Sustainability is a central concern for many Leading Hotels. They integrate sustainable community, environmental and cultural practices into every guest stay. The Sustainability Leaders collection was created to recognise these hotels that are making a conscious contribution to environmental protection.

Many thanks to Leading Hotels for this recognition. We are aware of our potential negative effects on the environment and society and take responsibility, with the firm believe that this is in the interest of both present and future generations.

We are proud being qualified for the highest level “Level III – leading” at Switzerland Tourism’s Swisstainable program.

This level is aimed at businesses that already have comprehensive and recognised sustainability certification. Consideration is given to certifications that cover all dimensions of sustainability and are regularly audited by third parties.

We are member of the Repsonsible Hotels of Switzerland

The Responsible Hotels of Switzerland is an alliance that brings the hotel industry’s leaders in ecological and social sustainability together in one group.

Each hotel lives by its own specific philosophy of ecological and social sustainability.

The Responsible Hotels of Switzerland are Switzerland’s sustainable hotels.

EarthCheck is a global benchmark and certification programme for sustainable travel and tourism based on the principles of Agenda 21 for Sustainable Development. The aim of the EarthCheck certification programme is to provide companies with a framework for environmental and social sustainability.

Der EarthCheck Standard is recognised by the «Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC)»

With a voluntary contribution our guests and customers are taking responsibility and are actively helping to protect our environment and our natural surroundings. As a way of saying thank you, we double this contribution and invest in effective climate protection measures on site. This shared commitment to environmental and climate protection has a dual impact, as it supports the sustainable enjoyment of nature both locally and globally. We’re making this commitment in collaboration with the myclimate foundation in Switzerland, as part of the «Cause We Care» programme.

Dolder Hotel AG and Dolder Eis & Bad AG each have an ISO 9001:2015 certified management system. This forms the basis for providing and further developing the necessary service and product quality within the unique infrastructural substance, thus ensuring the sustainable economic success of the two companies.

Certificate Dolder Hotel AG
Certificate Dolder Eis & Bad AG

Our first esg2go sustainability rating & reporting is available. esg2go is a rating & reporting system for SMEs, which allows a quantitatively supported assessment of sustainability in the areas of Environment (E), Social (S) and Governance (G). The reporting offers transparency, as well as further opportunities for continuous improvement. You can download the reporting below.

For the myclimate label “Engaged for Impact” awarded to companies, the values taken into account are all the relevant direct and indirect climate-altering emissions resulting from a company’s annual activities. The amount of CO₂ emissions calculated this way is reduced in myclimate projects. These not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also contribute to the social, ecological and economic development in the respective region.

In order to reduce CO₂ and counter the rapidly deforestation on Madagascar we support the myclimate project in Madagascar. It includes the production and distribution of efficient cookers and environmentally friendly solar-powered cookers.  As a result, up to 269,621 t CO₂ are being reduced annuall

Thanks to the geothermal system with 70 geothermal probes, which were sunk 152 metres into the ground, energy consumption was reduced by half – despite the doubling of the floor space due to the renovation from 2004 to 2008.

Currently (2022), this geothermal storage technology generates around 1.8 million kWh of heating and cooling energy, covering 17.1 25% of our total energy and fuel needs.

We cover our electricity requirements in a CO2-neutral manner with 100% hydropower (certificate).

The building management system at the Dolder Grand regulates and controls energy consumption in a demand-oriented manner. Dolder Hotel AG also invests continuously in energy efficiency. For example, the pool water treatment system was updated in 2020. This also made it possible to optimise the energy efficiency of the swimming pool water treatment and save around 25,200 kWh of electricity per year. Furthermore, we are constantly investing in the conversion from halogen to LED lighting, which consumes around 84% less energy than the existing halogen lamps and also has a longer service life.

In collaboration with the Energy Agency for Industry (EnAW), the Dolder Grand has been successfully working since 2005 to reduce its CO2 emissions and energy consumption with individual measures and projects. In this way, over 1500 megawatt hours of energy can be saved annually. This corresponds to the approximate average consumption of around 70 single-family homes per year. CO2 emissions have been reduced by over 60%. For this commitment, the Dolder Grand has been awarded the EnAW efficiency label

Table and bed linen (organic Fairtrade Max Havelaar and OEKO-TEX© Standard 100) made of cotton and linen yarn from the EU. The table and bed linen is woven and manufactured by Leinenweberei Schwob AG, in Burgdorf BE.

By digitising the arrival and departure process, we save around 20,000 sheets of paper per year.

We use long-lasting potted indoor plants instead of cut flowers as decorative elements in the rooms.

For the bathrooms we use refillable bath products.

