Measuring the future

Discuss the mega topic of measurement with three experts at the HITT, part 1

Wasserfall, Freude

Water, an element of life. Measuring water consumption is a must in hotels, as is protecting water sources and rivers in tourism. / Photo: unsplash svyatoslav romanov

Augsburg/Berlin (May 19, 2023). Without technology and digitalisation, the path to zero emissions cannot be achieved. The "pathway to net zero" must be measurable, the tools a motivation to continue measuring. Only data ultimately certify the success and the - positive - changes for companies and people. That is why the HospitalityInside Think Tank (HITT) is concentrating very strongly on the topic of measurement this year. Florian Huber, co-founder of EYCarbon, explains how operators and investors can get a grip on its implementation. Also in this round is the lawyer Dr Felix Krieglstein from Jung Schleicher Rechtsanwälte in Berlin.

The impetus in the first of two intensive sessions will be set by transformation professional Florian Huber, who drives decarbonisation consulting under the EY brand EYCarbon. For him, the future corporate culture is technology-supported, agile and people-focused. Digital measurement tools lead to this new reality. Because there is a lot to measure, a lot!


	Florian Huber: Measurement is a process, not a programme, and serves all stakeholders. / Photo: private

For example, when it comes to water: Florian is not only thinking about the amount of water that hotels save through regulating shower heads. He is also thinking about the hotel pool and the stream in the property, where the water goes and where the fresh water comes from - and is thus already touching on biodiversity in a cross-thematic way (for which there is a separate expert at HITT and whom we introduced on 7 April: Zaneta Sedilekova from Climate Law Lab).

"Measurement is complex, that's why we need hard criteria!" By this he means clear and concrete announcements from the legislator. "The good thing is that it is a process and not a programme," he adds. That should take away anyone's fear of just getting started and, most importantly, get hotel staff involved. Small well-trained teams can achieve great things.

Absolutely positive is: processes have no deadline. And measurement data help to align the measures in hotel construction as well as in hotel operations to Net Zero from the beginning. Of course, the ESG specialist dives into the specifications, but also into the benfits of available systems, instruments and certification labels.

Florian Huber is a business economist and lawyer and is therefore also pleased to have another lawyer colleague at his side in this HITT discussion: Dr Felix Krieglstein from the Berlin law firm Jung & Schleicher. This firm has specialised in hospitality for 20 years and makes transactions such as financing legally secure. With the EU taxonomy, more and more hotel companies and investors are asking which steps can be contractually secured.


Dr Felix Krieglstein: Measurement needs a clear legal framework. / Photo: Jung & Schleicher

Measurement is an important field here. The tools needed to measure water consumption, for example, are all digital (supported) and cannot separate "data for the investor" and "data for the operator" in their implementation. And who pays for these measuring systems anyway? The hotel investor or the operator? And what happens if systems or tools need to be replaced or updated after only three years? Who bears the costs then?

These questions around the topic of measurement are probably still banal, because it is ultimately about generating the right data, through all hotel walls and hotel hierarchies, into the supply chain, the hotel neighbourhood and into nature. All the more we are looking forward to a strong impulse and discussion between the participants and experts.

Among them in this round is Malin Lindfors Speace, founder and CEO of the Scandinavian consultancy Ethos. She knows how to measure "social", how to assess diversity, equality, migration, working conditions and human rights - and thus balances the "hard" part of measurement. We already introduced the likeable and dynamic Swede to you here on 21 April.

This round will be followed by best practices and application examples, paired with an analysis of the current technology landscape. More on that next week!

The HITT plea for Measurement, part 1
on Tuesday, 27 June 2023, at 10.30am at the HITT Think Tank.

Impulse 4: Practicalities of measurement, management, and control across ESG
Ensure purpose and traction: How is legislation and the UN agenda evolving to determine what needs to be measured to evaluate ESG factors, in particular the EU Taxonomy. How do you measure operational and embedded carbon emissions and – new – social factors, the “S” in ESG?

Florian Huber, Co-Founder and Lead EYCarbon, The EY brand for sustainability, advising companies from strategy to technological and operational transformation.

Dr Felix Krieglstein, Partner, Jung & Schleicher, A German real estate law firm with particular expertise in hotel law, advising national and international hotel chains, investors and operators.

Malin Lindfors Speace, Founder and CEO, Ethos, A Scandinavian hospitality focused consultancy working on upcoming standards and frameworks such as GRI and SASB, the GHG Protocol, and the EU Taxonomy on sustainable finance.

The 6th HospitalityInside Think Tank (HITT) on 26-27 June 2023 in Berlin. The topic:

Next level: Measure. Benchmark. Drive.
Lifting sustainability from intention to traction.

What is the Think Tank about? Watch the HITT video 2022, including participants comments.

The details? Program, speakers, sponsors, price? At www.hitt.world

Thank you to our HITT Sponsors 2023:

Continuative Links:

To print this article you have to be registered and logged in for newsletter, visitor or subscription.

Article Details

Print Article
eMail to Editorial Office