Google is building a feature that will differentiate eco-friendly and sustainable hotels and resorts.
In a 'hotel' Google search, some will now have a tag that says 'eco-certified' next to a green leaf.
By clicking 'Learn More' and then navigating to the hotel's 'About' tab, there should be a 'sustainability' tab that would describe what sustainability practices the hotel employed and what certifications it had received.
Sustainable practices can range from conserving water to offering vegetarian meal options.
The sustainability section information is self-reported by hotels and not verified by Google. However, to receive an eco-certified badge, hotels must contact a globally renowned agency to conduct an on-site audit of the hotel's sustainability practices. The evaluation must focus on environmental impacts from at least four categories: energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, and sustainable sourcing.
Google will partner with organisations like Green Key and EarthCheck to perform these certification processes.
EarthCheck is a scientific certification and advisory group for travel and tourism that has certified hotels in over 70 countries. Hotels are EarthCheck certified based on standards set by the final report of the World Summit for Sustainable Development held in 2002.
Similarly, Green Key is a voluntary eco-label awarded to over 3,000 hotels and other establishments in 65 countries. Hotels are assessed under criteria that focus on staff involvement, cleaning, waste, green areas, and corporate social responsibility.
Google will also be partnering with Travalyst to build models for calculating carbon emissions from travel.
One year ago, Google's CEO Sundar Pichai committed to completely operating carbon-free by 2030. Google reached carbon-neutrality in 2007, and in September 2020, it offset all its carbon since its inception in 1998.
Other tech organisations, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook, had also made the commitment to become carbon neutral or carbon negative.
