JDV Properties Join in San Francisco's Green Business Program

I had an opportunity this week to chat with Karlene Holloman. She is senior vice president of operations for San Francisco-based Joie de Vivre Hotels and oversees the company's Green Dreams initiative. During my conversation with Karlene, I discovered that five Joie de Vivre properties have been certified as green through the San Francisco Green Business Program. (Joie de Vivre posts which of its 32 hotels have earned green certification on its Green Scorecard page on its website.) The five hotels that have earned certification through the Green Business Program include: Hotel Drisco, Hotel Carlton, Galleria Park Hotel, Hotel Del Sol, and Hotel Vitale. The five Joie de Vivre properties represent half of the 10 hotels in San Francisco that participate in the Green Business Program.

For those of you interested in green certification programs, I highly recommend checking out San Francisco's. (Click here to see the standards.) The areas covered in the standards include: Solid Waste (Waste Diversion, Source Reduction, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing), Energy Conservation (HVAC, Lighting, Energy Management), Water Conservation (Landscaping, Water Management, Water Conservation), Pollution Prevention (Clean Air, Janitorial Cleaning, Pest Management, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing), Wastewater (Storm Water Pollution Prevention), and General/Staff Education. The Standards page includes helpful tips that cover each of the Standards areas. Hotel applicants need not meet all Standards to earn certification. Some of the Standards go beyond what is found in any other green lodging certification program. For example, one must eliminate the use of plastic bags and set up a commuter benefits program to enable employees to use the pre-tax deduction under IRS Code 132(f) for transit, vanpool, or biking costs.

Be sure to check out the San Francisco Green Business Program and all other green lodging certification programs by clicking here. Your thoughts on San Francisco's program?