H2Otel Challenge
It's time to take the guest work out of saving water! Today’s travelers are increasingly looking for eco-friendly accommodations and a hotel’s commitment to sustainability. Reducing your hotel's water use can:
- Save water, energy, and operating costs.
- Strengthen your hotel's bottom line.
- Demonstrate your commitment to sustainable operations to your guests.
By installing WaterSense labeled products and following best management practices, you can achieve greater water efficiency at your hotel while still ensuring customer satisfaction.
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The H2Otel Challenge
EPA launched the WaterSense H2Otel Challenge to help hotels understand their water footprint by encouraging hotels to "ACT":
- Assess water use and savings opportunities
- Change products or processes to incorporate best management practices
- Track their water-saving progress and achievements
More than 860 hotels have signed up (9 pp, 228 K, About PDF) to participate in the Challenge to learn how to reduce water use, minimize operating costs and to meet the sustainable expectations of today’s travelers. Water use reductions can also help mitigate risk imposed by rising water and sewer costs and more frequent drought conditions.
Interested hotels can sign up for the H2Otel Challenge to start receiving free recognition, outreach, and technical tools that will help them save water, energy, and money.
Not a hotel or an organization that could recruit hotels, but still interested in receiving WaterSense’s tools for reducing hotel water use? Contact the WaterSense Helpline and ask to be added to our mailing list.
Recruit Hotels to Sign Up for the H2Otel Challenge
WaterSense needs help spreading the word about the H2Otel Challenge! We’re asking our partners and industry stakeholders to reach out to hotels in their areas to tell them how to join and why they should implement water efficiency best management practices.
WaterSense provides materials to help partners and other organizations recruit hotels to take the Challenge and promote their participation. Download a recruitment flier (2 pp, 209 K, About PDF) to help you get started. Once your organization commits to recruiting hotels to join the Challenge, you will receive ongoing communications about upcoming webinars and saving water to keep hotels engaged.
If you're not already a WaterSense partner, learn how to become one here.
Hotel Tools & Training
WaterSense offers a number of helpful tools to assist hotels in assessing, changing, and tracking their water use. After you sign up for the H2Otel Challenge, use the following tools to help you get started:
WaterUSE Tool and Water Assessment Worksheets
Hotel operators and facility managers can use WaterSense's WaterUSE Tool and associated Water Assessment Worksheets to identify and prioritize cost-effective water efficiency projects and best management practices to reduce water and energy use and save on operating costs.
Users should use the worksheets to guide them through a water assessment of their hotel. The worksheets will help capture information about water–using fixtures and equipment needed to populate the WaterUSE Tool and provide instructions and guidance about the fields in the tool.
Based on facility-specific inputs entered by the user, the WaterUSE Tool provides recommended best management practices and calculates potential water and cost savings for water-saving projects. Download and use the WaterUSE Tool and Water Assessment Worksheets, and view a recorded webinar demonstration of the tool for new users:
- WaterSense's WaterUSE Tool Version 1.2: ws-commercial-water-use-tool-v1.2.xls(7 pp, 1 MB)
- Re-writable WaterUSE Tool Water Assessment Worksheets (re-writable PDF version for use on Windows computers and tablets)(35 pp, 3.36 MB, About PDF)
- WaterUSE Tool Water Assessment Worksheets (printable PDF version for manual entry)(35 pp, 501 K, About PDF)
- "Demonstrating WaterSense's WaterUSE Tool" webinarExit
Send an email to the WaterSense Helpline to be contacted when new updates are available.
Technical and Outreach Webinars
In 2014 and 2015, WaterSense hosted a series of webinars to help hotels assess, change, and track their water use. Each webinar featured a guest speaker who put best practices into action at a hotel or similar facility. All of the webinars were recorded and posted with closed captioning for future listening. WaterSense periodically hosts additional webinars in conjunction with EPA’s ENERGY STAR program to help hotels and other commercial and institutional facilities save water, energy, and money. Sign up for the H2Otel Challenge to receive information when new webinar registration links are available.
Participant Recognition Tools
Hotels that have signed up for the Challenge will receive the outreach and recognition tools to promote participation in the H2Otel Challenge. These tools will be distributed by email after the hotel has signed up:
- Participant logo
- Signed certificate of participation
- Sample press release language
- Sample website and in-room language