Rotana Corporate Sustainability Report 2014

72 Al Ain Rotana, UAE Several initiatives to save energy consumption initiated • Converting 12 physical servers to virtual, which reduces power consumption by 50%, cooling by 50% and space requirement by 75% in the MDF room • Removing 8 photo copiers, 15 local printers, 4 scanners • Introducing centralised 3 in 1 printer/copier/scanner that reduces the power consumption and space requirement Water Water scarcity in the Middle East, Northern Africa and other arid regions of where we operate requires urgent action, as rapidly growing economies intensify the demand for this precious resource. Studies have shown that more than 40% of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas by 2030, majority of countries where our properties are located, are among the world’s most water-stressed places. Solving this challenge requires intellectual collaboration and decisive implementation of next-generation technologies. We fully recognise the gravity of the issue and the importance of promoting water sustainability in arid regions and developing a long term plan in response to the water challenge. In 2014, Rotana has set a goal to reduce 5% water consumption versus 2013 in terms of both total water consumption and water consumption per guest night. Our hotels analyse and report the monthly amount of water consumed and its cost to evaluate progress towards annual set targets. Water awareness training is given to all our colleagues as part of the Environment, Health and Safety awareness training and to the new joiners during the orientation environment, health and safety/sustainability module. Rotana’s corporate engineering office review a selection of best practices within the group for water conservation and endorse these practices to be adopted group-wide and in new projects where appropriate. They undertake a cost benefits analysis to determine which water conservation measures meet the business needs without affecting guest’s expectations by identifying the specifications of water aerators or other devices Our Rotana guest voluntary towels and bed sheets reuse programme continue to engage more of our guests and involve them to participate in the programme. In 2013 and 2014 we installed water-efficient fixtures in more than 60% of our hotels and we have add the installation projects for water recycling system and sewage treatment in all our new resorts. Across our hotels, in 2014 we used 9% less water than 2013. Across our hotels, we used 2.53 million m3 of water, 9% lower than 2013 with 2.60 million m3. Information Technology As an emerging topic in IT management, ‘Eco friendly IT’ practices are drawing high interest among our hotels, as well as suppliers, manufacturers and service providers that we deal with on daily basis. With the growing body of evidence demonstrating the potential return on investment resulting from adopting green IT approaches, a big focus in our 2013 - 2014 IT strategy was on implementing innovative solutions that reduce our utility bills and make our procurement practices more responsible. We are also implementing technologies that massively reduce the space we occupy in our data centres and power required to operate and cool these systems. In the coming year, we will work even harder to identify opportunities for improvement. Smart printing programmes installed in 2014 in our hotels saved 13.49% on A4 papers and 16.3% printing ink cartridges units. The water intensity of our hotels in 2014 was 548 litres per guest night, 9% lower than 2013 and 9% lower than the 2012. Our objectives for 2015 is to achieve 3% water intensity further reduction and to assess potential areas of water savings. In UAE, around 2.5 Million rooms were sold, 80% of our guests participated in our voluntary bed sheets reuse programme and 1.15 Million towels were reused by guests.