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Abu Dhabi’s Millennium Hotel is a long-time champion of the green cause. General manager Moine Kandil explains.
You have been advocating sustainability for quite some time, when did you first become interested in green issues and why?
We started green policies at the hotel at the end of 2005 when I realised that the green concept and practices had become an international topic. We decided to take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and in fact we consider it as one of our paramount missions.
I realised that unless we all combine to take decisive action to take care of the environment we will destroy our one and only planet.
Have you noticed the idea taking more of a hold in the Arab world of late?
Going green is the latest trend and is set to stay. In the Arab world the increasing number of people adjusting their lifestyle, having recognised the importance of protecting the environment and the impact each individual can positively make through eco-friendly practices, is escalating. Education is the key, it all starts from home where parents teach their kids to grow up green.
How do you translate your own green beliefs into your everyday working life?
The Millennium Hotel Abu Dhabi – which was awarded the Best Environmental Hotel by Mena – will always set an example within the hospitality industry by exerting all our efforts to improve ecological awareness on a people level, hotel level and societal level and to ignite in others the passion of implementing green initiatives.
Our guests take pride in staying in our hotel because they know of our strong commitment to the environment without compromising on five-star service. You cannot take things away from the guests to go green yet you can implement green measures without sacrificing taste and style.
The hotel initiated conservation of energy and water consumption and waste reduction as well as the use of eco friendly materials, cutting back on the use of products which damage the environment and utilising products made in the UAE rather than importing them. We have also introduced environmentally-friendly products such as long-life light bulbs and a Building Management System (BMS) which conserves and regulates air conditioning and electricity in different areas of the hotel.
Is there a noticeable financial effect from implementing green policies?
We saved 20 per cent on water after fixing water savers in the guest rooms and public toilets and eight per cent of our total electricity consumption after installing energy-saving bulbs. We are in the process of installing LED bulbs instead of the halogen ones throughout the hotel this year, this is a long-term exercise and we will reap its fruits in the future.
What would be your message to the industry on green working?
Green initiatives are being undertaken by the hotel’s management and staff and these practices can be positively used to attract clients and business opportunities. Adopting green working practices is my message to the industry, we should all direct our efforts to implementing ecological projects in our properties.