A greener stay, backed by data. The Guldsmeden Hotels and Klappir Partnership

At Guldsmeden Hotels, sustainability has always been more than a buzzword, it’s part of the hotels DNA. More than 12 years ago, sustainability was already an integrated part in the operations, just because it made business sense. Buying second hand furniture for the rooms both created a special atmosphere, but massive wood also lasts longer and any small scratch naturally contributes to the history of that furniture.

Long before it became a business requirement, Guldsmeden Hotels focused on reducing the environmental footprint through conscious choices in products, waste sorting, water and energy efficiency, and responsible supplier selection. In collaboration with their laundry supplier, got their specific emission factor calculated, based on their conscious choices of detergent.

Today, the focus is on strengthening the data foundation for ESG reporting across all hotels. With Klappir, we’ve gained a unified overview of our energy, water, and waste consumption, allowing us to track progress with much greater accuracy. Our ambition for the future is to create full transparency throughout our value chain, ensuring that every sustainable decision is backed by solid data and measurable results.

Working with ESG has taught us that success requires structure, patience, and, above all, high-quality data. Our best advice to others is to start by creating a shared overview and ensuring data accuracy from day one, that’s what enables real progress and will pay off later.

We’ve also learned how essential it is to involve employees. Sustainability thrives when everyone feels ownership and participates in the journey. Curiosity, transparency, and a willingness to improve continuously are equally important. It’s okay not to have everything perfect from the start, what matters most is progress and commitment.

Why we chose Klappir

• Data quality and automation: Klappir integrates directly with our suppliers, enabling automatic data imports. This saves valuable time and reduces errors.
• User-friendliness: The platform is intuitive, making it easy to compare data across hotels and monitor developments in real time.
• Continuous support Klappir actively supports our goals by helping us onboard more suppliers, engage in dialogue, and set up systems that bring our sustainability ambitions to life.

Automated data flows and the visual dashboard have made a real difference. They help us identify where we can reduce consumption and waste, both environmentally and financially.

We did always think we did well in our waste sorting, but when we got data on our sorting ratio, we became aware that we could do better. By ensuring more sorting bins in every hallway, not only our employees, but also our guests could more easily sort plastic, paper and food waste. We reduced the mixed waste by 10% in just 1.5 months.

Klappir has also made our ESG reporting more efficient and verifiable, strengthening our internal decision-making and our communication with guests and partners.

The KPI tool is another key feature. It allows us to measure our CO₂ footprint per guest night, a data-point increasingly requested by our business partners. Having such insights readily available in Klappir is a huge advantage for our daily work and long-term reporting.

"For us, sustainability has always been common sense, it’s simply makes good business sense. But with Klappir, we’ve taken it to the next level. The platform gives us reliable, automated data and clear insights about CO2 emissions from guests, or how we can save CO2 and costs by reducing our consumption or improve our waste sorting. Klappir’s analytics tools help us see where we can improve and make real, measurable progress. It has turned our sustainability work from good intentions into documented results which is something we can proudly share with our guests, partners, and team".

Astrid Kolle Østergaard, Marketing and Sustainability Strategist at Guldsmeden Hotels