DALLAS - Sept. 6, 2000 -- Amidst a record-breaking drought characterized by more than 68 consecutive days without rain in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Dallas-based Accor Economy Lodging (AEL) today signed an official agreement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to join its voluntary water conservation program. 

By participating in WAVE (Water Alliances for Voluntary Efficiency), AEL estimates its properties will conserve more than 800 million gallons of water annually. According to EPA estimates, the energy savings associated with that amount of water saved equates to approximately 200 billion BTUs which, in turn, will prevent nearly 1200 metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution per year.

Created by the EPA, WAVE is a non-regulatory water efficiency partnership that encourages commercial businesses and institutions to reduce water consumption while increasing efficiency, profitability and competitiveness. The program was established in 1992 and initially focused on the lodging industry but has grown to include office buildings and educational institutions.

A division of Paris-based Accor S.A., AEL owns and/or operates more than 1,100 Motel 6, Red Roof Inns and Studio 6 properties nationwide, making it the nation�s largest owner and operator of economy lodging properties. While there are now 40 lodging partners involved in WAVE, AEL�s participation immediately doubles the size of the program.

According to Gary Hudiburgh, Jr., Chief of the Municipal Assistance Branch in the Municipal Support Division, Office of Wastewater Management at the EPA in Washington, D.C, �We are very pleased to welcome Motel 6, Red Roof Inns and Studio 6 to the WAVE program, and have already begun working with them on their water conservation efforts. As the largest lodging company to participate in WAVE, AEL will make a significant dent in the 180 billion gallons of water used by the lodging industry each year, which means decreased pollution and demands on our precious water and energy resources. Through its involvement, AEL will also realize significant bottom-line savings without any negative impact on guest comfort or satisfaction. In our view, this is truly a mutual benefit, and a general benefit to our environment.

�Through the WAVE program, the participating lodging entities have made tremendous strides but there is still much work to be done. The average hotel uses 209 gallons of water each day for each occupied room. If every lodging company became involved with WAVE, together we could save 32 billion gallons of water and over one trillion BTUs of associated energy per year,� Hudiburgh said.

According to Georges Le Mener, president and chief executive officer of AEL, �Accor has a documented history of participation in environmental conservation efforts worldwide, making AEL�s involvement in the WAVE program an obvious business move. In 1994, Accor initiated an environmental policy defined by four specific components: environmental awareness and waste management; water and utilities management; control of emissions of all kinds; and, environmentally sensitive architectural and landscape design.

�While AEL always has been conscientious of preserving natural resources, we wanted to find an opportunity to make a meaningful difference not only to the environment, but to the way we operate our properties. Since acquiring Red Roof Inns last year, we have been evaluating our water and energy usage system-wide and began working with the EPA to identify and implement water-saving methods. I�m proud to say that we�ve already incorporated several water conservation features in our properties and we are committed to reporting significant results as our WAVE participation continues,� Mr. Le Mener said.

Mike Brower, senior vice president of operations for AEL, said that AEL�s water conservation efforts are, in many respects, a joint effort between the individual properties and their guests. �Because the majority of the hotels and motels in this country have not implemented water conservation efforts, it�s important for us to communicate our efforts to our guests so they understand that lower water pressure in the showers, for example, is not a maintenance or quality issue, but a deliberate method to conserve our nation�s resources. The EPA�s support certainly elevates the importance of what we�re trying to accomplish. One of the best ways we can reduce our water consumption is through housekeeping: for guests staying longer than one night, housekeepers will make the beds but will only change the sheets every other day unless requested by the guest. Each of our rooms features a tent card communicating this policy, and our involvement in the WAVE program, so our guests will understand that they are contributing to an important environmental initiative by supporting our policy. There are obviously cases where our guests will insist on freshly laundered sheets each night but, overall, we�ve received positive feedback for our efforts,� he said.

Dan Gilligan, AEL�s vice president of utilities, said that AEL�s water conservation efforts have required an initial investment of $1.6 million. �When you look at our properties, we use water in eight places: in the guest rooms, with the commodes, showers and sinks; in our swimming pools; in our water-cooled ice machines; in our laundry facilities; and, in our landscaping and irrigation. To date, we have replaced traditional plumbing fixtures with low flow shower heads and faucets, and have replaced nearly half of our old 3.5 to 5.0 gallon commodes with 1.6 gallon pressure assist commodes. Our future water conservation efforts will be focused on improving the efficiency of our laundry operations and implementing new policies related to landscaping and irrigation to further reduce our water usage. These steps, while relatively insignificant to the comfort of our guests, will make an enormous difference in the amount of water we save, and we sincerely hope that other lodging companies will see that they don�t have to sacrifice customer satisfaction when initiating a water and energy conservation program,� he said.