The Green Dreams promise

GreenSign certified

As a family-owned company, we attach great importance to environmental protection and firmly believe that it is crucial to meet the needs of today’s generation without restricting the possibilities of future generations. This includes using natural resources responsibly.

We are dedicated to providing a sustainable stay with a range of eco-friendly initiatives, both large and small, as part of our Green Dreams campaign.

In 2022, McDreams Hotel received the GreenSign sustainability certificate level 4 for the first time. Three further certifications followed in 2023.

How can hotels contribute to climate protection?

Domestic tourism in Germany was responsible for 6.4% of annual CO₂ emissions in 2019 according to a study by the Federal Environmental Agency, with hotels accounting for 16%.

We decided to minimise the impact of each guest’s stay and reduce the carbon footprint. As hotel operators, we focused on the categories of lighting, heating, mobility, waste, purchasing and staff for all nine McDreams hotels and reviewed every decision. On this basis, we identified five core areas for our hotels in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and included them in our mission statement.

Our sustainability guidelines

Promote renewable energies

Help shape sustainable mobility

Optimise the cleaning cycle

Improve working conditions

Engage partners in our mission

You can download a detailed version of our sustainability goals as a PDF here

Our Goals

1/8

1

Clean Energie

In recent years, we have been able to continuously reduce the energy consumption per night spent. Thanks to low-energy LED lights and motion sensors, energy-saving appliances and a high level of digitisation, we need less energy today than ever before. We have also increased the share of regenerative energies. Since 2019, all McDreams hotels have been powered by 100% renewable electricity. In 2023, we made a six-figure investment to expand our in-house PV systems. Three hotels have generated up to 70% of their electricity demand from own solar panels in recent years.

2

Staff

In 2019, we became the first budget hotel to join the Fair Job initiative. Together with our team, we aim to improve the working conditions in the hotel industry with respect to gender equality, pay, working hours and the reconciliation of work and family life. In 2022, we received the Hospitality Award for workplace digitisation. Digital processes and remote work options represent a great opportunity for us and our employees to improve our work-life balance.

3

Mobility

We want to promote and help shape sustainable mobility. We plan to transition our company car fleet to fully electric by 2025. For our guests, we install new electric car charging points every year. Moreover, all McDreams hotels are well served by public transport links. With the job bike programme, we provide an additional mobility option for employees. Our first certification also revealed that a large proportion of our employees live within 10 kilometres of their place of work.

4

Cleaning

Our aim is to optimise the cleaning cycle and save water. We consider room cleaning a central lever to achieving more eco-friendly stays. Partnering with Greif, we support selected carbon offset projects in Uganda and Germany. All CO₂ emissions generated in connection with the hotel laundry are offset in environmental projects, allowing us deliver an even eco-friendlier cleaning service. We only use eco-friendly cleaning agents bearing the German ‘Blue Angel’ label or the EU ecolabel. With reusable cups and targeted waste separation, we have made our cleaning routine even more sustainable.

5

Partnership

We engage all of our partners in our mission. From planning to furnishing to purchasing, all stakeholders participate in our sustainable practices. For 13 years, we have partnered with Luhn joinery from Wuppertal on every hotel project. As family-owned businesses, we prioritise regionally made furniture instead of Far East imports. We have set ourselves the goal of reviewing all supply chains. We try to work with certified partners and recognised labels wherever possible. Together, we can shape a sustainable future and help protect our planet.

Why less is sometimes more

Reducing space requirements means that less energy is needed to operate our hotels throughout their life cycle.

With our unique concept of building hotels on top of supermarkets, we have found a way to utilise unused spaces in business parks. Space-saving room layouts and the absence of secondary facilities such as saunas, pools or gyms save valuable resources during the construction and operation of our hotels. By avoiding the use of air conditioning systems and refrigerators, we can greatly reduce the amount of electricity required for operation.

digital, smart, economic

For us as hotel operators, digitalisation offers immense opportunities. Digital transformation is helping us to adopt more eco-friendly practices in our hotels and in the entire company.

From simple measures such as reducing paper to digitising invoices to optimising entire workflows, we can make numerous processes more efficient. Intelligent tools and smart technology help us reduce the consumption of resources in our hotels and increase their energy efficiency. For example, we will be able to digitally record and analyse all consumption figures in real time in the future.