Setting an Industry Standard for Water Efficiency and Safety
Water is essential to every facet of America’s hotels—from the cooking of guests’ meals and cleaning linens and towels to hotel pools and air conditioning systems. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, hotel water usage accounts for approximately 15 percent of the nation’s commercial and industrial water use. Marriott International is a visionary leader addressing water challenges in the hotel industry and for that leadership earned the 2020 US Water Prize for Outstanding Private Sector Organization.
Marriott International is committed to a sustainable future for the hotel industry and within the communities around the world that are home to the company’s 7,000 properties. As part of Marriott’s broad sustainability and social impact goals, which were put in place in 2017, the company aims to reduce water intensity across its managed properties by 15 percent from 2016 levels by year 2025. Also in 2017, Marriott worked with the International Tourism Partnership to develop water stewardship goals for the entire industry.
As part of achieving its sustainability goals, Marriott International is implementing an integrated water control system for all cooling towers that are part of a hotel’s air conditioning. This system, known as 3D TRASAR, is the recipient of the EPA’s 2008 Green Chemistry Challenge Award. In addition to minimizing the water intensity needs of hotel air conditioning, the 3D TRASAR system also reduces the health risks including the threat of the water borne illness Legionellosis.
Marriott also conserves water in several other aspects of hotel operations, including laundry and linen reuse programs, dishwashing and water service at restaurants and events, and landscaping and irrigation. The company utilizes water recycling at its facilities, with greywater and rainwater capture systems implemented at several properties. Each property’s Director of Engineering is evaluated for their ability to drive annual performance goals for water.
These investments in sustainable and integrated water management illustrate Marriott’s leadership not just in the hotel industry but in the private sector broadly. By exploring the nexus between environmental, health, and economic impacts, Marriott International is an important contributor to the One Water movement. Watch our video about Marriott below.
