Sustainability
Fairmont Banff Springs, located in Canada’s first national park in Banff, Alberta, is committed to providing its guests with a luxurious yet mindful experience. We recognize the environmental footprint of welcoming hundreds of guests daily and are dedicated to driving strategic change to mitigate the impacts associated with our operations.
Hosting Change, our sustainability roadmap for 2026–2030, carries one clear ambition: turning sustainability into shared value for every
stakeholder – colleagues, guests, communities, and broader ecosystems.
Learn more about Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
ENSURE FUTURE-PROOF PLACES
We are decarbonizing our activity, reducing and optimizing resource consumption across our business. We hold our entire supply chain to the same standards, working with suppliers who share our values to build a resilient, responsible sourcing model.
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ENERGY
Energy Conservation
In 2022, Fairmont Banff Springs commissioned a deep energy audit at ASHRAE Level 2 standards. Following the audit, the hotel has received a list of suggested energy conservation measures and these are being rolled out since then. Our building envelope dates back from 1888, so regular retrofits and upgrades are necessary to stay on par with sustainability standards.
Electric Vehicle Charging Station & Local Transportation
In partnership with Sun Country Highway Ltd., we have installed 8 electric vehicle charging stations in the parkade.
We also provide free tickets for guests to use Banff’s local transit system, ROAM. Our team provides opportunities to use private or public shuttles to explore the area without a vehicle. This is to support Banff’s goals for sustainable road and transportation.
WATER
Water Conservation
The Fairmont Banff Springs is proud to have some of the cleanest drinking water in the world. The hotel’s water is sourced from a glacier-fed ground well in the national park, treated to the highest standards by the Town of Banff, and pumped to the property for guests and colleagues to enjoy. We encourage guests to fill their reusable bottles with this pristine water at bottle refill stations on every floor and corner of the hotel, or even straight from the tap in their room.
We are committed to mitigating harm to the precious local glacier water of Banff National Park by taking steps to reduce water consumption across the property. In addition to installing low-flow plumbing fixtures in all guest rooms and optimizing our pools operations, the largest water reductions yet have been seen on the iconic Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course.
The golf course grounds team has re-naturalized 510,000 sq. ft. of areas near tee-off and fairways of all 27 holes by planting native montane grasses. Not only does it immerse golfers in a more natural mountain landscape, but the native vegetation does not require intense water & grooming, which allowed the hotel to decommission 115 sprinkler heads and save an astonishing 3.5 million gallons of water annually. The grounds team also performs frequent irrigation effectiveness audits to adjust distribution and identify equipment in need of repair.
WASTE
Single Use Plastic Commitment
Plastic is a major issue in the hospitality industry. We acknowledge this issue and we are working to eliminate 57 items from the GTPI list of single-use plastic items both from the guest experience and back of house operations. While guests may occasionally encounter certain items due to current market availability and supply chain complexities, we are continuously working to source sustainable alternatives. Our objective is to continue phasing out single-use plastics from our internal operations.
Room Amenities Recycling
Leftover soap & hygiene products that would otherwise be discarded from guest rooms are donated to Clean the World, a global organization that distributes recycled soaps and hygiene products to vulnerable communities in over 120 countries. Since the beginning of our partnership, we collected close to 14,000lbs. of soap as well as 25,000lbs. of wet amenities bottles. Our positive impact reflects over 13,000 people worldwide and helps preserve natural resources.
Each of our 730 rooms is equipped with a Nespresso coffee machine. That makes a lot of coffee pods! We make sure to collect them separately to ensure they are recycled by the supplier. Nespresso numbers
Food waste
Step 1 – Anticipation.
While very few recipes in the world are truly “zero waste,” our approach focuses on a scratch kitchen culture and a commitment to making the most of every ingredient. With dedicated programs such as our bake shop, butcher shop, and saucier, we are able to maximize the value of ingredients in our venues. In the butcher shop, usable beef trim is grounded into burger meat, inedible trim is passed into our saucier program for stocks and jus, and fat is rendered into tallow. Vegetable trim often becomes the base for stocks or purees; citrus peel is turned into syrups or infusions, and bread is repurposed into crumbs or desserts. This philosophy carries across our kitchens: when by-products are created, they are redirected into other preparations wherever possible, ensuring the whole ingredient is respected and waste is minimized.
Our goal is not simply to chase “zero waste recipes,” but to build a culture of responsibility and creativity in which every ingredient is utilized to its fullest potential.
Step 2 – Measurement.
In addition, we use the Orbisk system, a software that tracks food waste in our kitchens, helping us measure, analyze, and continuously improve our practices over time. As of September 2025, we have managed to reduce our food waste by 55% compared to 2023 and we are continuing our efforts to maintain the trend and reach 60% reduction by 2030.
Step 3 – Disposal.
We are proud to pilot the ORCA bio-digester on property since late February 2026. Instead of having our organic waste hauled by diesel trucks to be disposed of outside of the park, we feed the ORCA our food waste, except for hard items such as bones or avocado pits. The machine digests around 45kg/100lbs of food per hour, turning it into an effluent that goes to our regular wastewater lines. This way, we are expecting to greatly cut carbon emissions linked to the disposal of food waste.
