Radisson Adds Older Hotels and Meeting Spaces to Net Zero
Radisson Hotel Group adds four properties in Stockholm and Copenhagen to its Net Zero scheme, bringing the total to nine toward its 2030 goal.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Radisson adds four properties to its Verified Net Zero Hotels, totaling nine.
- The group targets reaching 100 net zero hotels by the year 2030.
- Newly added properties include older buildings opened in the 1970s and 1980s.
- All net zero hotels remain concentrated in the Nordics due to renewable grids.
Radisson Hotel Group has expanded its sustainability initiative by adding four additional properties to its Verified Net Zero Hotels program. This recent wave of additions brings the hospitality group's total certified net zero properties to nine, marking a steady step forward as it pursues its overarching goal of reaching 100 net zero hotels by 2030.
The announcement encompasses three distinct properties located in Stockholm, Sweden: the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, which houses the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre capable of accommodating up to 3,000 people, alongside the Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel and the Radisson Blu Arlandia Hotel. The fourth property included in this rollout is the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel situated in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
A central message behind these inclusions is demonstrating that deep decarbonization is entirely feasible within older, pre-existing hotel structures. Several of the newly qualified buildings originally opened their doors in 1973, 1980, and 1984, highlighting a crucial industry reality since roughly 80 percent of the buildings that will stand in 2050 have already been constructed today.
Inge Huijbrechts, Chief Sustainability and Security Officer at Radisson, noted that qualifying the two older Stockholm hotels required no dedicated energy efficiency or electrification capital expenditure (capex). Asset owners had already funded necessary upgrades over the preceding five to six years, including improved insulation, window sealing, smart room controls, LED conversions, IoT lighting, and long-term renewable energy contracts.
The concentration of all nine net zero hotels within the Nordic region underscores the primary bottleneck in scaling hospitality decarbonization: grid dependency. Even with comprehensive physical building upgrades, achieving scope 1 and 2 net zero operations relies entirely on access to 100 percent clean energy from the local power grid, presenting a formidable hurdle for operations in markets lacking similar renewable infrastructure.
To qualify for the scheme, participating hotels must near-eliminate scope 1 and 2 emissions, operate entirely on 100 percent renewable energy, and pass rigorous third-party verification by TÜV Rheinland utilizing the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance methodology. Radisson positions the program as both a financial and commercial resilience play, noting that previous pilots in Manchester and Oslo successfully cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent while simultaneously boosting market demand.
Source: Skift
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