GS-33 – Hotels and Lodging Properties

GREEN SEAL® 

Green Seal is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to use science-based programs to empower consumers, purchasers, and companies to create a more sustainable world. Green Seal sets leadership standards that aim to reduce, to the extent technologically and economically feasible, the environmental, health, and social impacts throughout the life-cycle of products, services, and companies. The standards may be used for conformity assessment, purchaser specifications, and public education. 

Green Seal offers certification of products, services, and companies in conformance with its standards. For additional information on Green Seal and contact information, visit greenseal.org. 

FOREWORD 

Edition. Edition 5.3 was issued on June 6, 2017 and replaces Edition 5.2 from February 20, 2014. Corrections and/or clarifications were last made to this standard on July 26, 2023. Information on changes made to this standard are available on Green Seal’s website.¹
Library of Standards Documents, https://greenseal.org/green-seal-standards/library#section8  

General. The final issued standard was developed in an open and transparent process with stakeholder input. 

The requirements in the standard are based on an assessment of the environmental, health, or social impacts associated with the products, services, or organizations covered in the scope of the standard. These requirements are subject to revision, and generally cover aspects above and beyond regulatory compliance. This standard neither modifies nor supersedes laws and regulations. Any conformity assessment to this standard requires compliance with all applicable laws and regulations for the provision of and marketing of lodging services. 

Provisions for safety have not been included in this standard, since they are supervised by regulatory agencies. Adequate safeguards should be employed for all for personnel and property, and for all tests that involve safety considerations. 

Products, services, or organizations that are substantially similar to those covered by this standard in terms of function and life cycle considerations may be evaluated against the intent of the requirements of this standard, accounting for relevant differences between the intended scope of the Standard and the actual product, service, or organization to be evaluated. 

This standard may not anticipate a feature of the service that may significantly, and undesirably, increase its impact on the environment, health, or society. In such a situation, Green Seal will ordinarily amend a standard to account for the unanticipated environmental, health, or societal impacts. 

Normative references (e.g., other standards) in this standard intend to refer to the most recent edition of the normative reference. Test methods may be required for product evaluation. Unless explicitly stated that a specified method is the only acceptable one, the intent of the standard is that an equivalent test method may be accepted at Green Seal’s sole discretion. 

Certification to this standard shall be awarded only by Green Seal, or, with Green Seal’s explicit written permission, by a third-party certification program conducting on-site audits. 

Disclaimer of Liability. Green Seal, as the developer of this standard, shall not incur any obligations or liability for any loss or damages, including, without limitation, indirect, consequential, special, or incidental damages, arising out of or in connection with the interpretation or adoption of, reliance upon, or any other use of this Standard by any party. Green Seal makes no express or implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, nor any other express or implied warranty with respect to this Standard. 

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

CARB. California Air Resources Board
CFR. Code of Federal Regulations.
EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency
EPEAT. Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
HVAC. Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning
LEED. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (a USGBC program)
OECD. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
USGBC. U.S. Green Building Council
VOC. Volatile Organic Compound

1.0 Scope

This standard establishes environmental, health, and social requirements for properties that offer temporary lodging services, which typically include All Suites, Bed and Breakfasts, Convention Hotels, Cottages, Country Inns, Extended Stay, Full Service, Hotels, Limited Service, Lodges, Motels, Motor Inns, Resorts, and others. This standard does not include separate swimming pools, golf courses, or restaurants associated with the property. See Appendix 1 for examples of properties included in this standard. 

This standard has three levels under which a lodging property may apply for certification. Bronze contains essential leadership elements of a lodging operation. Silver is a more comprehensive level established for leadership operations. Gold adds additional criteria characterizing properties that are at the forefront of environmental leadership. 

Words and phrases described in the standard that appear in italics have a corresponding definition located in the Definitions section of the standard, Annex A. 

The terms “hotel” and “lodging property” are used interchangeably and are meant to encompass all services included in the scope of the standard. 

2.0 ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS 

2.1 WASTE MINIMIZATION, REUSE AND RECYCLING 

2.1.1 Recycling Program. The property shall establish a recycling program and track its implementation. 

The records shall summarize how much material was recycled for the entire property during the tracking period: records of individual collections (e.g., invoices from waste management companies) shall be aggregated into monthly or quarterly amounts. 

2.1.2 Composting Program. 

2.1.3 Refillable Amenities.