Hannah Bronfman, Director of Sustainability & Impact at 1 Hotels and Baccarat Hotels

Conscious Enterprises

If you want some reassurance that big corporations and major luxury brands are leading the evolution of business, this episode is for you. Hannah Bronfman is the Director of Sustainability & Impact for all the Starwood Hotels & Resorts properties, including the 1 Hotels and the Baccarat Hotels. She has a zest for her work and an expertises that is incomparable.

As a passionate proponent of luxury and consciousness coexisting, I have always had a special admiration for brands like 1 Hotels in particular. If you’ve ever had the pleasure at staying at one of their properties, dining at one of their sustainable or zero-waste restaurants, or perhaps even attending a Conscious Enterprises LIVE event at one of their locations, you know that the ambiance exudes luxury, while holding an equally prominent respect to nature. And this exquisite balance that they have struck clearly comes from deep within the company and their leadership.

If there’s one thing that is apparent, by the sheer existence of this role and this perfectly suited impact-maker, about their CEO, Barry Sternlicht and his SH Group, it’s that he clearly understands that making an impact on the world externally comes from cleaning up his internal systems and processes within the organization. And that’s exactly what Hannah seems to live to do.

In this conversation we discuss Hannah’s fine tuned training in green buildings, engineering and environmentally minded city planning, the global definition of sustainability vs a personal definition of sustainability, waste management, bedtime stories and how the world is evolving.

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Recognitions:

• Director of Sustainability & Impact for SH Group:

  • Starwood Hotels & Resorts (1 Hotels & Baccarat Hotel)

• Teaches at Columbia University about green buildings

• Background in program implementation on corporate real estate and hospitality

• Trained as an Engineer

• 10 years of experience as a sustainability and green buildings expert

Topics discussed in this conversation include:

• Hannah’s fine tuned training for green buildings in cities

• What appeals to Hannah about environmental planning

• From Portland to NYC

• How New York City compares to other cities in sustainability

• Sustainability by a global definition VS personal definition

• The initiatives Hannah is working on to keep the 1 Hotels and SH Group properties sustainable and impactful

• Waste Management

• Some things that the average person within a corporation or the average business can do to make themselves more impactful or sustainable

• Balancing the scales of luxury and sustainability

• Barry Sternlicht

• LEED Certification

• Low VOC paints (volatile organic compound)

• Why running is just as much for mental health as physical health

• Calm app for meditation

• Bedtime stories

• How Hannah measures success

• Using metrics to measure a team’s accomplishments

• Being obsessed with waste

• Misfits Market

• Hannah’s view of a world evolution towards simplification

• Valuable advice for professionals committed to impact, sustainability and consciousness

Bio:

Hannah Bronfman is the Director of Impact and Sustainability for SH Group. Hannah has over 10 years of experience as a sustainability and green building expert, including a background in program implementation and communications with a special focus on corporate real estate and hospitality. She has worked with organizations to incorporate sustainability across their business practices, from corporate-level initiatives and policies to building-portfolio management.
In her role, Hannah works with our property and corporate teams to enhance our sustainability strategy, implement new programs, and ensure that our sustainable business and building strategies bolster the 1 Hotels brand.
Hannah joined SH Group from WSP USA (formerly YR&G) where she was the Director of the Corporate Sustainability Team. Key clients included Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Tishman Speyer, The Dust Organization, and the US Green Building Council. Prior to WSP, Hannah held technical positions within MEP engineering firms, working specifically on green building design and operations of buildings. Hannah is currently an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University teaching courses on sustainable construction management.
Hannah holds a bachelor’s degree in General Science and Geography from the University of Oregon. Additionally, she studied visual communications at the Pacific Northwest College of Arts.