Whenever possible, food products in our restaurants are “regional and seasonal first”.

The online table reservation tool TOCK ensures more reliable bookings and thus better food planning. This sustainably reduces food waste.

Elimination of plastic drinking straws, stirrers and sticks.

Offering breakfast dishes as individual portions for demand-oriented planning of food.

We do not use bottled water in the fitness area and instead use water dispensers and reusable bottles and glasses. This saves us around 28,000 PET (33 cl) water bottles per year.

With our AMALA product line, we focus on products in the spa that do not use unnecessary packaging. Amala products are all 100% natural, non-toxic and GMO-free. They are also free of preservatives and paraffins. The products bear the seal of NATRUE®, the European authority for natural body care products, are vegan, gluten-free and free of animal testing. In addition, some products are packaged in glass instead of plastic and are therefore recyclable.

Wellnesswear by Back Label in our Spa Shop. Back Label Wellnesswear is a 100% Made in Italy, Slow Fashion Brand that has been ICEA/GOTS certified since the beginning of its operations and is a B-Corp® company since January 2021. Back Label is free from polyester and other toxic substances and brings out the purity of natural fabric through an unprecedented sensory experience on the body.

For decades, this has been a prime destination for outdoor activities above the city of Zurich.

At the Dolder Bad, the two pools are heated CO2-neutrally by a solar-powered water heating system.

At the Dolder Sportrestaurant, we focus fully on regionality and work mainly with small producers. In this way, we keep the delivery routes short and support local producers and suppliers.

Thanks to the thermodynamic properties of ammonia, all buildings and the hot water for the catering and sports facilities can be heated in winter using the Dolder ice rink’s refrigeration system.

Our electricity needs are covered in a CO2-neutral way with 100% hydroelectric power (Certificate).

By voluntarily declaring its adherence to the Swiss Private Sector Energy Agency programme, Dolder Eis & Bad AG commits to actively reducing CO₂ emissions and optimizing energy efficiency (EnAW Certificate).

Since 2016, we have been donating our guests’ used soaps to the non-profit organisation SapoCycle. The soaps are recycled and distributed to families in need.

In 2022, we collected a total of 483kg of soap. The collected soap was processed into 4,830 new bars of soap, which were distributed free of charge to many people in need. Since 2017, we have collected 1229kg of soap, saving 2,519 tonnes of CO₂. Furthermore, in 2022 we also recycled 130 kilograms of liquid soap, conditioners and shampoos.

The greenhouse gas emissions accounted for in 2022 amounted to around 2,950.5 t CO2-e. 12.4 % of the emissions were created in Scope 1 (direct emissions on-site) and around 87.6 % in Scope 3 (all other indirect emissions created in the company’s value chain). In Scope 2 (purchased electricity), only 0.45 t CO2-e were emitted due to our sourcing of electricity from 100 % hydropower, which corresponds to a share of 0.015 %. A contribution to the financing of myclimate carbon offset projects amounting to the total of 2,951 tonnes of CO₂-e has already been made.

To raise awareness and sensitize all employees for sustainability, two internal teams, D-Force and D-Impact, were founded in 2019. They act as multipliers and ambassadors for topics in the fields of environment, climate, and resource consumption.

The annual Forest Clean Up on Earth Day (22 April), as well as other volunteering work and actions are initiatives of the D-Impact Team.

We find a heterogeneous group of employees both enriching and beneficial. We do not make distinctions based on age, skin colour, ethnicity or geographical origin, nor do we discriminate any kind of gender identity, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.

To promote diversity visibly, we have been successively expanding our cooperation with local non-profit organisations since 2018, with the aim of supporting disadvantaged people in their lasting integration into our society.

As a learning organisation, our goal is to optimally use the potential of our employees in accordance with their personal needs. We ensure the personal and professional development of our staff through a well-founded training and further education programme (internal and external), coaching and exchange programmes.

To foster health, we offer our employees free sporting activities, which are carried out by the fitness and personal trainers in the spa. Every Wednesday is “Vegan Wednesday” in the staff restaurant “Green”. At lunchtime, we offer exclusively plant-based dishes that day, with a special focus on seasonality and regionality.

For us, catering to our guests’ every wish is a vocation, which is why we place particular value on training and apprenticeships. We only offer around five apprenticeship positions every year so that we can focus on providing each one of our apprentices with the support that they need. Our dedicated training staff help our young employees turn their initial interest into a solid foundation upon which they can build a successful career as a highly qualified expert in their field.

We see it as our duty to the future of the industry to not only provide our apprentices with the requisite skills and knowledge, but also to instil into them our passion for what we do.