Can Corporate Housing Have an Impact on Globally Sustainable Travel?
In recent years, meeting data privacy and HSSE standards have been a core compliance requirement for suppliers of corporate housing services for business travelers and relocating professionals. With the expanded corporate and regulatory focus on reducing carbon emissions, corporate housing providers are now responding to an additional compliance expectation – sustainability. Dwellworks Living has been a leader in ESG initiatives, including sustainability, and is proud and honored to be the Sustainability Sponsor for the 2024 CHPA Connect Conference. Read on to learn how we got here and why this initiative is more important than ever.
Travel and Global Mobility managers are prioritizing sustainability
At the Fall 2023 WERC conference in Boston attended by 1,400 relocation professionals, representatives of the industry’s largest relocation management companies confirmed that in 80% of the Requests for Proposal (RFPs) issued by large, publicly-held companies in 2023, corporate procurement managers required global suppliers of corporate relocation and talent mobility services to have formal sustainability policies and practices and that their goals be independently reviewed by the UN-aligned Science Based Target Initiative (SBTI). Additionally, the June 2023 GBTA State of Climate Action in Business Travel report stated, “81% of travel managers say that they have integrated, or are planning to integrate, sustainability considerations into their travel program.” The early stage of good intentions and high-level roadmaps asked for from suppliers only a few years ago has been replaced by specifically defined selection criteria and performance requirements as corporate clients gear up to meet regulatory requirements and the broader ESG expectations of their stakeholders. See the GBTA graph below breaking down just how important sustainability considerations are becoming.
How is Dwellworks Living leading in response to the call for action in sustainability?
Since early 2022, Debbie Woodley, Vice President, Global Supply Chain for Dwellworks Living has been the co-leader of the Sustainability Workgroup for the Corporate Housing Professionals Association (CHPA). Beginning with educational seminars and training sessions at CHPA’s annual conferences in Tampa (2022) and New Orleans (2023), corporate housing providers now have access to best practices in sustainability programs through six-subject specific webinars, incentives, and discounts to enroll in environmental certification programs from leading sustainability hospitality consultants, and most importantly, the ability to demonstrate the eco-friendly features and benefits of their housing solutions when bidding on requests for housing from global corporate housing program managers and their agents. At the CHPA Connect Conference, Dwellworks Living will discuss the latest tools to best track carbon emissions and the progress on industry-wide efforts in sustainability.
The adoption of greener practices in corporate housing is fully underway. In Dwellworks Living’s annual sustainability survey of global supply chain providers, 84% of respondents confirmed their adoption of environmentally friendly practices, from the installation of low-flow water controls, to reduced food waste, to the provision of local services like the use of electric vehicles for guest transportation and recommendations to farmer’s markets for guests preparing meals during their extended stay.
Dwellworks Living has been a visible advocate for responsible sustainable action in corporate housing, including contributing to the Blueprint for a Greener Move guidelines of The Coalition for Greener Mobility. As a leading corporate housing solutions company, Dwellworks Living connects sustainable supplier solutions with clients who value sustainable options for their travel and relocation programs. Our message to corporate clients is to lead with policies and guidelines that reward and incent sustainable travel choices for their globally mobile workforce. Suppliers will be able to deliver better CO2 emissions results if guests use less water, keep their room temperatures to manageable levels, and take actions as simple as turning off lights when not in the living spaces.
Corporate housing or hotels – which is the more sustainable option?
American Express Business Travel has reported that hotel stays are a key contributor to global business travel emissions – travel overall accounts for 8% of the world’s annual emissions. As their December 2023 study notes, “In the US alone, hotels create CO2 emissions equal to 19 volcanic eruptions and create 1.9 billion pounds of waste each year.”
Unlike hotels, corporate housing does not require fully staffed kitchens for room service, restaurants, and lounges. Most alternative accommodations properties, while comfortable and well-appointed, do not require daily housekeeping and have lower water usage than hotels, with their public spaces and meeting rooms, as well as guest rooms. In short, a stay in corporate housing for the typical 30+ days is not only a more home-like experience for each guest but also the economic and carbon cost will more often be less than a stay in a standard business hotel.
Sustainable corporate housing aligns with corporate social responsibility
Dwellworks Living’s clients include an integrated energy solutions company whose travelers and relocating professionals require thousands of nights of accommodations across 100+ countries every year. Dwellworks Living has demonstrated the capacity to source suppliers in our client’s largest travel markets who meet both sustainability requirements as well as the company’s stringent safety requirements. More importantly, our corporate housing solutions align sustainable practices with duty of care and our 96% global customer satisfaction.
As corporate KPIs increasingly align with regulatory requirements such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, our response is to meet client sustainability and governance requirements that contribute to their roll-up Scope 3 reporting while demonstrating scalable, demonstrable action in reducing carbon emissions across our global corporate housing supply chain.
CHPA Sustainability Sponsorship
Dwellworks Living is proud to be the Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA) Sustainability Sponsor at the 2024 CHPA Connect Conference and a CHPA Accredited company because we believe that responsible sustainability is essential for the ongoing success of members, clients, and the guests we all serve. We are dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of our business operations and we are excited to work with other industry leaders to make a difference.
For more information on Dwellworks Living’s sustainability initiatives, download our white paper, "Can Corporate Housing Go Green" from our sales leader Chris Murphy and our 2022-2023 ESG Impact.
Dwellworks Living: Global Solutions for Corporate Accommodations
Dwellworks Living is committed to providing our clients and their employees with the best possible corporate housing and serviced accommodations experience. With a global network of property partners, a tri-regional team of customer experience and supply chain professionals, and a wide range of services for global mobility and travel customers, Dwellworks Living can provide the perfect corporate housing solution for any need or budget.
Dwellworks Living is the global corporate housing solution of Dwellworks, an award-winning, business-to-business provider of global mobility and business travel services. As a global leader in corporate housing and serviced accommodations solutions, Dwellworks Living is uniquely positioned to meet the temporary living needs of businesses and their employees who are relocating or traveling on short-, medium- or extended-stays. With 60,000 high-quality professionally managed properties in over 125 countries worldwide, Dwellworks Living is the preferred housing solutions partner of many Fortune 1000 and leading relocation management companies.
Dwellworks Living's corporate housing and serviced accommodations solutions are designed to help businesses attract and retain top talent, support employee productivity, and ensure a smooth and successful relocation or business travel experience. In addition to our core global accommodations management services, Dwellworks Living, through our worldwide network of local experts, is uniquely capable of offering our clients expanded and related services, such as area orientations, group move assistance, destination services and intercultural training.
Whether you have corporate housing needs for an individual employee or a large team, Dwellworks Living can provide the serviced accommodations solutions you need anywhere in the world to ensure a safe and successful stay. Please contact us to learn more or visit our Properties page to begin your search for global corporate housing accommodations.