BETHESDA, Maryland—myDigitalOffice (MDO) released an online sustainability calculator and certification program aimed at showing hotel owners and operators dedicated to reducing their environmental footprint. The calculator allows any hotel company to enter information specific to their sustainable operating processes and apply for MDO Sustainability Certification, which can be included in the organization’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) materials, including requests for event proposals.
Companies are prioritizing sustainability and building a better future. Recent studies show that a new generation of travelers wants to patronize properties that align with their values and are willing to pay more for sustainable offerings. A sustainable hotel helps care for the planet by consuming fewer resources and avoiding waste. Many group RFPs now include requests for information on sustainability practices.
“By adopting digital document management and removing the file storage room and paper transportation process, hotel companies can have an effective and measurable impact on the environment,” says Ali Moloo, co-founder and CEO of MDO. “With MDO’s sustainability calculator and certification process, hotels and hotel companies can get a better understanding of their business’s direct impact on the environment. Companies focusing on reducing their footprint will receive a certificate to display as an appreciation and assurance of their efforts.”
Several companies that have adopted Paperless Night Audit processes through MDO’s myDocs software have received certification for their impacts on reducing the number of byproducts created in the printing of property-level reports and documents. Certified companies receive a landing page with real-time sustainability data and a badge to use in communications and materials.
For example, since adopting the myDocs Paperless Night Audit process in 2017, First Call Hospitality management company has contributed to saving 175 trees, 71,437 gallons of wastewater, and 31 pounds of landfill across its 14-hotel portfolio.
“For us to go paperless, the change management process had to happen, and the COVID pandemic became a real catalyst,” says Heidi Wilcox, owner and CEO at First Call Hospitality. “All of our GMs are now on board and we’ve learned that when we bring a new hotel into our portfolio, we start training on digital document management right away.”
Since adopting MDO’s myDocs in April 2021, owner-operator McNeill Hotel Company has contributed to saving 207 trees, 164 gallons of wastewater, and 20 pounds of landfill waste across its 24-hotel portfolio.
“As with all hoteliers, ESG efforts at McNeill Hotel Company are evolving to meet the demands of today’s travelers and, frankly, the demand of future generations,” said Travis Murray, president at McNeill. “Adopting digital document management alongside MDO is one step we are taking as a company to reduce our impact on the environment, and we’re proud of the measurable results highlighted in MDO’s Sustainability Certification.”
MDO’s sustainability calculator was built on data and principles from The National Forest Foundation and Tree Canada. Since MDO began measuring the effects of moving its customer base to digital document management in 2018, the collective impact on the environment has been substantial. As of October 2022, MDO and its collective customers’ efforts had contributed to saving 41,693 trees, 1,338,011 metric tons of CO2, 6,974 pounds of landfill waste, 9,293,415 kWh of energy, 15,848,919 gallons of wastewater, and 867,809 gallons of oil.
In addition to their sustainability results, calculations show that a company with 10 hotels that adopts a Paperless Night Audit process averages $8,220 in cost savings in the first year.
