InterContinental Hotels Group

Carbon comparison of international hotels

The InterContinental Hotels Group – host to over 160 million stays per year – commissioned BFF to provide sustainability metrics on the environmental impact of accommodating their guests. We assessed the carbon and ecological footprints of a sample of their hotels from around the world, and found an almost equal split of emissions between Scopes 1 & 2, and Scope 3. We allocated impacts on a ‘per room night’ basis to allow comparisons between hotels, and found that energy use in the best performing hotel resulted in emissions of 22kg CO₂ per room per night, with an average across the group of 59kg CO₂ per room per night. Our metrics were the key first step that allowed IHG to understand the footprint of its operations, and strategies are now being developed to “make a night with IHG more carbon efficient”.