WORLDWIDE: The International Serviced Accommodation Accreditation Process, (ISAAP) is developing a new sustainability standard for operators and providers of serviced accommodation.
The SP Sustain Accreditation has been in development over the last 18 months and will be offered as an option to members as their annual ISAAP accreditation or certification renewal comes round.
Stephen Martin managing director ISAAP said: “It’s the only sustainability accreditation designed specifically for the serviced apartment sector – this is what we do best.”
ISAAP has worked with its independent partner, travel safety and sustainability consultants, Sanderson Phillips, in its development.
To apply for the SP Sustain Accreditation, serviced accommodation providers will be able to fill in a checklist online to see if there are any gaps in their sustainability criteria, and then come back when they are ready to go ahead with the process.
ISAAP will work with each organisation to their timescale – the process is rigorous and involves 50 sections across four main groups, which all have to be completed – although some parts won’t be relevant to every property as it will depend on the building style, size, age. Where relevant, evidence, such as documentation, will also have to be provided.
It’s a collaborative process, as David Atkin, managing director, Sanderson Phillips, said: “The actual certification part is at the end of the process. We are happy to give them the resources and the tools to go and work out what they need to do to get there. It’s a very human approach.”
Once all the documentation and forms have been submitted ISAAP provides a report to advise what still needs to be put in place to achieve the accreditation – and when this has been completed everything is sent over to Global Secure Accreditation (GSA), ISAAP’s parent company since 2021, for a peer review. At that point GSA might offer more advisories or give the go ahead for the stamp of approval.
ISAAP’s development of the sustainability standard was spurred on by a survey it conducted in association with The Apartment Network over the last year. The survey questioned providers on their sustainability activities, with more than half sharing their policy documents.
The sustainability questions were part of a larger survey conducted to those providers who were participating in ISAAP’s Compliance Accreditation between March 2022-January 2023. The objective of the sustainability questions was to collect and understand data and to provide a snapshot illustration of serviced accommodation providers’ approach to sustainability and environmental issues. 37 out of 40 providers across four continents responded.
Sam McMillen, head of marketing and ESG, The Apartment Network, said: “Our conversations with ISAAP resulted in a sustainability-focused survey and we are delighted with ISAAPs recent decision to add SP Sustain to its portfolio. It is important that our clients and customers have confidence in our portfolio of accommodation options, from security to comfort. Accreditation is a great way to provide this reassurance.”
The results show that 57 per cent of serviced accommodation providers have a Sustainability or Environmental Policy in place (respondents were asked to attach the policy document). More than 60 per cent of respondents said they take part in practices to check their carbon impact – 16 per cent currently measure their carbon footprint.
Of those who did not measure their carbon footprint, 46 per cent said they carried out other practices to reduce their impact on the environment. These other practices included recycling, introducing LED/low voltage lighting, monthly utilities usage reviews, staff sustainability training, fitting of automatic lighting, fitting smart metres, introduction of electric/hybrid vehicles.
When asked about introducing impact-reducing activities, 90 per cent of respondents said they hoped to address this by implementing company policy by the end of 2023.
ISAAP’s Stephen Martin says: “Now we have this survey as a benchmark we can gauge how sustainability is moving forward for those companies, whereas this time last year we were not able to do that – so we will have metrics from that data going forward. The results of our survey show that lots of very positive actions are being carried out to reduce environmental impact already but, possibly more importantly, such a large proportion of the serviced accommodation providers who participated in the survey are planning to implement a company policy by the end of the year. This suggests a definite gathering of momentum in awareness and applied activities pertaining to environmental care. ISAAP’s SP Sustain Accreditation now provides these companies the opportunity to showcase their environmental care credentials through an independent externally administered assessment and certification process.”
The sustainability standard is checked annually, as with all ISAAP products, but there is also a three year cycle with yearly “health checks” to keep the momentum.
Atkin adds: “It has to be a commitment and a buy-in from everyone top down. Everybody plays a part.”
Last year SAN reported on ISAAP’s serviced apartment security accreditation.
