ANDERSON, CALIF.—Gaia at Anderson, a new 122-room green hotel, has opened here. It is the second Gaia hotel in California to be developed and opened by Wen-I Chang. The first was the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa in American Canyon. That 133-room hotel property opened in October last year.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—The Atlantic City Council voted unanimously on April 23 to require all casinos there to be nonsmoking by Oct. 15 with the option of building enclosed smoking rooms. All of New Jersey’s 11 casinos are located in Atlantic City. Although the state law banned smoking indoors except for casinos, the current city ordinance restricted the smoking areas to 25 percent of the gaming floor of casinos. However, the smoking areas were not contiguous and not enclosed. Under the new ordinance, the enclosed smoking room(s) cannot exceed 25 percent of the gaming floor space and gaming will not be permitted inside.

SAINT CHARLES, MO.—Albert Einstein said, “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.” As a leader in the hospitality industry, Minneapolis-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide is setting an example and influencing others by promoting healthy lifestyles through a 100 percent smoke-free environment.

MINNEAPOLIS—The Radisson Plaza Hotel Minneapolis announced that it has completed its conversion to a 100 percent smoke-free facility, including all public areas, meeting rooms and guestrooms. The month-long extensive cleaning process—including shampooing carpet and upholstered furniture, dry cleaning, painting, and other deep cleaning—focused on converting approximately 30 guestrooms to be smoke free at an investment of more than $15,000. “Our decision to become 100 percent smoke free reflects our commitment to providing guests with a clean, comfortable and healthy stay,” said Judith Kalfon, general manager of the Radisson Plaza Hotel Minneapolis.

ROSWELL, GA.—Commercial and institutional buildings have a new way to remove odors and other irritant gaseous contaminants from their HVAC system air stream: new Kimberly-Clark brand odor control filtration media from Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products.

AUSTIN, TEXAS—Alen Corp. announced the release of AirMD, an air purifier that is completely lead free, ozone safe, and Energy Star qualified by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. The four-speed AirMD marries modern design with a HEPA filtration system.

KISSIMMEE, FLA.—Gaylord Hotels and The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) welcomed Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center into the Florida Green Lodging Program. The 1,406-room resort is one of the largest in that state to participate, and the first in Osceola County’s popular Kissimmee resort corridor. In addition, the resort announced the upcoming rollout of a new guest communications program, called “We’re Eco-Logical”, designed to share the spirit of the resort’s eco-friendly initiatives with guests and meeting planners, while encouraging them to take an active role in the programs.

NORTH WALPOLE, N.H.—Len-Tex Corp. announced that the entire line of its Surface iQ non-vinyl wallcovering has earned the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certification at the Silver tier for healthy and sustainable product design from McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC).

MARIETTA, GA.—In a recently completed study funded by Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI), there was preliminary evidence that “green” low-emitting products may still cause increased chemicals in indoor environments. The study, conducted by Chi Phuong Hoang, a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin’s Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering program, revealed that even “green” wall, flooring, ceiling and cabinetry materials can cause “secondary” emission of chemicals when exposed to naturally occurring ozone in the indoor air.

CHICAGO—Tornado, a leading manufacturer of professional cleaning equipment and supplies, introduces a new lightweight, powerful and “green” backpack vacuum cleaner.