Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, an environmentally progressive hotel group known for its responsible business practices, today announced a comprehensive sustainability plan to address its technology infrastructure and information technology (IT) operations. Green IT becomes the latest component of the Fairmont Green Partnership program, the company's award-winning environmental platform.
This summer, the Washington, DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland Marriott hotels are helping families to be eco-with Marriott’s Growing up Green package. Inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama’s White House Kitchen Garden planted with the students from DC elementary schools; families who book the Growing up Green package will receive a packet of seeds to take home and grow their own organic vegetable garden.
Perform Ltd is pleased to announce that Markham's Moore Chiropractic is a satisfied customer of their Clear Energy Solution. The same solution was recently installed in a Hotel in Thunder Bay with great success. Clear Energy Solutions product line that goes over your existing window to give amazing results. An Interior Thermal Magnetic Acrylic window is the best way to save money on your heating bill and provides many benefits:
Hotels that Help, a unique fundraising system that brings hotel staff and guests together in support of local community charities, launched its drive to enroll 1,000 hotels raising $10 million annually by 2010. Jim Abrams, the recently-retired CEO of the California Hotel & Lodging Association () will lead the rollout of this new, nonprofit, guest-giving system for hoteliers.
When visiting your next hotel this summer, check to see if energy efficiency is on the amenities list. If it’s not, it should be. Recommendations on achieving 30 percent energy savings over minimum code requirements are contained in the newly published Advanced Energy Design Guide for Highway Lodging. The energy savings guidance for design of new hotels provides a first step toward achieving a net-zero-energy building.
Technology advances and falling prices for solar technology have opened the gates for solar installations by businesses with no background in electricity generation. Real estate managers, developers, hotels, supermarkets and others are tapping solar power alongside electric utilities and getting paid for it.
Hyatt Regency New Brunswick today flipped the switch to dedicate its newly installed SunPower solar power system, marking the hotel's initial step towards generating clean, renewable solar power. The hotel partnered with SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWRA) (NASDAQ: SPWRB) , a manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, panels and systems, to design and install the 32,000-square-foot, 421-kilowatt system over the top floor of the hotel's garage.
Hotels are taking advantage of consumers' desire for eco-friendly vacation options. The green economic revolution is impacting the $90 billion U.S. hotel industry. Hoteliers and their vendors have the unique opportunity to increase revenue and market share by aligning themselves with their customers' emerging green focus. One innovative leader is Habitat Suites in Austin, Texas. The hotel's motto is "Environmental consciousness in action." The hotel environment is free of toxic chemicals, has the largest hotel solar system in the continental U.S., and the property's organic fruit and vegetable garden is used for hotel food services and contributes to local food banks.
The City of San Diego has named Embassy Suites San Diego – La Jolla 2009 Recycler of the Year in the 17th Annual Waste Reduction and Recycling Awards sponsored by the City’s Environmental Services Department. This is the hotel’s first win of the prestigious award. The hotel was recognized for the significant strides they have made, thanks to the guidance of General Manager Michael McGilligan, who recently received the Embassy Suites General Manager of the Year award for outstanding leadership for 2008. Some of the 2009 Recycler of the Year recipients include Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego International Airport, Sea World, and PETCO Park -San Diego Padres. The hotel received the award and congratulations from Mayor Jerry Sanders during a ceremony.
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON: IHG, NYSE: IHG (ADRs)], the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced today that the company’s first LEED-certified hotel in Canada will host a groundbreaking ceremony on May 26, 2009, at 11:00 a.m. in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. The Holiday Inn Express® and Suites Saint-Hyacinthe will be the first hotel in Quebec built to meet the criteria of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System for its sustainable practices.
The National Restaurant Association today launched a new campaign - the National Restaurant Association Conserve/EPA ENERGY STAR Challenge - and is encouraging the nation's nearly one million restaurants, their 13 million employees, as well as their suppliers and guests to reduce energy and water use in establishments. Attendees and exhibitors at the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (May 16-19 in Chicago) can learn more by stopping by booth #6300. More information on how to participate is also available at Conserve.Restaurant.org.
