FAIRESPONSIBILITY REPORT 2023
“Responsibility starts with us”
Almost no other business deals as closely and personally with people as a hotel: we give people much more than just a roof over their heads – we create a temporary living space for them. For the period of time that guests stay in our hotels, they live in our world, surrounded by our ideas, concepts and our stated values. That is why it is so important that we make this space as liveable as possible, which does not just mean that it is cosy and appealing on the inside – it goes much further than that for us. Our KONCEPT HOTELS embody our approach, and their interiors and exteriors signal what is important to us: Responsibility for sustainability.
But sustainability is broad and highly expansive term. As a young hotel business, how should you align yourself if you wish to act sustainably? We are not so presumptuous as to imagine that we could set entirely new benchmarks. What sustainability essentially means and how it can best be implemented in practice has been the focus of investigations by more knowledgeable individuals and experts in a wide variety of fields. We are guided by their expertise, ideas and concepts: the 17 Global Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopted on 25 September 2015 by 193 heads of state and government, the 2030 Agenda is a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”.
The signatory states are committed to ensuring life in dignity for all by 2030.
The goals of the 2030 Agenda are essentially:
- To end poverty, hunger and inequalities
- To promote and shape prosperity and sustainable lifestyles for all people
- To strengthen and safeguard people’s self-determination, gender equality and a good and healthy life for all
- To protect human rights, ensure peace, good governance and access to justice
- To respect the Earth’s ecological limits, combat climate change, preserve and sustainably use natural resources
- To build a global partnership
A hotel as a sustainable living space
We refer to our corporate strategy in the field of sustainability as “FAIRESPONSIBILITY” because we combine responsibility with fairness. All of our sustainable efforts pursue one major goal:
As a hotel business, it is our aim to act in a holistically sustainable way in all areas, which is why we see our many individual measures as important steps along a lengthy path. In some respects, we have already come a long way towards reaching our goals – but in other areas we still have a good way to go.
What we achieved in 2022:
Last year, we succeeded in taking further significant steps towards our sustainability agenda. Our first action was to create our own biodiversity programme. One cornerstone of this is our HOTEL FOR NATURE – a meadow area encompassing around 5,000 square metres at the foot of the Swabian Alb, to which additional areas will be added on a yearly basis in the future. The area, which was previously used intensively as grassland, is being re-naturalised and gradually returned to its original inhabitants:
Countless species of insects, birds, brown hares and deer. This creates a species-rich meadow with orchids and meadow flowers, which makes an important contribution to the preservation of biodiversity. A true milestone in 2022 was receiving the Biosphere Certified seal for the comprehensive environmental and social measures implemented at our KONCEPT HOTEL Neue Horizonte in Tübingen. And because many small steps contribute to the big picture, we have only been using fully ecological cleaning products in all our hotels since 2022.
What will continue to grow and come into being in 2023…
In 2023, we have resolved to further improve and have once again set ourselves major goals – moving towards sustainability that extends even farther beyond the boundaries of our actual value chain. We are increasingly focussing on the do-it-yourself aspect and becoming active at local level with respect to both people and nature – something that is making us as conservative as possible in our use of resources. We are concentrating on three projects in particular during the current year. Furthermore, we wish to promote inclusion, and actively and directly involve people with disabilities in our operations.
Our growth should be fully transparent, audited from construction right through to operation. And in the future, our consumables should be certified in line with the highest sustainability standards – without exception. Our annual goals clearly show that the things we stand for – or that we work towards together with partners who share our values – are really making a difference.
Outstanding sustainability
In 2022 we won the most prestigious award for serviced apartments, the So!Apart Award. Our KONCEPT HOTEL Neue Horizonte in Tübingen was awarded the top spot in the “sustainable and exceptional” category. At the award ceremony on 16 November 2022, the jury praised the comprehensive sustainability focus as part of the operational concept of our entire hotel group. The new building in Tübingen has the highest level of sustainability of KONCEPT HOTELS to date. Overall, we have verified around 120 individual measures in the areas of environment, social affairs and corporate governance at our hotel in Tübingen. These include our energy self-sufficiency measures and species conservation projects, as well as inclusion measures and targeted employment for disabled candidates.
Three new targets for 2023
Strengthen inclusion: As the next important step towards even greater sustainability, we want to significantly expand our commitment to individuals with disabilities. Our goal is to actively and directly involve disabled people in our daily operations.
100% certified consumables: By the end of 2023, we aim to procure all consumables purely from certified sources, verified by the Blue Angel, the green EU Ecolabel or similar high-quality seals. This includes our electricity as well as bed linen, laundry bags, cleaning products, toilet paper and shower gel.
Grow sustainably: The future growth of KONCEPT HOTELS will be absolutely transparent and monitored according to the strictest sustainability criteria. The construction of hotels should take place in accordance with the Leeds or DGNB Platinum standard, and operation should always be GSTC certified.
Our major goal: Climate neutrality by 2030
At KONCEPT HOTELS, we aim to be climate neutral by no later than 2030. This means we will measure our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, establish a reduction plan and offset our emissions. We have set ourselves the goal of “Net Zero” by 2035, and as such will also be including Scope 3 emissions.