BOSTON—The InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand is the first hotel chain to have all of its IHG corporate-managed restaurants in the United States and Canada become Certified Green Restaurants. In September 2011, the InterContinental Boston hotel’s Miel Brasserie Provençale was the first of the hotel chain’s restaurants to receive the certification. Based on the hotel’s positive feedback about the certification process, the InterContinental brand made the decision to require all of its internally managed restaurants to meet the rigorous environmental certification standards of the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), and this week the hotel chain achieved this exciting goal.
The InterContinental brand’s effort to gain certification came out of support for the IHG Green Engage program, which is an online sustainability platform that is used by more than 2,500 IHG-branded hotels worldwide, and allows properties to chart their progress toward energy, waste, and water efficiency. Collectively, 26 Certified Green Restaurants at InterContinental properties implemented 1,180 environmental steps, earning them 3,341 GreenPoints in the Green Restaurant Association’s environmental categories of energy, water, waste, food, packaging, chemicals, and building materials.
“We are proud to be the first hotel company in the world to have all of our managed restaurants under one brand meeting the 2 and 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant standard,” said Jean-Pierre Etcheberrigaray, vice president of food and beverage, the Americas, IHG. “In 2011, we set out to achieve this goal, and we are thrilled to have exceeded it.”
Notable Green Accomplishments from the InterContinental brand’s Certified Green Restaurants:
Todd English’s Ça Va Brasserie, a Near-Zero Waste Restaurant at the InterContinental New York Times Square, diverts 95 percent of its waste from landfills through recycling and composting.
Recognized as a Michelin-star restaurant since 2010, the InterContinental San Francisco hotel’s Luce restaurant reached the 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant level with more than 180 GreenPoints, including 100 percent renewal energy credits and superefficient spray valves using less than 1 gallon per minute.
InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta hotel’s Southern Art and Bourbon Bar, owned by Art Smith, the former personal chef to Oprah Winfrey, earned more than half of its 137 GreenPoints by taking 49 environmental steps to conserve energy and eliminate waste.
Michael Jordan’s Chicago Steakhouse, a 2 Star Certified Green Restaurant at the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, earned 4 GreenPoints in the GRA’s environmental category of chemical and pollution reduction by providing electric vehicle charging stations for their green-minded diners.
“The Certified Green Restaurant accomplishment of the InterContinental brand is a wonderful example of IHG’s commitment to environmental sustainability,” said Paul Snyder, vice president, corporate responsibility – environmental sustainability and public affairs, IHG. “We are excited to see these hotels using our program, IHG Green Engage, to work with the Green Restaurant Association in making our brand the first hotel chain to have all of its corporate-managed foodservice facilities become Certified Green Restaurants. The IHG-managed InterContinental Hotels & Resorts have set a great precedent, and we are proud of their accomplishments.”
All of the InterContinental hotels’ 26 Certified Green Restaurants have met the GRA’s certification standards by earning at least 100 GreenPoints™ in the categories of food, water, waste, energy, chemicals, and disposables. Additionally, each Certified Green Restaurant has eliminated use of polystyrene foam, (aka StyroFoam™), and has implemented a full-scale recycling program.
