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Peer-reviewed research from Therme Group demonstrates how EU environmental footprint rules can be applied across hotels

Posted on:

27 Sep 2026

Therme Group, the University of Surrey (UniS) and Innovate UK today announce the publication in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism of “Operationalising the Draft EU Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules for Hotel Accommodation Services: Tool Development and Multi-Property Application”, the first peer-reviewed operationalisation of the rules the European Commission is expected to issue for the hotel sector this year.

The research was powered by the Hotel and Tourism Lodgings Dynamic Emissions Calculator (HTL-DEC), the first tool specifically designed for the upcoming regulations. Applied across seven hotels, it establishes that the draft Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for hotel accommodation services are workable on the records hotels already keep.

HTL-DEC quantifies the full set of 16 environmental impact categories of the EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method with climate change as the first of them, alongside water and land use, acidification, eutrophication, resource depletion, particulate matter, ozone depletion and ionizing radiation. HTL-DEC simplifies the PEF method into an ordinary operational task without requiring sustainability and data science expertise.

“Hotels are being asked to account for their environmental performance and now have the means of doing it. This publication shows the European rules can be applied today and across every impact the method covers, not just carbon alone. By turning complex data into meaningful, actionable insights, HTL-DEC can help hotels make informed decisions while inviting guests to play a role in shaping a more sustainable future.”

Dr. Robert Hanea, Founder and CEO, Therme Group

HTL-DEC reports on both the occupied room-night, which the PEFCR for accommodation requires, and the guest-night. The tool monitors dynamically, day by day, accounting for seasonal swings, occupancy shifts and individual activities, allowing for agility in reducing the environmental footprint.

“Hotels need environmental information that is both comparable and useful for decision-making. Our tool follows emerging EU rules while showing managers when, where and through which activities their environmental impacts arise.”

Prof. Xavier Font, University of Surrey, lead author

Smaller and independent hotels - over 90% of the market - can deploy HTL-DEC to generate the deliverables the EU regime calls for automatically: the full PEF report, an auditable worksheet, and a communication package ready to be printed and displayed on site.

“Confirming the validity of HTL-DEC, an important output from the partnership between Therme and the University of Surrey, is a critical step towards commercialising the innovation, and ultimately enabling transparency of carbon emissions associated with the leisure and tourism sector. This is an excellent example of how Knowledge Transfer Partnerships can translate academic knowledge to deliver commercial and environmental impact.”

Dr. Shona Campbell, Senior Knowledge Transfer Adviser at Innovate UK

HTL-DEC will be unveiled on stage at the Tourism Innovation Summit in Seville (October 6-8th). The current version is built on the second PEFCR draft released for public consultation in April 2026, and will be updated as soon as the final rules are published; its core engine, entrenched in the PEF methodology, does not change with them.

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Peer-reviewed research from Therme Group demonstrates how EU environmental footprint rules can be applied across hotels

“Hotels need environmental information that is both comparable and useful for decision-making. Our tool follows emerging EU rules while showing managers when, where and through which activities their environmental impacts arise.”

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