Orbitz Energy Star Hotel Ratings

Orbitz is doing its part to help you decrease the environmental impact of your business travels, by adding a new eco-travel portion to its website. As of April 2008, travelers can now visit eco.orbitz.com to get information on hotels that earn the EPA’s Energy Star rating. The Energy Star rating is the “national mark of excellence in energy efficiency,” which means it is a more environmentally responsible place for you to sleep at night.

Buildings that have earned the esteemed Energy Star rating use as much as 40% less energy than average building, and emit 35% less carbon dioxide. That’s a pretty decent savings. Hell, it may be more energy efficient for you to stay in these hotels than to stay home.

This announcement is part of the ongoing commitment of Orbitz Worldwide to help Protect Planet Earth. This company-wide campaign has been driven by employees’ and customers’ mutual passion for changing the way the travel & tourism industry does business. Led by employee-driven recycling and energy-saving efforts, the Protect Planet Earth program has now grown into a pervasive corporate citizenship initiative to raise awareness around sustainable travel & tourism practices. The Protect Planet Earth campaign launched in 2007 with the announcement of company-sponsored “volunteer vacations” website and now offers travelers eco-friendly opportunities to make a difference of their own.

The new initiative offered by Orbitz not only allows you to book rooms in environmentally friendly hotels, but also gives you the option to rent hybrid cars, purchase carbon offsets and/or participate in environmental volunteer opportunities. The site also offers other information and tools to help you make better decisions about how you can lessen your impact on the environment during your travels.
The Energy Star rating system was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a “voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.” In 2007, Americans decreased greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 27 million vehicles by using Energy Star properties and appliances. With commercial buildings and manufacturing plants accounting for almost one half of the greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., choosing your hotel wisely really can make a difference.