I have already had three trips to Las Vegas this year. I am beginning to think I should just go ahead and move there. So many events in our industry are held there throughout the year—and, for good reason. It is a great place for a meeting. I was fortunate to be asked to moderate four green panel discussions at the Choice Hotels convention this past week. It was exciting to see such a large organization dedicate so much time to energy conservation and other green issues. In at least one of the sessions, it was clear that some franchisees are anxious for Choice to do more than it has been doing. I know that Choice is “all ears” when it comes to improvement suggestions.

I will be in Las Vegas again this week—May 14 to May 16—for the annual Hospitality Design Expo & Conference at the Sands Convention Center. I am really looking forward to this year’s event because it will include a “Green Day” for the first time. Green Day will feature three educational sessions.

Well, I did it. I purchased a flat-screen LCD television. After weeks of research and too many encounters with salesmen at the big box stores, I gave in. Anyone who has tried to shop for these things can relate to what I am talking about. It is not easy to figure out the terminology and abbreviations attached to today’s TVs. There is also a bit of sticker shock. Gone are the days when you could pick up a TV for a couple hundred bucks and still feel like you are keeping up with the times. For those of you who have yet to purchase flat-screen TVs for your guestrooms, all I can say is, “I feel your pain.”

As an increasing number of cities (and states) adopt new building standards that require the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, the writing on the wall just keeps on getting bigger. And what might that writing be? Plan to build green—to LEED standards—or your project will never get approved and off the ground.

It would be easy to go negative this week, just like the presidential candidates we have been watching for months. But Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, is not a day to go negative, even with all we know about the state of our planet. Let’s use that day to celebrate the good things our industry has accomplished so far, what it is planning for the future, and to be confident that our best days are ahead of us—even with all the challenges we face.

Milestones are a good thing—well, most of the time. Last week I celebrated a birthday. I will let you guess how old I am. Let’s just say I have not yet gotten to the point where I am reading the instructions on Grecian Formula, but its location in the grocery store is memorized. In addition to my birthday, I celebrated another milestone last week—the addition of newsletter subscriber 8,000. I don’t know who it was exactly but if you signed up for the newsletter last week, you have my permission to feel a little more important than you usually do.

Because green buildings—those certified as such by the EPA’s Energy Star program or U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program—are historically a relatively new phenomenon, data to back the energy and financial performance of these structures has been relatively difficult to come by. It is that way in the lodging industry because there are just a handful of hotels that are LEED certified and only about 250 properties that are Energy Star rated. For those wanting to build a case for building green, two recently released studies should help immensely. Even though the studies are not specific to lodging, I believe they are very relevant and should shake any non-believers out of their shoes.

I write about a lot of hotel companies but I have to say that one of the companies that has impressed me most so far is Tifton, Ga.-based Stafford Hospitality. Greg Brosius, president of the company, and Susan Smith, controller, are Sherlock Holmes-like in their constant search for ways to save energy, water and reduce other operations-related costs. Stafford manages a collection of 12 hotels, eight of which it owns, and has two other hotels under development. Some of the brands represented in its inventory include: Hampton Inn & Suites, Comfort Suites, Howard Johnson, Holiday Inn Express, and Ramada Limited. The two properties under development will fly the Hilton Garden Inn and Wingate by Wyndham flags.

With its cost at up to $10 a gallon, one would think we would stop buying it. I am not talking about oil; I am referring to bottled water. Whoever came up with the idea of selling it in small plastic bottles, in different flavors, and with vitamin enhancements, is a genius. We are all so gullible. In the United States, bottled water, including sparkling water, is a $5 billion industry. Some brands experienced triple-digit growth last year.

This past week I attended the UNLV/JMBM Hotel Developers Conference in Las Vegas. Two articles on Green Lodging News highlight some of the most noteworthy comments made at the event. While not the first Hotel Developers Conference organized by JMBM’s Jim Butler, it was the first time he focused on green hotel development. I applaud Jim and his team at JMBM, as well as UNLV, for taking a chance on this first-time conference.

I picked up the business section of my daily newspaper this morning in search of some good economic news. It was not easy to find. Here are some of the headlines: “Commodities soar”; “Housing market in spiraling free fall—Foreclosures hit all-time high”; “Oil prices gush to record high as dollar falls”; “Dollar continues slide as euro climbs”. Is it time to worry yet? Or, maybe the headline writer just forgot to take his anti-depressant?