Majid Al Futtaim's green efforts in hotels pay off

Majid Al Futtaim saved AED1.5 million (US $408,369) last year in its hotel operations as a result of sustainability efforts.

The UAE-based company owns 11 hotels in the UAE and Bahrain, in addition to a wide range of shopping mall, retail and leisure operations.

It revealed the hotel savings in its 2013 Sustainability Report, in which it also unveiled 13 new sustainability targets for 2018 with the aim of raising the standard across the Middle East and North Africa.

Highlighting its recent efforts, it said it achieved a 19.9% reduction in hotel energy consumption over a three year period from 2010. It also achieved a 17% reduction in hotel water consumption.

"The latest edition of our Sustainability Report clearly illustrates the significant benefits for our businesses and surrounding communities that our Sustainability Strategy has yielded over the past five years,” said Majid Al Futtaim Properties CEO George Kostas.

“We have also identified a number of areas in which we can further improve and our new long term targets raise the bar for the MENA region. We hope to inspire others to follow our example, take action and adopt sustainable practices."

The 13 new targets fall within three key areas - creating high performance assets; fostering prosperous communities; and promoting pioneering standards. They focus equally on generating profit as on saving the planet.

Majid Al Futtaim has also committed to setting minimum sustainability fit-out standards for hotels and offices and incorporate consistent sustainability questions into mall, hotel and office customer surveys this year.

They include efforts in water, waste energy and carbon efficiency, labour conditions in the supply chain, health and safety, green building standards, local economic development and enhancement of the public realm.

It will focus particularly on waste reduction in its hotels and malls, as its targets were not met last year.

Among the hotels owned by Majid Al Futtaim are Kempinksi Mall of the Emirates, Ixir Bahrain City Centre and Ibis Al Rigga.