Image credit: Sustainability Management
Simulation: Net Zero
Two Serious Games
designed for Higher Education use won Gold in the 2022
International Serious Play Awards Program - Sustainability
Management Simulation: Net Zero is
one of them.
The overall
purpose of the simulation is enabling learners to experience how large cuts in Greenhouse
Gas (GHG) emissions is feasible and does not need to occur at the expense of
business performance. Developed by Tim Rogmans, the game is available through Harvard Business
Publishing
In Sustainability Management Simulation: Net
Zero, learners play the role of the General Manager of a 500-room, 4-star
city-center hotel who needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% over the
next 7 years and at the same time optimize financial performance.
Image credit: Sustainability Management Simulation: Net Zero
At the start
of the game, players choose a location and name for the hotel. They then review
information about climate change, and the hotel that they will manage.
The hotel can be located in New York, London or Singapore. Facilitators
can also customize key settings of the simulation such as the location of the
hotel and other model parameters to tailor the simulation to specific local
conditions.
Image credit: Sustainability Management Simulation: Net Zero
Each year, you
select up to three initiatives from a wide-ranging and evolving list that can
help the hotel to reduce emissions. You also decide how much to spend on staff
training and guest communication. Initiatives cover multiple sources of
emissions and relate to both technical solutions and behavior change. Each year
several new initiatives become available.
After entering
decisions for the year, results are shown in the dashboard to understand and
improve players’ performance. The dashboard contains feedback on all decisions
made in the previous year. Feedback is provided to players in terms of the
hotel's emissions and their underlying drivers, as well as the hotel's
financial performance.
Altogether, the hotel's emissions are reduced through a
combination of technical solutions and behavioral changes by staff, customers
and suppliers. Business performance is impacted through investments in
initiatives, changes in operational costs, and potential improvements in
revenue per available room (REVPAR).
The Sustainability
Management Simulation: Net Zero is an integral part of the course "Corporate
Sustainability Strategy" from Harvard
Business Publishing.