In recognition of Asian American hoteliers and their contribution to the growth of the U.S. hotel industry, Carlson Hotels Worldwide presented a $50,000 donation to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) at the organization’s annual convention held last month in Washington, D.C.
Onity has announced the launch of Wireless innPULSE®, an innovative new radio-frequency (RF) network that wirelessly connects SensorStat® DDC thermostats to Onity’s innPULSE® energy management software. This enables users to network Onity’s proprietary SensorStat products together to form a comprehensive Energy Management System (EMS) without the need for hardwiring from each SensorStat occupancy-sensing digital thermostat. Onity, one of the world’s leading providers of electronic locking solutions, is part of UTC Fire & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX).
Home2 Suites by Hilton™, the new mid-tier extended-stay hotel concept targeting savvy and value-wise extended-stay guests, is utilizing state-of-the-art post-consumer recycled content carpeting by InterfaceFLOR™, the largest modular carpet tile manufacturer in the world, to outfit its model prototype at the Memphis, Tenn. headquarters. The “Hip and Humble” brand intends to outfit each new location with a variety of eco-friendly design elements and flooring is one spotlighted area. “Home2 Suites is a brand that focuses on marrying style and value while remaining conscious of our environmental impact,” said Bill Duncan, Global Head, Brand Management. “InterfaceFLOR shares our commitment and has an excellent reputation for providing a quality product that is consistent with the overall feel and comfort of our suites.”
I had the pleasure of listening to Dr Rachel Dodds of Ryerson University, Canada give a presentation on the Future of Sustainable Tourism as part of Victoria University’s Tourism Future Makers or Future Takers series. Rachel is one of the leading experts on the subject and provided an insight of what is happening now and what is to come.
Starting today, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is challenging hoteliers across the country to track and improve their green business operations by taking the AH&LA Green Guidelines Challenge. Participants completing the challenge will be able to identify themselves as eco-friendly establishments based on benchmarking their operation procedures against AH&LA’s 11 minimum green guidelines, released in November 2008 by the association’s Green Task Force. The winner of the six-month challenge will also receive a green prize package from an allied AH&LA member.
To celebrate Earth Day, Kaba Lodging Systems (KLS) is introducing a new "green" option for hotels. KLS unveiled two types of environmentally friendly keycards today. The "green keys" are made either from 100-percent recycled polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic or from polylactide acid (PLA) plastic. The high-performance PLA is made from a corn byproduct and is both recyclable and biodegradable. Both key types function like traditional magnetic stripe keycards, carrying important information such as a guest's room number, duration of the stay, and an encrypted lock access code recorded onto track three.
Cambean Hospitality, a Miami Beach-based hospitality group that owns and manages four boutique hotel properties in the historic South Beach area, today announced that they will soon be the most Earth-friendly, carbon neutral hospitality company in the world. Cambean plans to achieve this designation by installing solar panels and a wind turbine on the roof of the Clifton South Beach Hotel, and by purchasing carbon offsets and renewable energy credits (RECs) from Boulder, Colo.-based Renewable Choice Energy to offset Cambean’s fuel and electricity consumption.
On the environmental sensitivity front, the Lenox Hotel has long been ahead of the curve. The Lenox and other hotels in the Saunders Hotel Group have been using earth-friendly cleaning products and pursuing resource efficiency since 1989. But with their Pure rooms, the hotel has taken sensitivity to another level - the 11th level to be precise. The 23 rooms on the hotel's top floor constitute the first hypoallergenic floor in Boston hostelry.
The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) is pleased to announce that it has been confirmed as a network member of the United Nations backed Partnership for the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC Partnership). The GSTC are a set of 37 criteria organized around the four pillars of sustainable tourism: effective sustainability planning; maximizing social and economic benefits to the local community; reduction of negative impacts to cultural heritage; and reduction of negative impacts to environmental heritage.