In acknowledgment of October being National Energy Action Month, we’re proud to share the work IHG® Army Hotels and the U.S. Army is doing to improve our environmental impact. We’ve written about the environmental benefits of our use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in new hotel construction before, but we also want to highlight some of the Army’s recent activity in the sustainability space and let you know some tips and tricks on how you can be green while traveling.
Redstone Arsenal
On Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, the Army is working to cut greenhouse emissions of their post in half. “Redstone’s goal is to reduce energy and water consumption – per square foot of facility space – each year,” said Don Henderson, the lead energy manager with the Directorate of Public Works for the last two years. “With the rising cost of energy and water, this is a big challenge. As the Arsenal continues to expand, we’re trying to do more and use less energy and water to accomplish it.”
Redstone Arsenal is at an advantage because its two main electrical power sources from the Tennessee Valley Authority are non-greenhouse gas producing, they are still committed to reducing energy consumption per square foot.
In addition to the Army’s efforts, our Candlewood Suites® hotel on Redstone Arsenal – opened in March 2016 – was the first Candlewood Suites-branded hotel in the IHG Army Hotels
portfolio with a Silver LEED certification. It is also the first property to be built using Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT). As of 2022, there are five hotels in the IHG Army Hotels portfolio that use CLT, and several more are in the pipeline.
Mokule’ia Army Beach
On September 23rd, which is National Public Lands Day (the largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands in the U.S.), 50 8th MP Brigade soldiers took part in a clean-up effort on Mokule’ia Army Beach in Oahu in order to collect, remove, and dispose of debris and trash left on the beach.
Staff Sgt. Mark Malmgren noted the importance of not only keeping the environment clean, but also respecting the local population because, “It may not be something that I see during my time here, but the next guy who gets stationed here may have things a little bit easier because we built good relations and we respected the island culture.”
Go Green Tips
Being more eco-friendly can be as easy, even while traveling. Our Go Green tips include carpooling, using public transportation as much as possible, conserving water, bringing your own water bottle to reduce the waste from single use plastics, and eating locally grown food.
We’re giving more Go Green tips on how to be sustainable every month over on our Instagram and Facebook pages.
The IHG Army Hotels portfolio integrates sustainability and conservation throughout hotel design, construction and operations. In three years between 2017 and 2020, conservation and sustainability efforts for IHG Army Hotels resulted in savings of $1.87 million in electricity, gas, and water expenses and these cost savings are utilized by the Privatization of Army Lodging (PAL) program for future investment – including new hotel development and renovations – across all IHG Army Hotels locations.
If you’re travelling soon, you can see all of the certifications available at our hotels and discover how your favorite on-post accommodations rank on our IHG® Green Engage™ System here.
Header photo from Staff Sgt. Richard Perez on army.mil
