Environmental commitment ~ eight hotels in Spain, Switzerland, Hungary and Slovakia secure the ISO 14001 certification.

ibis the worldwide economy hotel brand of the Accor group, today announced that it has secured the environmental certification ISO 14001 for eight hotels in Europe.

The ISO 14001 certification has been awarded to four ibis hotels in Budapest (ibis Budapest Aero, ibis Budapest Centrum, ibis Budapest Emke, ibis Budapest Váci út), one in Bratislava (ibis Bratislava Centrum), two in Madrid (ibis Madrid Centro and ibis Madrid Tres) and one in Zürich (ibis Zürich City-West).

"This certification provides a tangible recognition for our genuine long term environmental commitment", said Helen Lalitte, Senior Vice-President of ibis Global Marketing. "ISO 14001 is awarded by Bureau Veritas, an organisation fully independent from ibis, following a very thorough process. Audits will be regularly conducted in order to verify that the hotels already certified continue conforming to standards."

Bureau Veritas Certification was the first certification body worldwide to be accredited for ISO 14001 certification. It is
now recognized by more than 30 national and international accreditation bodies across the world.

Today, 218 ibis hotels in 12 countries comply with the IS0 14001 standard. ibis hotel's objective is to reach 75% of certified hotels by 2010. An international and national commitment In 2004, ibis was the first hotel chain to engage in the ISO 14001 certification process at international level.

With ISO 14001 certification, ibis hotels commit to providing proof of their compliance with the national and international environmental regulations that apply to their hotel and restaurant activities. In addition, they further promise to make ongoing daily efforts to:

• Reduce water consumption by guaranteeing the upkeep and maintenance of systems and equipment and by the
  progressive installation of water-saving techniques.
• Reduce energy consumption through limiting their energy usage and actively promoting renewable energy sources.
• Implement a waste sorting programme, through using certified collection companies and approved treatment sites.
• Raise the awareness and provide training to ibis employees on the need to perform concrete actions on a daily basis.

ISO 14001 – the world's leading environmental standard Established by the International Organisation for Standardization
(I.S.O.), whose members are national standards institutes in diverse industry and services sectors, ISO 14001 is an internationally-recognized specification for an environmental management system (EMS).

This standard addresses the way organisations:

• minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by their activities, achieve continual improvement of their environmental performance.
• ISO 14001 specifies the requirements for establishing an environmental policy, determining environmental aspects and impacts of products, activities and services, and planning environmental objectives and measurable targets.
• Raise the awareness of its clients regarding the respect of the environment
• Involve its suppliers and subcontractors in its environmental procedures.

"Unlike most other hotel chains, ibis can prove its commitment to protect the environment with the ISO 14001 standard", added Hélène Lalitte. "It is a demanding standard, requiring a very strong effort from all the personnel of our hotels, and we are very proud to continue progressing in this certification around the world".