Why do sustainability certifications matter for hotels?

Sustainability certifications provide third-party validation that your hotel meets recognised environmental and ethical standards. With over 80% of travellers now influenced by sustainability in their booking decisions, certifications help turn your efforts into something visible and trusted. They also support long-term goals like reducing emissions, improving reporting, and meeting ESG commitments.

What impact does the hotel industry have on the environment?

Tourism contributes approximately 8.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and accommodation alone accounts for over 6.37%. This highlights the hotel sector's significant role in climate change—and the importance of verified sustainability efforts.

Do guests really care about sustainability certifications?

Yes. According to Booking.com's Sustainable Travel 2024 report, 52% of travellers want to know what a sustainability label actually means. Certifications offer clarity, accountability, and assurance to increasingly conscious travellers.

What’s the benefit of digitising sustainability checks in hotels?

Digitising daily checks helps hotels stay compliant, audit-ready, and organised without adding extra admin. It streamlines documentation, tracks progress, and ensures no task gets missed—making it easier to meet the requirements of sustainability certifications.

How do I choose the right sustainability certification for my hotel?

It depends on your priorities. Some certifications focus on energy use or carbon emissions, while others take a broader view that includes social responsibility or governance. The best choice is often a combination that aligns with your hotel’s sustainability goals.

Sustainability Certifications for Hotels

At Access Hospitality, we’ve supported hundreds of hotels in staying on top of sustainability-related tasks, track documentation and stay audit-ready without adding layers of admin.

In this guide we’ll break down the key sustainability certifications, outline what it takes to earn (and keep) them and show how digitising day-to-day checks makes compliance simpler.

Why sustainability certifications matter for your hotel (and your guests)

Let’s start with a quick view of the current state of the sector’s climate impact.

The latest study presented at the UN Climate Summit has found that tourism currently accounts for approximately 8.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with accommodation representing more than 6.37% of this. It's a clear reminder that hotels have a direct impact and a responsibility to cut their emissions, especially as the UK aims to reach net zero by 2050.

And as for the guest point of view, the Sustainable Travel 2024 report by Booking.com revealed that 52% of travellers want to understand what’s behind the sustainability label and what it actually means for the property rather than just seeing it granted and displayed.

Therefore, sustainability certifications help turn your efforts into something tangible others can see and trust while also offering a clear structure to support your sustainability goals, whether that’s reducing your impact, improving reporting or contributing to wider ESG commitments.

What does ESG stand for in hotels?

ESG is often called a gold standard for businesses striving towards a sustainable future.

It’s a holistic framework used to measure how responsibly a business operates, that stands for:

Environmental

Social

Governance

with each of the pillars representing a distinct area of focus for hotels.

Here's what each component generally means for hotels:

Environmental (E): This refers to a hotel's impact on the natural environment. An example of this could be a hotel that uses solar panels for electricity, recycle everything and have smart sensors to turn off lights when no one's in the room.

Social (S): This focuses on a hotel's relationships with its employees, customers and the communities in which it operates. It could involve paying staff above minimum wage or buying all their fresh produce from local farms, supporting the community.

Governance (G): This stands for how the hotel is run. For example, they publicly report on their sustainability goals every year and have strict rules against any unethical business practices.

A high ESG rating or strong ESG performance is earned through consistent effort and transparency, which are often the key to sustainability certifications.

Which sustainability certifications is best for hotels?

The best certification for sustainability is the one (or combination) that closely matches with your hotel’s priorities, and choosing the right one depends on what you’re aiming to improve - whether that’s energy use, waste management or broader business ethics.

Below is a quick guide to the most recognised and relevant sustainability certifications for hotels, including what they cover, how they work and what they typically cost.

