The green lodging event season is heating up. In just two weeks I will be attending the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles. This annual event, held January 28-30, will feature an entire track of green sessions. Topics will include: “How to Develop a Green Hotel,” “How to Convert Your Property to a Green Hotel,” “How to Operate a Green Hotel,” and “How Cool is Green?—Sizzle and Sustainability at the Same Time.” The keynote speaker at the event will be Emma Duncan, deputy editor, The Economist. The focus of her session: “Cleaning Up: Business and Climate Change.”
Just a few weeks following ALIS, from February 19-21, the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Organized by the Green Meeting Industry Council, the event will include a full slate of nothing but green sessions geared toward the meetings industry. Among the session topics: “Sustainable Catering,” “Standardization & Certification,” and “Ethics of Sustainability and Green Meetings.” The keynote speaker in Vancouver will be Rohit Talwar, a U.K.-based futurist and strategist.
From March 9-14, during what is now being promoted as “Green Week,” three events will take place that include green educational opportunities. The first event, March 9-11, is the Hotel Investment Conference in Atlanta. During one session, “The Green Conundrum,” panelists will discuss the following: “Sure, green is ‘in.’ But do your guests really care? And how can going green save some green?” The Atlanta event will also feature a President’s Panel, at which Dennis Quaintance, president and CEO of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels, will speak. Quaintance’s Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C., is the first hotel in the United States to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification.
Highlighting Green Week will be the UNLV-JMBM Hotel Developers Conference, to be held in Las Vegas March 11-13, and the 2nd Annual Green Hospitality Conference, to be held in Dallas March 12-14. The Las Vegas event will be devoted to critical issues in green hotel development, conversion and operation. Keynote speakers will include David Gottfried, founder of the U.S. Green Building Council, and Daniel C. Esty, author of Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. Many of the lodging industry’s leading players in the green lodging movement will be represented at the UNLV-JMBM event.
The Dallas conference will focus on green lodging opportunities, from energy management to earth-friendly cleaning products, as well as the challenges facing hotel owners and operators seeking to become more involved in the growing sustainability movement. The event will feature interactive sessions on topics such as green hospitality, design and construction, green power, and will include roundtable discussions on energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, waste reduction and recycling.
It is exciting to see so much emphasis on responsible hotel development and operations. Please visit the Events section of Green Lodging News to find links to all of the conferences cited above.
New Product & Service Directory Partners
Green Lodging News welcomes Roos International Ltd. and T2 Site Amenities as Green Product & Service Directory partners. Roos, located in Deerfield Beach, Fla., is the maker of EnVision, a wallcovering that performs like vinyl and looks like vinyl, but is an alternative to vinyl. With no VOCs, it is printed with water-based inks, includes recycled and renewable content, and can be recycled. It is easy to install/remove, dimensionally stable, and highly breathable. Envision meets Type I and Type II Wallcovering Durability Characteristics and is available in a variety of textures and patterns. Go to Roos International Ltd., write to debr@roosintl.com, or call (800)-888-2776 for more information.
The Highland Park, Ill.-based T2 Site Amenities offers recycling containers from the top manufacturers, with a choice of fiberglass, steel, sustainable hardwoods, marble and slate construction. T2 offers recycling products for high profile areas, guestrooms and “behind the scenes” areas. Recycling containers can be customized for each property’s needs. Benches and planters are also available. The company’s website includes product, pricing and ordering information. Go to www.t2-sa.com, e-mail info@t2-sa.com, or call (847) 579-9003.
Green Product & Service Directory Growth
If you are a supplier to the lodging industry and are not yet part of the Green Product & Service Directory, please give me a call at (440) 243-2055. There are now 39 Directory categories listed on the Green Lodging News website, with 72 listings. Next to the home page, the Directory is the most visited section of the Green Lodging News website.
As always, I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
