At Green Globe and EarthCheck, a Platinum or Master badge mostly tells you how long the hotel has been in the program. At Green Globe, Platinum goes to hotels certified for 10 years in a row. At EarthCheck, Master is for at least 15 years. Both look like a top score, but they largely reward staying in the program.
With any of these labels, 3 questions tell you more than the badge does: who checked the hotel, did anyone visit, and when does the certificate run out? Below is what each of the main labels requires, how it's checked and how widespread it is, taken from each program's own published material in October 2026.
Hotel sustainability certifications compared
| Label | What it covers | Who checks | How often | How widespread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GSTC-certified | The GSTC Hotel Standard, or a standard GSTC has reviewed as equivalent | A certification body that GSTC has accredited, with document review and an on-site audit | Varies: in GSTC's directory most certificates run 3 years, and many run 1 | 3,785 hotels in GSTC's directory, 11 of them in the US |
| Green Key | Management, guest awareness, water, energy and carbon, waste, buying, surroundings | A third-party auditor on site, and a separate certification body decides | Certificate lasts 2 years, with a check 8 to 14 months in | More than 9,000 sites in 90+ countries (August 2026) |
| Green Key Global (Eco-Rating) | Energy, water, waste, indoor air, community, building and land use | Hotel's self-assessment, then an audit by video call or in person | Audit every 3 years | US and Canada only; count not published |
| EarthCheck Certified | Energy, water, carbon, chemicals, paper, waste, community and staff | An independent auditor visits | Every year | Over 70 countries, all tourism sectors; hotel count not published |
| Green Globe | 44 criteria across management, social and economic, culture and environment | Auditors trained and registered by Green Globe, on site and by desk review in alternating years | Confirmed every year | Not published |
| LEED | The building: energy and water use, materials, waste, indoor air | GBCI, the body that reviews LEED projects | LEED v4.1 and v5 O+M expire after 3 years | Not published |
| EU Ecolabel | Energy, water, waste, transport emissions and food waste | A national body in each country that awards it | Not published | More than a quarter of the label's 3,665 licenses (September 2026) |
| Biosphere | Requirements built around the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals | An external auditor reviews evidence uploaded online | Updated evidence every year | Not published |
"Not published" means we couldn't find the number on the program's own site. We left out Travelife: the site for its hotel program didn't load when we checked, and its main site now covers tour operators.
GSTC-certified vs. GSTC-recognized, and the 3,785-hotel directory
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council writes a hotel standard and accredits the companies that certify against it, such as SGS, Bureau Veritas and Control Union. "GSTC-certified" means one of those companies audited the hotel, on paper and on site. "GSTC-recognized" only means a standard's criteria match GSTC's, which in GSTC's words "does not ensure that the certification process is reliable."
Our guide to spotting greenwashing when you book covers GSTC member logos and awards.
Schemes that had neither sought accreditation nor agreed to act as a GSTC "Certification Scheme" lost recognition on January 1, 2025. When we checked GSTC's lists in October 2026, Green Key, EarthCheck, Green Globe and Biosphere weren't listed as recognized hotel standards or accredited hotel certifiers. Each runs its own audits, described below.
The GSTC directory of certified hotels lists each hotel's certifier and expiry date, and it's updated every quarter. Of its 3,785 hotels, 2,531 are in Türkiye, most of them certified under the national TR-I program, a GSTC-recognized standard. Only 11 are in the US.
Green Key and Green Key Global are 2 separate programs
Green Key is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education and covers more than 9,000 sites in 90+ countries. A third-party auditor visits, and since October 1, 2026 a separate certification body makes the final call. Certificates now last 2 years, up from 1, with a check in between.
Every hotel has to meet all of Green Key's required criteria, plus a share of optional ones that grows each time it renews. Under the old rules that share was 15% by a hotel's 4th year and 20% by its 5th, so a hotel that's held Green Key for 5 years has had to meet more of the optional criteria than a newcomer.
Green Key Global is a North American program, open only to hotels in the US and Canada. The hotel fills in a self-assessment, then gets audited, by video call or in person, and Green Key Global recommends the video call. The audit is repeated every 3 years. Hotels get a rating in Keys: the 37 required questions set the minimum for a 1-Key rating.
What Gold, Platinum and Master mean
LEED's Gold and Platinum come from points. At Green Globe and EarthCheck, the levels are tied to years:
- Green Globe: Gold after 5 consecutive certified years, Platinum after 10 and a review of the hotel's record. To be certified at all, a hotel has to meet more than 50% of the indicators behind Green Globe's 44 criteria, and that is confirmed every year.