Certification	Focus area	Typical requirements	Key benefits	Prep time (average)	Approx. Annual cost*
Green Key	Energy, water, waste, sustainable procurement, staff engagement and guest awareness	Annual on-site audit; evidence logs (utilities, training, guest info)	Recognised by OTAs; suits any size property	1-2 months	£650-1000
ISO 14001	Full environmental-management system (EMS)	Written EMS, management buy-in, internal audits, third-party certification; yearly surveillance	Globally recognised; aligns with ESG reporting	3-6 months	£3000 -8000 (+initial audit)
EarthCheck	Data-driven performance: energy, water, carbon, waste, community	12 months of data, benchmarking, third-party audit; tiered levels (Bronze to Platinum)	Clear KPIs; valued by tour operators and resorts	3-4 months, including data collection	£1500-3000
LEED (new build / major refurb)	Building efficiency: HVAC, lighting, water fixtures, materials, site impact	Points-based design review; O+M track needs 3-year recert	Adds asset value; cuts long-term utilities	Build into design time (for new builds)	Reg. US$1 200 + review fees £5k - £12k
BREEAM	Energy, water, materials, health & wellbeing, pollution	Stage-based assessments (design / post-construction / in-use)	Recognised by UK investors and planners	2-4 months (design)	£2000-£10k
B Corp	Governance, staff, community, environment, customers	Online impact assessment (score ≥80), legal commitment, public report	Signals purpose-driven brand; appeals to staff & guests	3-6 months	£1000-5000 (turnover based)

*Costs vary by property size and location; check each provider for exact fees.

The real challenge: staying certified

Achieving a sustainability certification is one part of the task; keeping it is just as important, and it all comes down to consistency.

Many hotels run into issues not because they’ve stopped trying, but because the day-to-day demands of running a busy operation get in the way.

Common reasons hotels fall short include:

Missed routine checks (like energy logs or waste tracking)

Incomplete or outdated documentation

High staff turnover and poor task handover

Unclear ownership of compliance tasks across teams

Before you know it, you’re short of small gaps that build up over time. Without a way to keep sustainability tasks visible and assigned, they’re the first to get pushed aside when things get busy.

The solution?

Making sustainability part of the daily routine

Logging energy use, checking water meters, recording how much food waste went out - most certification tasks aren’t even complex. They’re jobs you’re most likely doing already that simply require being done regularly.

A few ways to stay consistent:

Add checks to existing routines, not as extras

Clearly assign responsibilities across roles

Use shared, central records that don’t disappear when people leave

Review what’s been done regularly, not just when an audit’s due

Use hotel facilities management software like Trail to keep checks scheduled, assigned and trackable across teams.

Depending on which sustainability certifications for hotels you’re working towards, organisations issuing them, provide practical toolkits and examples to help you meet and maintain their standards. Some even include templates for logs or audit-ready documentation.

How to prepare for your next sustainability audit

If your records are in order, audits are typically straightforward - auditors will review your documentation, inspect operational areas and verify the data provided, whether through interviews with staff or by cross checking the records with the figures on invoices or meter readings. Most audits last between 3-6 hours, depending on the size and complexity of your property, but this timeframe can change for larger hotels or multi-site groups, where a few visits might be required.

To help you prepare for your next (or first) sustainability audit, we hope you’ll find this checklist useful:

Reference guide only - check your certification body for exact audit criteria.

Keep your hotel’s sustainability efforts on track

Sustainability certifications for hotels are becoming more commonplace and increasingly expected by guests, so if you’re looking to obtain one, this guide discusses the most recognised options, what they involve and how to stay compliant once you’re certified.

Trail helps hotels meet certification standards by making sure day-to-day tasks are completed consistently and recorded properly. This includes:

Scheduling regular checks such as energy readings, waste tracking and water use.

Assigning tasks clearly across teams to reduce the risk of anything being missed.

Storing evidence such as photos, documents and notes with a full time-stamped history.

Providing central visibility with dashboards and automated reports.

Helping teams maintain consistency even with staff turnover or shift changes.

In short, Trail gives hotels the tools to stay on top of the operational side of certification. It ensures nothing falls through the cracks and helps keep everything audit-ready, which is where many businesses run into trouble.

To learn more how our hospitality checklist app can help you stay on top of your sustainability certifications, book your free demo with our friendly team at Trail today.