InterContinental Sao Paulo Saves Forest with Green Meetings

The InterContinental São Paulo is contemporary elegance at its best. Located in the heart of Brazil’s bustling and most populous city, the property is just one block from the banking and art district on Paulista Avenue. Nearby local attractions include the São Paulo Art Museum and the Parque Tenente Siqueira Campos (Trianon Park).

Green Globe recently recertified InterContinental São Paulo with the hotel achieving a high compliance score of 82%.

According to Francisco Garcia, General Manager for InterContinental São Paulo and Director of Operations for IHG in Brazil, the certification reflects that the efforts of IHG staff go beyond hospitality.

""We are very happy to have InterContinental São Paulo certified by Green Globe for the third year in a row. It shows our guests our ongoing commitment to minimize our environmental impact and contribute to the development of communities where we operate," said Mr Garcia.

Individual departments have achieved successful results in carrying out sustainable best practices. The Housekeeping team is responsible for collecting and sending items to a local recycling program. So far 789 Brigada Faber Castell pens and pencils etc., 3,085 Brigada Colgate toothbrushes and toothpaste packaging and 1,100 Brigada Scotch Brite cleaning items have been recycled. As part of the TerraCycle program, the hotel earns points for each item that can be redeemed as a cash donation to non-profit organizations such as schools.

Resource management is handled by the Maintenance Department, which has identified an opportunity to save 22,000 kWh of energy per month. A special kit injects a 60/40 mix of natural gas and diesel into the hotel’s generator that is activated for 3 hours from 5:30 to 8:30 PM on weeknights during peak periods. This represents a reduction of 8.5% in total energy consumption and expected savings of R$24,000 per month.

As part of its community programs, InterContinental São Paulo HR team has been working with the Youth Career Initiative (YCI) since 2007. YCI combats global youth unemployment by providing students from disadvantaged backgrounds with transferable life and work skills. One group a year receives training in hospitality skills with hotel staff coordinating and delivering the program. This year eight young trainees will undertake a six month training program. They will attend classes in the morning and have practical on-the-job experiences in the afternoons. Over the last nine years, out of the forty young people who completed training twenty-five were later employed at the InterContinental São Paulo or other IHG hotels in São Paulo.

In line with environmental protection criteria, the InterContinental São Paulo Events team has various green options available for clients. Carbon emissions for function rooms are measured with the IHG calculation module. And through the hotel’s partnership with Iniciativa Verde a scheme entitled the Carbon Free program is offered. Clients are given the opportunity to offset GHG emissions for events held at InterContinental São Paulo by planting native trees that are funded by the client. Once the client agrees to participate in the program, the hotel assumes half of the offset cost. Alternatively, through Evento Neutro, clients can go a step further and opt for totally carbon neutral events with promotion arranged by IHG staff.

Contact:

Sheilla Cruz
Sales & Marketing Director
InterContinental São Paulo
Alameda Santos 1123
São Paulo
BRAZIL
phone 55 11 3179 2620
fax 55 11 3179 2619
mobile 55 11 97648 7946
email [email protected]
web www.icsaopaulo.com