MARKHAM, ON.—HiGarden Inc. introduces its initial models of Living Furniture, a furniture line incorporating both living plants and fish cohabitating in self-sustaining indoor eco-systems. After years of research and development, HiGarden Inc. will launch its unique VIGA Vertical Indoor Gardening and Aquaculture system at Toronto’s Interior Design Show 2017. VIGA is a new technology incorporating the principles of Regenerative Design, or Living Design. Regenerative Design is derived from the philosophy of biomimicry, human developed technologies which attempt to emulate natural living systems. At IDS2017, HiGarden will be exhibiting two pieces of Living Furniture—its VIGA Desktop and VIGA Bookcase. Both models incorporate...

Choice Hotels International made it official this past week. According to the company, its Comfort Inn brand has joined Comfort Suites in offering guests 100 percent smoke-free rooms at its more than 1,800 franchised hotels across the U.S. and Canada. Comfort is now the largest hotel brand to allow travelers to enjoy a smoke-free stay, the company says. That is good news for travelers staying at Comforts and even better news for those workers who previously still had to deal with second-hand and third-hand smoke. It amazes me, given what we know about the ill effects of smoking, that many hotels still allow...

ROCKVILLE, MD.—Choice Hotels International, Inc. announced that Comfort Inn has joined Comfort Suites in offering guests 100 percent smoke-free rooms at its more than 1,800 franchised hotels across the United States and Canada. Comfort is now the largest hotel brand to allow travelers to enjoy a smoke-free stay. “The Comfort brand has staying power because we always keep the wants and needs of travelers top of mind,” said Anne Smith, Vice President of Brand Strategy for Choice Hotels. “We continue to take a series of bold steps to make the Comfort guest experience better than ever, and becoming the largest...

Hotel venues of all types contain many plug-in refrigeration and freezer units (“coolers”).  Examples include plug-in refrigerators and freezers in kitchen/foodservice areas, vending machines, ice machines, beverage merchandisers, and the like. These appliances contain a condenser coil unit that is responsible for rejecting to the atmosphere the heat that is extracted from the enclosure being cooled. To do this job effectively, these coils need to have good airflow so that good heat transfer is achieved. Unfortunately, since the coils are exposed to the atmosphere, they become progressively clogged with dust and other debris over time (see photo at right...

ODESSA, FLA. & SINGAPORE—Green Lodging News, lodging’s leading environmental news source, and Greenview, a leader in advancing hotel sustainability, have released the Green Lodging Trends Report 2016. The report details the results of the first annual Green Lodging Survey conducted earlier this year and is available at no cost by clicking here. The report is based on data from more than 2,000 hotels in 44 countries and covers topics ranging from air quality to energy management to staff involvement. The report includes results of more than 100 questions asked in 11 categories. Supporters of this year’s survey include The Arbor...

ARLINGTON, VA.—Schupp Companies announced that it has achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification for its Hyatt Place Courthouse development in Arlington, Va. Schupp pursued LEED as part of its commitment to sustainability with attention to reduced energy and water consumption, and a focus on optimal air quality to enhance the guest experience. Located at 2401 Wilson Blvd., the new Hyatt Place Arlington Courthouse is situated in close proximity to the metro, allowing for community connectivity. At 93,000 square feet, the hotel features approximately 1,200 square feet of street-level retail space, including a bar and café on the first...

BROOKLYN, N.Y.—1 Hotels, the mission-driven luxury lifestyle hotel brand, announced last month that the newest addition to its portfolio, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, will make its debut in February 2017. Green Lodging News ran the press release on the 10-story sustainable ground-up development that will feature 194 guestrooms. As a follow-up to the press release, Green Lodging News sent a list of questions to Waad El Hadidy, Designer at Starwood Hotels Worldwide, to learn more about the project. The following are the questions and answers: 1. What about the building's structure itself will ensure a high degree of energy efficiency?...

It’s no secret that the concerns towards the indoor air we breathe are growing, and as a result, people are doing something about it. That’s great news, because according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), most Americans spend up to 90 percent of their time indoors. The EPA has also named indoor air quality as one of the top five health threats in the United States. So why the increased apprehension towards indoor air quality (IAQ)? The 2015 outbreak of Legionnaires Disease in New York City, which took 12 lives, was a wakeup call. But let’s look at evidence that affects...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has released the 2016 Lodging Survey—the definitive industry review examining the top trends in the hotel industry. Conducted by industry data provider STR and funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF), the survey provides a comprehensive understanding of sustainability steps hotels are taking, amenities, guest services and more. With just over 8,000 responses, the overall completion rate for the 2016 survey was 15 percent—a drop of three percentage points from 2014. Surveys were emailed to 22,423 hotels through STR using a third party service from www.surveymonkey.com. Surveys were faxed...

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA—A University of Melbourne researcher has found that over one-third of Americans report health problems—from asthma attacks to migraine headaches—when exposed to common fragranced consumer products such as air fresheners, cleaning supplies, laundry products, scented candles, cologne, and personal care products. The study also found that fragranced products may affect profits, with more than 20 percent of respondents entering a business, but leaving as quickly as possible if they smell air fresheners or some fragranced product. More than twice as many customers would choose hotels and airplanes without fragranced air than with fragranced air. In the workplace, over 15 percent...