Hospitality Industry
CASE STUDY
Leveraging new technology for ESG
The client’s challenge
A Caribbean resort was facing an environmental impact challenge. To better understand the scope of this situation, it’s important to note that many resorts in the Caribbean rely on expensive desalination systems to provide fresh water for their guests. Not only is the capital cost prohibitive, but the process of removing salts from ocean water also requires a lot of energy. After Hurricane Irma devastated the region in 2017, power from the grid to some of these resorts and communities was inconsistent or not available. Resorts, especially those in the more remote areas, rely on diesel generators for power and run the desalination systems to create clean water.
The resort relied on large diesel generators and inefficient desalination units resulting in substantial operating costs to keep the resort going. With more travelers aware of their impact on the climate, it also became important for the resort to take stock of the growing accumulation of a large Scope 1 carbon footprint just in providing fresh water. Improving the efficiency of their desalination process would help this resort cut operating costs and also meet the growing demand for environmental accountability of the hospitality industry.
Our approach
Leveraging a deep network of technical expertise in clean technology and energy efficiency, Global Imprint mapped the problem, developed a baseline, and found strategic solutions. The ESG approach also included a deep dive on the resort’s energy expenditures from desalination and found it to be under-delivering with high maintenance and operational costs.
Global Imprint identified capital improvements that would reduce the power consumption needed for desalination while cutting costs and GHG emissions simultaneously. Our network of experts in this field helped the resort combining standard reverse osmosis with the next-generation of electro-desalination technology. The results were higher recovery rates and less energy consumption.
The benefits to the client
The innovative design by experts in clean tech cut power consumption for desalination by nearly 60%. This substantial reduction in energy resulted in operational cost savings, a 25% overall reduction in GHG for the resort system, and a marketable value proposition to climate-aware travelers.