Implications of BREEAM Sustainability Assessment on the Design of Hotels

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for the opportunity of reviewing this interesting article. It addresses a topic which is in the journal's scope. The paper is an empirical approach, more a study case, but it is well written and with the potential to bring new insights. However, there are some amendments that should be done. Firstly, the methodology is not enough presented, it is not clear how the surveyed people were chosen, when the interviews took place etc. Secondly, the final part is too short and does not entirely capture the importance and implications of the reserach, how the results can be used, how are the practical implications etc. This final part should be enhanced in this regards. Good luck! 

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

The authors appreciate the comments of the reviewer that have helped to improve the manuscript. A new version of the manuscript is available, and some answers to the key comments can be found below.

Point 1: Thank you for the opportunity of reviewing this interesting article. It addresses a topic which is in the journal's scope. The paper is an empirical approach, more a study case, but it is well written and with the potential to bring new insights. However, there are some amendments that should be done.

The methodology is not enough presented, it is not clear how the surveyed people were chosen, when the interviews took place, etc.

Response 1: Thank you for your kind words in favour of our research. We tried to summarize the methodology but we agree that some further information might help to understand how we have approached the research. In order to mitigate this, we have included some further details about how we selected the people for the interviews, when these interviews took place and how. These can be found from line 217 to 237. Here it is explained that the architects and technicians involved in the research were selected according to their level of expertise in the field and the quality of hotel projects they were involved in. In addition, it is explained the way the interviews were undertaken and what software was used for recording them.

Point 2: The final part is too short and does not entirely capture the importance and implications of the research, how the results can be used, how are the practical implications, etc. This final part should be enhanced in this regards.

Response 2: Thank you for this suggestion in order to enhance the final part of the document. The impact of the sustainability assessment and its implications have been explained in the final section of the manuscript under the “Conclusions” section. However, we agree that the importance of the research has not been exposed with enough clarity to be understood easily. In order to achieve this, we have included some details about previous research regarding our topic from line 210 to 213. Here it is explained that little research has been done about the implications of BREEAM on the design of buildings and no prior research has been found focussing on the Hospitality sector. Considering the importance of Tourism in the Agenda 2030, already explained in the manuscript, this shows the importance of this research in order to progress in this matter. In addition to this, the methodology used for this research presents some limitations that are exposed from line 213 to 216 and must be included in this section.

Finally, it has been exposed how this research can be used and what are its practical implications. This has been explained in the “Conclusions” section from line 466 to 474. Here it is explained the popularity of BREEAM and how we consider it is going to progress in the following years ahead. In this instance, the results obtained in this research can be used as a reference for any other hotel that aims to become more sustainable and any new green hotel.  

We hope the above helps to enhance the manuscript and to make it more clear for the future reader of the document. Thank you very much for your kind words and help to improve our manuscript.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This paper could be interesting for the SUSTAINABILITY readers, but the authors should do great efforts. I strongly recommend to further investigate the literature, adding more references and to amplify all sections. In particular,  I strongly recommend to organise the initial part of this article following the traditional format of the international journals such as Sustainability: "introduction" and "literature review".

I strongly recommend to amplify the the initial part of this paper with the connections between a tourism research agenda and tourism.

In this regard, I suggest reading and citing the following articles:

Garau, C. (2017). Emerging technologies and cultural tourism: Opportunities for a cultural urban tourism research agenda. In Tourism in the City (pp. 67-80). Springer, Cham.

Mehraliyev, F., Chan, I. C. C., Choi, Y., Koseoglu, M. A., & Law, R. (2020). A state-of-the-art review of smart tourism research. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 37(1), 78-91.

The introduction should also be structured better, the authors have to indicate how they intend to develop the article.

The conclusions do not adequately summarize the research that has been conducted, the authors should also better emphasize the future development of the research

I strongly reccomend to amplify the theoretical part and the authors must deepen all sections. 

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments

The authors appreciate the comments of the reviewer that have helped to improve the manuscript. A new version of the manuscript is available, and some answers to the key comments can be found below.

Point 1: I strongly recommend to further investigate the literature, adding more references and to amplify all sections. In particular, I strongly recommend to organise the initial part of this article following the traditional format of the international journals such as Sustainability: "introduction" and "literature review". I strongly recommend to amplify the initial part of this paper with the connections between a tourism research agenda and tourism. In this regard, I suggest reading and citing the following articles:

• Garau, C. (2017). Emerging technologies and cultural tourism: Opportunities for a cultural urban tourism research agenda. In Tourism in the City (pp. 67-80). Springer, Cham.
• Mehraliyev, F., Chan, I. C. C., Choi, Y., Koseoglu, M. A., & Law, R. (2020). A state-of-the-art review of smart tourism research. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 37(1), 78-91.

Response 1: Thank you very much for these references, they are indeed very interesting. We consider both are strongly related with our research particularly where we revise the importance of sustainability certifications for the Hospitality Industry. Both suggested articles are related with smart tourism and the use of new technologies in order to improve Tourism. In this regards, hotels exposes their certificates online so the customers can easily select those hotels that fulfil their sustainable expectations. The new concept of smart tourism and how this relates to our research is exposed from line 126 to 129.

