BIG CYPRESS, FLA.—Developers including Florida Everglades Resort, LLC and the Seminole Tribe of Florida are in discussion with potential investors who would help raise $23 million for a unique eco-resort within the Florida Everglades. The Florida Everglades Resort will be built on a 15-acre site (formerly a citrus grove) and within the 72,000-acre Seminole Reservation near Big Cypress. The site is located adjacent to Billie Swamp Safari, a 2,200-acre nature and wildlife park that already attracts more than 135,000 visitors per year. Jupiter, Fla.-based Florida Everglades Resort, LLC is the result of a multi-year collaboration between EcoExperience Development, Inc. (EDI) and several hospitality and sustainability experts. EDI will serve as the general partner. Calibre Management Inc. (CMI) will be the operations partner. Targeted travelers will include mid to upscale adventurous, leisure and outdoor travelers with a special emphasis on nature-based tourism.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to the tragic earthquakes in Haiti, Doubletree Hotels announced a $50,000 donation on behalf of its Teaching Kids to CARE community outreach program to Friends of the World Food Program (Friends of WFP). The donation will help support the United Nations World Food Program’s (WFP) School Meals initiative in Haiti in an effort to further assist the recovery efforts currently underway. “Millions of earthquake survivors in Haiti are struggling every day to survive, and WFP has been working day and night to reach them with food and other humanitarian assistance,” said Friends of WFP president and CEO, Karen Sendelback. “Doubletree Hotels’ generosity is critical to these emergency feeding operations, which continue to be a lifeline to so many Haitians. We appreciate Doubletree Hotels and participants in its Teaching Kids to CARE program.”

YOUNTVILLE, CALIF.—Bardessono has just received the highest level of official recognition possible for its sustainable and environmentally friendly design. The hotel has been awarded LEED Platinum certification, an achievement reached by only two other hotels in the world, on the first anniversary of its opening. Phil Sherburne built Bardessono with the intention of creating a hotel that provides guests with a luxurious experience while simultaneously protecting the environment. “I believe it is critical for the development community to be a leader in the effort to preserve a healthy planet,” Sherburne says. “We can’t just continue to talk about environmental problems, we have to begin to act. I hope we have provided an example from which others can benefit.” The hotel’s design, construction and operation followed guidelines of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

LAS VEGAS—Organizers of the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition (WSI), the world’s largest conference dedicated to urban water efficiency, recently announced that the show will remain in Las Vegas at least through 2012. Officials with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which presents WSI in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection agency’s WaterSense Program and other public- and private-sector organizations, gave the conference the green light to continue for at least three more years. “WaterSmart Innovations provides a platform for professionals from a broad spectrum of disciplines to come together to share their knowledge,” said WSI program chairman Doug Bennett. “There is no greater informational resource for communities facing water supply challenges.” The third WSI is slated for October 6 to 8, 2010, at the South Point Hotel and Conference Center in Las Vegas.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In 2009, EPA’s Energy Star Leaders prevented the equivalent of more than 220,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and saved more than $48 million across their commercial building portfolios. These savings have quadrupled since 2008 and represent the single greatest year of savings since EPA recognized the first Energy Star Leaders in 2004. Over the past five years, Energy Star Leaders are saving money and helping the environment by preventing greenhouse gas emissions equal to the emissions from the electricity use of nearly 39,000 homes annually. This year’s list of Energy Star leaders includes Accor North America, Columbus Hospitality, and the Saunders Hotel Group. Energy Star Leaders must meet one of two energy efficiency improvement milestones. The first milestone requires a 10 percent energy reduction across the entire building portfolio.

BALTIMORE—Baltimore’s Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott—blocks from the Inner Harbor—recently received a Special Accomplishment Award from the United States Green Building Council, Maryland Chapter at the group’s fifth annual awards ceremony. The award is the latest in a series of accolades for the hotel. In November, Maryland Governor O’Malley presented the Fairfield Inn & Suites with a sustainable tourism award as part of his announcement of the state’s Green Travel Program, noting, “Baltimore’s first LEED certified hotel has made green practices an integral part of its operation. It has implemented a variety of procedures that promote sustainability, especially for energy efficiency, waste and pollution minimization and environmental purchasing.” The hotel also recently received a WaveMaker Award from the Baltimore Chapter of the Urban Land Institute and was named a 2009 Innovator of the Year. The USGBC Maryland award recognizes building projects that focus on sustainability.

DENVER—Denver will soon play host to some of the finest up-and-coming students in the international meetings and incentive travel industry. The Future Leaders Forum will take place in association with the Green Meeting Industry Council Conference (GMIC) Green Meetings 101 on February 9, 2010, at the Sustainable Meetings Conference in Denver. The program, designed and delivered jointly by the IMEX Group—producers of the leading international meetings exhibition—and GMIC, offers gifted young students the opportunity to gain a unique insight into how to develop a successful career in the meetings and incentives travel industry. The focus of this Future Leaders Forum will be on green meetings and sustainability. GMIC’s vision is to transform the global meetings industry through sustainability utilizing education and research.

AUSTIN, TEXAS—Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and the GUESTROOM 20X Task Force, a group of hospitality technology leaders and experts, are searching for the latest and near-future technologies for the newest version of GUESTROOM 20X. The 2010 version of GUESTROOM 20X, a special exhibit showcasing the most innovative technologies for the guestroom, debuts at the 2010 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC) June 22 to 24 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. “Since 2006, GUESTROOM 20X has garnered a reputation as providing a thought-provoking glimpse into the possibilities of future guestroom technologies,” said Frank Wolfe, CAE, CEO of HFTP. “With a switch to a biannual schedule for the exhibit, the GUESTROOM 20X Task Force has more time to search and can raise the bar on finding the best technologies that can enhance the future guestroom.”

NATIONAL REPORT—Experian recently listed its “Top 20 websites in the ‘Travel’ online industry for the month of December 2009, based on visits.” Among those sites—which include such well-known stops as Priceline.com and MapQuest—only three attempt to highlight green hotels. The three include Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia. Travelocity has a Green Hotel Directory that can be accessed through a “Green Travel” link on its home page. Site visitors not only have access to green hotels but also voluntourism opportunities and the option to offset their travel through The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero Program. Orbitz also has its own eco-travel microsite. It highlights eco-friendly destinations and lists green hotels by state. Expedia, which has an area on its site for green travel, is in the process of updating its site’s green hotels section.

SACRAMENTO—Continuing California’s efforts to fight climate change and protect the environment, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently announced that the California Building Standards Commission (BSC) unanimously adopted the first-in-the-nation mandatory Green Building Standards Code (CALGREEN) requiring all new buildings in the state to be more energy efficient and environmentally responsible. Taking effect on January 1, 2011, these comprehensive regulations will achieve major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and water use to create a greener California. “With this first-in-the nation mandatory green building standards code, California continues to pave the way in energy efficiency and environmental protection,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “Today’s action lays the foundation for the move to greener buildings constructed with environmentally advanced building practices that decrease waste, reduce energy use and conserve resources.”