Becoming a sustainability leader in the
hospitality sector with Furthr
About Bob W
Bob W is a large-scale serviced apartment organisation operating hundreds of short-stay apartment buildings in trendy neighbourhoods across Europe.
With big ambitions for improving sustainability in the hospitality sector, Bob W exclusively sources sustainably-manufactured products and provides per-night emissions breakdowns to its guests.
Bob W’s vision for a greener and cleaner hospitality industry inspired its campaign, calling on other hotel operators to “show us their numbers’.
Jeremy Slater
Chief Operations Officer
'If you've considered working with an external sustainability consultancy or even hiring a sustainability team, I would implore you to speak to the team at Furthr first. They are a no-nonsense, hard-working bunch who will clarify what can be a challenging field to understand.'
New strategies for collecting emissions data
4
3
Carbon offsetting projects selected by Bob W's employees
Guests receive a carbon emissions breakdown per night (LEGIT)
100%
of annual emissions fully offset
"We had previously worked with a different emissions consultancy, but felt they weren't interested in helping us improve our data collection standards. Once we'd engaged Furthr, it was clear they were keen to help us improve our data accuracy and processes", says Jeremy Slater, COO at Bob W.
The challenges ran deeper than resourcing alone. "Our main challenge was simply finding the time and resources to do detailed data collection, as well as poor historical record keeping and inconsistent document formatting - which made the task harder", Jeremy recalls. These were amplified in 2023, as Bob W opened 12 new serviced apart-hotels in a single year.
Furthr's sustainability experts responded by implementing effective data collection strategies and consistent methodologies for measuring Bob W's emissions.
Overview
Bob W partnered with Furthr to deliver its bold vision to become the most environmentally responsible apart-hotel provider.
Previously relying mostly on spend-based data, Bob W found it increasingly challenging to find the time and resources for detailed data collection while expanding into new locations.
Key challenges to address
Taking carbon management Furthr
Furthr's Approach
Reflecting a trend common in hospitality, scope 3 emissions made up 93% of Bob W’s carbon footprint in 2023. Jeremy explains, “procurement of furniture fixtures and other equipment is a considerable contributor to our emissions, and it is difficult to keep track of it, with thousands of invoices from multiple suppliers”.
To improve its data collection processes and methodologies, Furthr fully embedded into Bob W’s team, identifying and implementing new data collection strategies, as noted by Jeremy : ‘they engaged with the team, were communicative and quick to respond, and integrated well into our internal systems and comms channels”.
For instance, Furthr’s experts surveyed facility managers to obtain direct energy consumption data, collated information on furniture and equipment purchases, and recommended the use of a single procurement platform to track and store supplier invoices, helping Bob W’s team identify the best suppliers to work with.
The use of primary activity data led to a decrease in Bob W's reported emissions in some areas due to increased accuracy. For instance, emissions from Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment dropped from 500 tCO2e to just over 50 tCO2e in one year.
Reporting
Furthr also provided a detailed and comprehensive emissions report with a full breakdown for each category and useful data and narrative. According to Jeremy, “Furthr improved our understanding of the emissions data and our climate impact“.
Employee Engagement
Our sustainability experts also hosted engaging and informative training sessions for their ‘Bobstar’ employees on net zero and on how to identify high-quality carbon offsetting projects. This also led to a special session for Bob W’s employees to vote on a personalised selection of nature restoration and carbon removal projects.
Through the company’s dedicated dashboard provided by Furthr, Jeremy’s team now has access to detailed information and updates on the projects funded by their company.
Results
When measuring Bob W’s carbon footprint, we acknowledged that a guest's stay generates emissions beyond those captured in the HCMI methodology (energy use, heating, but also food, toiletries, construction, supply chains, etc). We wanted to create an emissions per night intensity metric that would capture those emission-heavy sources.
To do this, Furthr's sustainability experts worked with Bob W to develop LEGIT (Lodging Emissions & Guest-night Impact Tracker), a methodology that extends the calculation scope of per-night hotel emissions, enabling guests to understand the full environmental impact of their stay. Hospitality operators looking to increase the level of accuracy of their emissions per night can follow the free LEGIT methodology and make their pledge in favour of industry transparency here.
The Impact
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Supported Projects
Biochar Smallholder Farm Project, India
2023 - 22 tCO2e Offset
Biodiversity Forest, Germany
2023 - 197 tCO2e Offset
Lango Safe Water, Uganda
2023 - 1,971 tCO2e Offset
Next steps
Thanks to its collaboration with Furthr, the team at Bob W feels confident about developing the company’s net zero strategy: “Working with Furthr has given us the confidence to be true sustainability leaders in the hospitality sector. They have helped demystify the process for us – getting us on track to roll out our very own multi-decade decarbonisation plan very soon.”
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