Hotel: HCMI & CHSB

Calculate hotel stay emissions with the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) and Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index (CHSB) datasets, per occupied room or by floor area.

OverviewCopy Anchor Link

HCMI and CHSB are two prominent methodologies in the hotel industry, built to measure carbon footprints and promote sustainable practices. HCMI, a global standard introduced by leading hotel chains and organizations, gives a consistent way to calculate and communicate the carbon footprint of hotel stays and meetings. It considers variables such as energy and water usage, waste production and outsourced services.

CHSB, created by Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, is an index that lets hotels worldwide benchmark their energy and water usage, greenhouse gas emissions and other sustainability metrics against peers. By collecting data across regions and hotel sizes, CHSB gives hoteliers insights to improve their environmental efficiency and sustainability credentials and stay competitive in an increasingly eco-conscious market.

Hotel Carbon Measurement InitiativeCopy Anchor Link

HCMI is a free methodology and tool for hotels to calculate the carbon footprint of hotel stays and meetings in their properties.

The hospitality industry developed it to give all hotels a consistent way to measure and communicate their carbon impact. More than 25,000 hotels use HCMI globally. The ambition is that widespread use of HCMI improves understanding, transparency and accuracy across the industry.

Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking IndexCopy Anchor Link

CHSB is an industry-led global data collection and benchmarking initiative, with data on energy, water and carbon emissions from more than 20,000 hotels around the world. Participants include major hotel brands, operators and owners from all regions of the world.

Cornell's School of Hospitality Research publishes the public dataset free of charge. It contains average hotel performance for different types of hotels in different geographies. Hotels that take part directly receive a confidential, bespoke benchmarking report that shows how they perform against their competitive set.

Governments, corporate customers, travel management companies and many other organizations use CHSB data to set benchmarks and estimates for energy and water usage, and carbon footprints.

GHG ProtocolCopy Anchor Link

GHG Protocol sets comprehensive global standardized frameworks to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions.

Building on a 20-year partnership between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), GHG Protocol works with governments, industry associations, NGOs, businesses and other organizations.

Sample requestsCopy Anchor Link

Send a quote before booking, then repeat the call with audit set to true once the booking is final.

{
  "expand": ["items"],
  "items": [{
    "audit": false,
    "type": "hotel",
    "methodology": "HCMI",
    "methodology_version": "2024",
    "external_reference": "string",
    "country": "AU",
    "city": "Villa La Angostura",
    "hotel_type": "urban_location",
    "stars": 4,
    "hcmi_member": false,
    "number_of_nights": 1
  }]
}

By floor areaCopy Anchor Link

Send square_meters to calculate by floor area instead of per occupied room. square_meters takes precedence over number_of_nights.

{
  "expand": ["items"],
  "items": [{
    "type": "hotel",
    "methodology": "HCMI",
    "methodology_version": "2024",
    "country": "FR",
    "city": "Paris",
    "stars": 4,
    "square_meters": 120
  }]
}

DefaultsCopy Anchor Link

Request fieldsCopy Anchor Link

Sample responseCopy Anchor Link

{
  "carbon_quantity": 44475,
  "carbon_unit": "gram",
  "items": [{
    "carbon_quantity": 44475,
    "carbon_unit": "gram",
    "external_reference": "string",
    "type": "hotel",
    "methodology": "HCMI"
  }]
}

BibliographyCopy Anchor Link

Ricaurte, Eric. Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index 2024: Carbon, Energy, and Water. 2024.