Wellness Hotel in Austria:
Hotel Hochschober Awarded SDI Gold

How can a hotel’s measures in the areas of environment, social responsibility and corporate governance be assessed in a transparent and measurable way? This is exactly where the SDI Rating (Sustainable Development Index) comes in.

Hotel Hochschober is regularly assessed according to this system. The rating is based on the international ESG criteria, covering environmental, social and governance aspects.

Hochschober has now been assessed for the third time and has improved its result with each rating. In the current assessment, the hotel once again achieved Gold status. At the time of the assessment, around 20 hotels in Austria had reached this status.

Gold in the SDI Rating

The current SDI Rating evaluates Hochschober in three areas:

• 100 points for governance
• 83 points for social responsibility
• 58 points for environmental performance

This results in an overall score of 70 points and Gold status.

According to the assessment, the improved result was supported by specific measures including:

• the training app for employees
• an expanded healthcare programme for the team
• a clearly defined anti-corruption code
• measures to reduce waste
• the purchase of numerous products from the region

The rating therefore shows which measures are already in place and where there is still potential for further development.

CO₂ emissions per overnight stay

CO₂ emissions are also recorded as part of the assessment.

According to the current SDI Rating, one overnight stay at Hochschober accounts for an average of 4.85 kg of CO₂ emissions. Based on the benchmark used in the rating, this is around 50% below the industry average stated there.

Measures in the field of energy include:

• heat from the biomass heating plant
• generating part of the hotel’s electricity through photovoltaics
• ongoing energy monitoring to record and analyse consumption

This allows the hotel to track changes in its energy consumption and plan further measures in a targeted way.

Measuring, comparing and developing further

For the host family Leeb and Klein and the Hochschober team, the SDI Rating is primarily a tool for making developments measurable and identifying further areas for action.

Measures planned for the coming years include:

• additional photovoltaic areas
• further measures to reduce microplastics
• increased use of cleaning products with clearly documented environmental properties
• additional measures to reduce food waste

Future assessments will show how these measures affect the individual rating categories.

Small measures also count

Guests can also help reduce the use of certain single-use products. One simple option is:

Bring your own slippers.

This means fewer disposable slippers need to be provided, helping to reduce the amount of material used.