Sustainability initiatives for
Greening the Hotels in Sri Lanka
Samantha Kumarasena
Deputy Director
National Cleaner Production Centre
Sri Lanka
Contents
• Significance of tourism industry in Sri Lanka
• Importance of sustainability initiatives for the
tourism sector
• Initiatives at policy level for greening the tourism
• Initiatives at national & enterprise level for greening
the hotels in Sri Lanka
Significance of tourism in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka is an small Island
country (65610 km2) with a
- rich cultural heritage (5
world heritage sites in
Cultural triangle),
- diverse landscapes,
- significant bio-diversity
(one of 25 bio-diversity hot
spots) and wildlife reserves
(7% national parks & 5%
sanctuaries & reserves)
Rich country in Tourism resources
Significance of tourism in Sri Lanka
• Tourism is the fourth largest foreign exchange
earner and contributes significantly to the
economic growth and development
• Wide range of tourism
opportunities ranging
from conventional
“ Sun and beach
tourism” to
sustainable alternative
tourism options
At present context,
• “Sun and beach tourism” remains the main
attraction for most foreign visitors,
BUT
• Alternative tourism (i.e. ecotourism,
nature tourism, and cultural/heritage
tourism) on a smaller scale has been promoted
as a sustainable alternatives to avoid the
negative social, economic, and environmental
impacts often associated with mass tourism
development
Importance of sustainability initiatives
for the Hotel sector – external factors
• Market orientation and
Customer preference
• Need for catering to the
niche
• Strict enforcement of
environmental regulations
• Corporate image and
public perception
Importance of sustainability initiatives
for the hotel sector – internal factors
• Tourism in Sri Lanka – flourishing and flooding
• Concentrated in areas with fragile environment
– degradation of coastal habitants and natural
settings
• Small country – numerous social, economics
and environmental negative impacts on host
communities
• High energy prices to be paid – one of the
highest in the region
Eco-tourism in Sri Lanka
• A National Ecotourism Policy Plan is being
formulated
• Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) has presented a
comprehensive plan for promotion and
management of nature tourism in Sri Lanka
• To lift the profile of ecotourism, the Ministry of
Tourism declared year 2000 as the “Year of
Ecotourism.”
Eco-tourism in Sri Lanka
The 13th Pacific Asia Travel Association
Ecotourism Conference and Travel Mart was
held in Colombo in February 2001 and provided
the country tremendous exposure as an
ecotourism destination
ecotourism and other special interest tourism in
Sri Lanka are considered as niche travel
products yet to reach their growth potential
CP policy for Tourism sector
• National Cleaner
Production Policy
and Strategy was
endorsed in Sri
Lanka in 2005
• Subsequently under
sectoral CP policies,
CP policy for
Tourism sector was
developed in 2008
At programmes level,
• Master plan for
improving tourism in Sri
Lanka is underway
• A “Green Channel” for
Investments approval
process
• Government interventions
for commencing Master
projects – e.g Kalpitiya
Cleaner Production in Hotels
• NCPCSL intervened from Eden Hotel (1998) to
Ulagalle resort (2011)
• ISO 14001 EMS, 9001 QMS & ISO 22000 FSMS
certified medium scale hotel saved 10000 USD
per annum (2008)
• Heritance Kandalama (2009) and Heritance
Ahungalle (2010) won Gold in service sector in
National Cleaner Production Awards
programme
• Ulagalla resort won Gold in hotel sector in
National Green Awards 2011
Greening Sri Lanka Hotels –
Switch-Asia EU Project
• Greening Sri Lankan Hotels is a European
Commission funded project under the SwitchAsia programme
• Targeted at enhancing the environmental
performance of Sri Lankan hotels through
improvement of energy, water and waste
management systems and reduce cost of
operations (of 350 medium scale hotels) and
• Increase the market acceptance of Sri Lankan
hotels through promoting them as low carbon
foot print green hotels
More information from www.greeningsrilankahotels.org
Tools in Greening the hotel in Sri
Lanka
• Cleaner Production has been the cutting edge tool –
even in Greening Sri Lanka Hotels – the
Switch-Asia EU Project
• Focus was diverted in timeline, and significant
improvements have been brought into water
efficiency, energy efficiency and now in reducing
Carbon footprint
• Systems certification – ISO 14001, Green Globe,
earth-check has been immensely helpful to
continually improve and sustain environmental
performance of the hotels
Techniques adoptedin common in water efficiency
•
•
•
•
Harvesting rain water
„Switching off policy‟
Sub metering and awareness raising
Treated water for Irrigation purposes –
Gardening etc
• Water efficient bath room fittings – cisterns,
shower heads etc
• Sensory control systems, mechanization and
automation at user points
Some common energy savings
Techniques adopted
• Energy efficient building design and conversions
• Natural ventilation and lighting
• Solar power for room hot water supply , E-E bulbs
• Bio gas generation from left over food and other
wastes – for cocking and lighting
• Good house keeping practices – cleaning covers of
lights, gas burners etc.
Some common material efficiency
Techniques adopted
• Reduce the use of polythene, plastic water bottles
and cans etc, to create a polythene and plastic free
environment
• All recyclable solid waste such as polythene plastic
glass, paper and metal is collected separately and
dispatched for recycling
Some common material efficiency
Techniques adopted
• 7 R concept (Reject, Reduce, Reuse, Repair,
Recover, Recycle, Research) was introduced by
Heritance Kandalama – others follow
• Free environment concept–e.g. Polythene & plastic
• Segregation at point of use and directing to the best
possible end-use purpose
Some common material efficiency
Techniques adopted
• Using only bio-degradable products – eg. Laundry
chemicals
• External recycling for internally non-usable wastes
Composting and bio-gas generation for biodegradable wastes
Green initiatives adopted in General
• Source reduction – through competency
development of employees and effective
communication with the Guest
• Organic farming of vegetables, fruits, paddy and
other grains and organic food courts in the
restaurant
• Community development through getting link with
supply chain – becomes both supplier and buyers
and doing green jobs
„Papers from visitors‟ – Papers from
Elephant dung
Ulagalle Resort – from 2010
LEED Certified
Green Hotel in Sri Lanka
95 Years Old
95 years old house converted to the Green hotel
Organic farming at Ulagalla resort
Rain water harvesting systems
Evaporative cooling system
Thermal insulation in the roof with
natural materials
Dura
Boar
d
Air
Gap
Construction of Roof (Reduce
Heat Gain through Roof)
Durr
a
pane
Tha
tchl
Use Sustainable Materials - Durra
A 100% ‘green product’ DURRA panels are recyclable as the composition is
total natural
It takes 18 acres of straw
(this is RENEWABLE EVERY 6 MONTHS)
to build an 18 square house.
It takes the equivalent of one acre of clear cut
forest.
(That is RENEWABLE ONLY 30 YEARS)
to do the same job.
Time has come to save our resources to
the new generation.
Sand and lime take 1000 years to renew,
but, Straw is a naturally renewable
resource,
can be renewed within every 6 months.
Achieving energy efficiency
In conclusion,
• Tourism industry in the country is blooming
• Hotel buildings and construction coming up
should be green by design
• Resource efficiency initiatives are driven by
market forces for the sector
• Fortunately the sector is open and there are
champions to lead by example
• Developing and strengthening the enabling
measures and support services has become the
need of the hour
Thank you!