served at the events, the team designs menus from locally grown and seasonal products focusing on fair and sustainably sourced produce. A key part of their sustainability strategy when it comes to food is prioritising quality over quantity. This ensures that guests receive the best quality produce, but also reduces food waste. In the instance that there is left over food, this is compacted with the in-house balers along with any paper and plastic in order to reduce transport miles en-route to disposal at the same time as minimising cost.

Radisson Blu Hotels have even created their own initiative- Blu Planet- that Stockholm Waterfront participates in. For every 250 bath towels that the guests choose to reuse, the hotel gives a child safe water for life. This is enabled through a partnership with the ‘Just a Drop’ charity that runs water projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America. To date Radisson Blu hotels have provided safe drinking water for life to over 5,000 children.

It is no surprise that the hotel is eco-labelled – first with Swan and now with the Green Key Eco Label.

Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago, USA

Like the Stockholm Waterfront, the Aqua Hotel Chicago is also LEED (Silver) certified and is also the only full-service hotel in Chicago to have achieved the commercial interior level of this certification. Additional achievements include the Green Key Eco-Label and the Trip advisor Green Leaders Platinum. These ecological features have been integrated in the building’s iconic design that was created by internationally acclaimed and environmentally conscious architect, Jeanne Gang of Gang Architects. During the build, Radisson Blu Aqua ensured that more than 92% of all construction waste was recycled and 17% of materials were sourced locally. In addition, the hotel also implements practical and measurable strategies which have resulted in a reduction of 21% in water use each year, installation of equipment that uses 25% less energy, 31% reduction in light power through use of LEDs, and 50% of energy is from renewable sources.

The hotel not only inspires guests through their achievements, but also encourages them to make sustainable choices themselves by providing discount cards for bike sharing services, discount parking when carpooling, and electrical car charging posts. Guests can also benefit from the hotel’s 80,000-square-foot green roof with native plants that will inspire guests to protect and nurture their natural surroundings both at the hotel and in their every day lives.

In terms of meetings, Radisson Blu Chicago serves meeting delegates Brain Food which includes a maximum of organic, local and vegetarian options, and are good for constant concentration levels of meeting delegates, and for the planet. The restaurant also minimizes plastic bottle waste by serving in-house filtered water eliminating transport miles.

Radisson Blu Hotel Nagpur, India

Radisson Blu Nagpur is located at the most central point of India and is the only LEED (Gold) Certified building in Nagpur city. The hotel developed a sustainability strategy that not only encompasses the design of the building and selection of site, but also includes a number of initiatives that have helped Radisson Blu Nagpur achieve the EarthCheck eco-label.

The hotel is a leader when it comes to renewable energy by utilising 100% energy from wind power, however, Radisson Blu Nagpur also recognises the need to reduce energy demand by installing energy saving technology such as LED lights which save on average 54,662 kWH/year. Addionally, the hotel has installed dimmers, motion sensors and occupancy sensors on guest floors to ensure energy isn’t wasted.

In addition to using wind power, the hotel boasts solar panels to heat their water supply, and is mindful of optimising the usage of water resources. This comes into action when for example when developing and maintaining the green space surrounding the premises. Radisson Blu Nagpur understands the importance of giving back to the environment and recently conducted a tree plantation project on the hotel grounds.

The hotel also has a strong social sustainability strategy employing differently abled staff to ensure local people have equal opportunities. All year-round, the Radisson Blu Nagpur coordinates a host of charitable work including clothes donations, blood donations and supporting local orphanages, woman’s rights groups, handicap organisations and elderly groups.

The future for Radisson Blu and Carlson Rezidor

Both Radisson Blu and Carson Rezidor are demonstrating sustainable practices everyday. As you can see from the case studies above, so much progress has been made at just 3 hotels. To top off all their hard work, Positive Impact has now awarded Radisson Blu Hotel Stockholm Waterfront Hotel, Radisson Blu Aqua, and Radisson Blu Nagpur with the Sustainability Supporter Recognition Stamp to acknowledge the success of their sustainable strategies. As events venues, the initiatives they implement and sustainable options they provide can make a huge difference to the industry on the whole and change the behaviours and views of event professionals world wide.