We also agree that the “Introduction” works better separated from the “Literature Review”, so this change has been included in order to make it more clear for the reader.

Point 2: The introduction should also be structured better, the authors have to indicate how they intend to develop the article.

Response 2: Thank you for this useful recommendation, this will indeed help to understand how the article is structured. In order to achieve this, we have included an explanation of how the manuscript is developed; it can be found in lines 46-52 under the “Introduction” section.  Here it is explained how the article is divided into three main sections, a brief overview of the impact of the Agenda 2030 on Tourism, a review of the existing literature of the importance of sustainable certificates on Hospitality and the background of BREEAM. Finally, the last part, analyses the impact of BREEAM on the design of hotels.

Point 3: The conclusions do not adequately summarize the research that has been conducted, the authors should also better emphasize the future development of the research.

Response 3: Thank you for this suggestion in order to enhance the final part of the document. The impact of the sustainability assessment and its implications have been explained in the final section of the manuscript under the “Conclusions” section. However, we agree that the importance of the research has not been exposed with enough clarity to be understood easily. In order to improve this, under the “Conclusions” section, it has been exposed how this research can be used and its future development. This has been exposed from line 466 to 474, it is explained the popularity of BREEAM and how we consider it is going to progress in the following years ahead. In this instance, the results obtained in this research can be used as a reference for any other hotel that aims to become more sustainable and any new green hotel. 

Point 4: I strongly recommend to amplify the theoretical part and the authors must deepen all sections. 

Response 4: Thank you for your recommendations. We hope that the above help to improve the theoretical part of the document and the manuscript has been enhanced with the new information recently added. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear authors,

This original research paper analyses the actual and important topic - implications of BREEAM sustainability assessment on the design of hotels and it is a personal response to “The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development” and its influence on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Paper aims to examine the influence of the sustainable assessment method BREEAM on the design of hotels by using seven case studies and studying the changes that were implemented in order to achieve their targets. Qualitative data were obtained by conducting in-depth interviews and analyzing the supplied documentation. The authors notice that the results revealed that a BREEAM approach might limit the design of the hotels but including the right measures at the early design stage of the project, the target can be easily achieved.

And I would like to share with authors some doubts too: it seems important to notice that maybe it would be needed to the methodology chapter include the limitations paragraph (discussing critical aspects of used methodology) and as well it would be important to include some original qualitative data to the results/discussion chapter. It seems important as well, to offer to present seperately results/discussion chapters, thus accessing richer discussion and concluding with deeper insights later.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 3 Comments

The authors appreciate the comments of the reviewer that have helped to improve the manuscript. A new version of the manuscript is available, and some answers to the key comments can be found below.

Point 1: This original research paper analyses the actual and important topic - implications of BREEAM sustainability assessment on the design of hotels and it is a personal response to “The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development” and its influence on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Paper aims to examine the influence of the sustainable assessment method BREEAM on the design of hotels by using seven case studies and studying the changes that were implemented in order to achieve their targets. Qualitative data were obtained by conducting in-depth interviews and analysing the supplied documentation. The authors notice that the results revealed that a BREEAM approach might limit the design of the hotels but including the right measures at the early design stage of the project, the target can be easily achieved.

Response 1: Thank you very much for reviewing this manuscript and sending us your recommendations. We thank you for this particular suggestion for the paragraph of the Abstract, we believe that following your advice the text is more clear and concise so it shows a better understanding for the future reader. These changes can be found from line 12 to 26.

Point 2:  It seems important to notice that maybe it would be needed to the methodology chapter include the limitations paragraph (discussing critical aspects of used methodology)

Response 2: Thank you for this suggestion, the implications of the sustainability assessment have been explained under the “Conclusions” section. However, we agree that the limitations of the research have not been exposed with enough clarity. Limitations are now exposed from lines 210 to 216, it explains that little research has been conducted about the implications of BREEAM on the design of buildings and no prior research has been found focussing on the Hospitality sector. Considering the importance of Tourism in the Agenda 2030, already explained in the manuscript, this shows the importance of this research in order to progress in this matter.

Point 3:  It would be important to include some original qualitative data to the results/discussion chapter. It seems important as well, to offer to present separately results/discussion chapters, thus accessing richer discussion and concluding with deeper insights later.

Response 3: Thank you very much for your recommendation. We agree that the “Results” section works better separately so this recommendation has been taken into account as it is shown now in the manuscript. The “Results” section is now classified into two parts, the general description of the case studies and the key changes. In the first part it is explained each case study individually and all the data extracted from the interviews and the additional documents provided. The second part exposes the key design changes resulted from the interviews. These design changes are also classified into three main groups according to their nature. Hence, the discussion and comparison with what other research and authors state can be found under section 5 from line 421.

Thank you very much for your recommendations. We hope that the above help to improve the manuscript and it has been enhanced with the new information recently added. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf