Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index 2020: Carbon, Energy, and Water

Abstract

The seventh annual Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking study includes data from considerably more hotels than last year. While the bulk of the data still come from hotels in the United States, the study also recorded a greater international participation, with 55 nations and 20 international hotel chains represented. More than 18,000 hotels contributed information regarding their energy and water usage, as well as their greenhouse gas emissions. Complete as of 2018, the data show that the participating hotels have generally continued to reduce their energy and water usage. While the data permit hoteliers and potential guests to see benchmarks for various hotel segments and locations, individual hotel amenities cannot be accounted for in terms of energy or water usage. Data collection is now underway for CHSB2021 study, and the authors encourage additional hotels to participate, especially those in the lower-tier segments which are not as strongly represented here.