- EarthCheck: your level "is upgraded the longer it's maintained," and Master is for at least 15 years of verified performance. Bronze Benchmarked comes earlier, at the measuring stage, before the hotel is certified. EarthCheck Certified itself means an independent auditor visited, and the audit repeats every year.
A Green Globe Platinum hotel has been certified every year for 10 years in a row, so read it as "has kept passing for a decade" rather than "beat the other hotels."
LEED rates the building, so check the version and year
LEED is run by the US Green Building Council. A project earns points for energy and water, materials, waste and indoor air, and GBCI reviews the paperwork before awarding Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
A LEED award for new construction describes how the building was designed and built. LEED O+M rates a building that has been running for at least a year, using at least 12 months of performance data. A USGBC article says LEED v4.1 and v5 O+M certifications expire after 3 years. If a hotel lists LEED, ask which version and which year.
On-site audits, video calls and online reviews
Not every program sends someone to the hotel. Green Key, EarthCheck and GSTC-accredited certifiers send an auditor on site. Green Globe alternates on-site and desk audits year to year. Green Key Global lets most hotels choose a video call.
Biosphere runs its whole process online: the hotel uploads evidence, an external auditor assesses it, and the hotel sends updated evidence every year. Its public profiles show which actions were checked and when the certificate expires.
The EU Ecolabel for tourist accommodation is the EU's own label, awarded by a national body in each country under criteria the European Commission set in 2017. Tourist accommodation makes up more than a quarter of the 3,665 EU Ecolabel licenses (September 2026), and one license can cover more than one awarded product.
Badges on booking sites
Booking sites often show a leaf or "sustainable" badge on listings. Green Key Global says booking platforms will now show sustainability labels "only in cases where these are based on a qualifying certification scheme." Open the badge's details and look for a certification's name. If there isn't one, treat the badge as the site's opinion.
What to check when you see a label on a hotel listing
- Who audited the hotel? A named, separate certifier is a stronger claim than the program checking its own members.
- Did anyone visit? On-site, video call and document-only are all in use.
- When does it expire? GSTC's directory and Biosphere's profiles show expiry dates. If a hotel isn't listed, ask for the certificate.
- What does the level mean? At Green Globe and EarthCheck, Gold, Platinum and Master mean years in the program; at LEED they mean points.
- What's behind the booking site's badge? Look for a certification's name.
Booking hotels for a company? Our guide to building hotel sustainability criteria into procurement covers how to turn these checks into RFP questions and contract terms.
Where Dyme fits
Dyme doesn't certify hotels, so use the checklist above on any site, ours included.
When you book a hotel with Dyme, you'll see an estimate of its emissions. It's built from grid emissions data, since electricity is the biggest part of a hotel's footprint. That makes it a useful estimate, but it isn't an audit. For company reporting, our guide to assessing hotel emissions data explains which numbers to trust. Dyme's profits fund new solar projects.
FAQ: hotel sustainability certifications
Which hotel sustainability certification is the best?＋
There's no single winner, and the programs measure different things. What you can compare is how each one is checked: whether a separate certifier made the decision, whether an auditor visited, and whether the certificate is current. Green Key, EarthCheck and GSTC-accredited certifiers all send an auditor on site. Green Key Global allows a video-call audit, and Biosphere reviews evidence online.
Is Green Key the same as Green Key Global?＋
No. Green Key is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education and covers more than 9,000 sites in 90+ countries, with on-site audits and 2-year certificates. Green Key Global is a separate program for hotels in the US and Canada. Hotels complete a self-assessment and are audited every 3 years, by video call or in person.
How can I check whether a hotel's sustainability certification is real?＋
Look the hotel up in the program's public list, if it has one. GSTC's directory shows each hotel's certifier and expiry date, though it's updated quarterly, so a new certificate can take a while to appear. Biosphere's profiles show the checked actions and when the certificate expires. If the hotel isn't listed, ask it for the certificate, the certifier's name and the expiry date.
How do I check a GSTC certificate?＋
Look the hotel up in GSTC's directory of certified hotels. Each listing shows the certification body, the program and the date the current cycle expires. Certificates issued by GSTC-accredited certifiers since September 1, 2026 also carry a GSTC-issued QR code.
Does a LEED-certified hotel run sustainably?＋
Not necessarily. LEED for new construction describes how the hotel was designed and built. LEED O+M rates how an existing building runs, using at least 12 months of data, and a USGBC article says v4.1 and v5 O+M certifications expire after 3 years. Ask which version the hotel holds and when it was awarded.
