Hotel ESG and BRSR Reporting: How Material Choices Help
Many Indian hotel groups now publish sustainability reports. Among them is the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report, or BRSR, which SEBI requires from the top 1,000 listed companies in India. Most hotel teams think about energy and water first. But the materials they buy for rooms also count.
What is BRSR in simple terms?
It is a yearly report on how a company handles environment, social and governance issues. It covers things like emissions, energy, water, waste, worker safety and ethics.
Where do materials come in?
Companies report emissions in groups called scopes. Scope 3 covers emissions from the things a company buys, including furniture and fit-out materials. Many hotels do not yet measure this in detail, so any supplier data helps. Material choices can connect to a report in three ways:
- Indoor air and wellbeing. Formaldehyde is classed as a human carcinogen. Choosing boards with no added formaldehyde in the binder supports guest and staff health goals.
- Carbon of purchased goods. A lower carbon board gives the sustainability team a figure to include. Our internal estimate for BIOMEBOARD™ is about 158 kg of CO2e per cubic metre, against around 900 for MDF.
- Farm waste and rural income. Using crop residue connects to circular economy and community stories.
What a supplier cannot do
Choosing one board does not make a hotel BRSR compliant. Reporting needs company-wide data, controls and, for some indicators, outside checking. A supplier gives one piece of evidence.
An honest note on our data
BIOME does not hold an Environmental Product Declaration. Our carbon figure is an internal estimate. If your report needs verified supplier data, treat our number as indicative until an EPD exists.
What to ask any supplier
- What is the carbon figure, and who checked it?
- Is there a test report for emissions and fire?
- Where does the raw material come from?
- Can they give the numbers in a format your sustainability team can use?
A simple supplier data checklist
- Product name, type and thickness.
- Raw material and where it comes from.
- Carbon figure and who checked it.
- Emission class and test report.
- Fire test report.
- Contact person for follow-up questions.
FAQs
What is BRSR?
A report on environmental, social and governance performance for large listed Indian companies.
Does furniture count in a hotel's carbon report?
Yes, under purchased goods, though many hotels do not yet track it closely.
Can one board make us compliant?
No. It gives one data point.
Not yet by an outside body.
It links to occupant health, which sits in the social part of ESG.
What is Scope 3?
It covers emissions from a company's supply chain and purchases, such as furniture, food and travel, not just its own buildings.
Need supplier data for your report? Ask us what we can share.