Miscellaneous waste streams
We are proud to partner with different organizations to recycle wine corks and cigarette butts. With Terracycle, we collected over 1.5 million cigarette butts since 2013. With ReCork, our wine corks become shoe soles or yoga blocks.
ELEVATE THE GUEST EXPERIENCE
Sustainability becomes even more meaningful when guests can feel it. Our third-party eco-certifications help us embed sustainability in every aspect of the operations and drive guest confidence. And we are transforming our culinary offer in line with rising demand for healthier, more sustainable choices, delivering dining that is both more responsible and ever more delicious.
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Third party certifications
Fairmont Banff Springs has had a continuous sustainability certification with Green Key Global since 2006, and obtained 5 keys rating in 2024, which is the highest score in our partner’s assessment. Green Key Global criteria are aligned with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) standards, which is the international accreditation body for sustainable tourism certification.
Moreover, we are proud to have earned the VERIFIED™ Responsible Hospitality badge from Forbes Travel Guide, a recognition that reflects our commitment to best practices that protect the environment, support the wellbeing of our colleagues and guests, and positively impact our community. This distinction highlights our dedication to responsible hospitality while continuing to deliver the exceptional guest experience for which Fairmont Banff Springs is known, reinforcing our focus on creating a better today and a brighter tomorrow.
Finally, the golf course and hotel grounds are both eco-certified with Audubon International to highlight our efforts on sustainable landscaping and irrigation.
Sustainable Cuisine
Sustainability is a key focus for Fairmont Banff Springs’ culinary team. Executive Chef Atticus Garant works diligently with local purveyors to bring in the highest quality ingredients and aims to have 75% of our products sourced from Alberta and other Canadian provinces. Moreover, as of 2025, 42% of our dishes are plant-based, helping shift our consumption towards more sustainable food. To go further, we have partnered with Foodsteps to accurately assess our ingredients’ environmental footprint – carbon, water and land.
Pastries, cured meats, and preserves are made onsite, with an in-house butcher shop providing fine cut, locally-sourced meat for the entire hotel. We grow microgreens in our urban cultivators at STOCK Food & Drink as well as house-grown herbs, greens and small vegetables in our greenhouse. The Castle is committed to purchasing local, organic, Fair Trade and sustainable food products wherever possible. For instance, we purchase our seafood aligned with Ocean Wise standards.
ENGAGE WITH BROADER ECOSYSTEMS
We accompany our suppliers in their own sustainability transition, providing guidance, tools, and frameworks to strengthen their resilience and performance. We protect and restore the biodiversity surrounding our property, supporting local ecosystems and inviting guests, teams, and partners to play an active role. We ensure our presence in this special destination creates genuine, lasting value, through local partnerships, volunteering, and active solidarity with the communities we call home.
Key documents:
Accor Group Biodiversity Policy
Park Mode – a Banff & Lake Louise Tourism initiative
Fairmont Banff Springs is proud to be part of this exceptional destination. All of us who spend time in Banff are stewards of this place; we all want to leave it better than we found it. Park Mode means shifting your mindset when you’re here. It’s thinking differently and making responsible choices, respecting this place and being part of the solution.
Co-exist With Wildlife: Keep wildlife wild – follow Parks Canada guidelines to protect both yourself and Banff’s natural residents.
Reduce Waste: Dispose of trash, recycle properly, and choose reusables to help preserve Banff National Park’s pristine landscapes for future generations.
Be Safe in the Mountains: Banff National Park’s wild beauty can be unpredictable. Plan ahead, check conditions, know your limits, and stay safe on every adventure.
Respect Community: Be kind, slow down, and take time to learn about Banff’s people, cultures, and stories.
Property Cleanup
Every spring, when the snow melts, the team performs an annual cleanup of the property and surrounding community to help preserve the beauty of Canada’s first national park, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Suppliers engagement
Our laundry operations are 100% outsourced. This means that all the water and chemicals used to wash our linens and towels are handled and absorbed by a third party. Nevertheless, we work with our partner to ensure they use the best possible water systems, monitor their energy and water consumption, and source responsible linens for us. From 2026 onwards, we are transitioning to a new linen line that is certified OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN – textiles that are produced more sustainably in socially responsible workplaces.
At the hotel, around 80% of all our purchases are made through a single purchasing platform, Entegra. They help us select suppliers who align with our sustainability standards and help suppliers who are not quite there yet to catch up. This is a great example of leveraging the help of a very large partner to the benefit of smaller ones.
Our People
All colleagues of the Fairmont Banff Springs learn about the hotel’s sustainability initiatives and the importance of environmental stewardship within the national park during their orientation with us and dedicated training sessions throughout the year. Each department has their role to play, and they have clear objectives to help achieve the hotel’s sustainability goals. We are proud to tie-in sustainability within relevant colleagues’ performance goals.