CARBON NEUTRAL

Andras Hotels achieves Carbon Neutral status

Northern Ireland’s largest hotel group, Andras House ltd, is celebrating after achieving certification as a Carbon Neutral Business.

The certification, awarded by Carbon Neutral Britain, provides assurance that the carbon neutral claim is robust and credible, following calculation using the ISO 14064 and Green House Gas Protocol Emissions Standard principles.

This major achievement was as result of concerted effort within the group to achieve the highest standard of sustainability on all measures.

The company recently installed a 390kW photovoltaic solar panel array at its Crowne Plaza Belfast and Bodyscape Health Club sites, which comprised an investment of £380k and reduced the greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 98,500L of petrol.

The company has embraced the Green Tourism certification which measures the full range of sustainability actions a range of measures. The group has achieved Silver status and is actively working towards Gold accreditation.

The Carbon Neutral certification followed data collection of emissions generated on site through energy consumption, refrigerant gases, company vehicles and waste generation.

The resulting greenhouse has emissions in one year were measured as 2590 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The emissions were offset through the Carbon Neutral Britain Climate Fund with internationally certified carbon offsetting projects.

These projects are certified via the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), the Voluntary Emission Reductions (VER) or the United Nations - Certified Emission Reductions (CER) programmes. The projects have also been selected based on their direct and indirect impact around the world - not just in offsetting, but also in supporting education, employment and clean water, as well as having net positive impact on the local wildlife and ecology.

Rajesh Rana, Director Andras House, said: ‘This important certification is a major milestone for our company. Our hotels have green champions and committees who meet regularly and are highly motivated to continue to reduce our environmental impact. Today, travellers and tourists and increasingly look to reduce their carbon footprint and this Carbon Neutral certification is an important way for us to demonstrate our commitment in this regard. There is more we can do and we are continuing on this most important journey together.’