NEW YORK—Five exhibitors in five green categories were honored with Editors’ Choice Awards during the Opening Ceremonies of the 93rd annual International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS), Sunday, November 9, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The awards program recognizes best new products within the categories of décor, essentials, luxury, restaurant and technology. The first day of the IH/M&RS was also highlighted by a keynote presentation on “Sustainability” by Christine Ervin, former president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and president of Christine Ervin/Company.
The 2008 IH/M&RS Editors’ Choice Award winners in the five green categories included:
Green Décor—Cintas Corp., Chicago, for Eco-friendly Suiting Collection, a 100 percent recycled polyester suiting collection made from recycled plastic bottles that offers style, comfort and functionality.
Green Essentials—The Sugar Cane Paper Company, San Francisco, for Biodegradable Standard Roll Toilet Tissue, made from 90 percent recycled waste and 10 percent recycled paper.
Green Luxury—Valley Forge Fabrics, Inc., Pompano Beach, Fla., for LIVING FRESH, a natural, high thread count bedding collection featuring an exotic blend of fibers from eucalyptus and cotton.
Green Restaurant—The Sugar Cane Paper Company, San Francisco, for Premium Dinner Napkins, made from 90 percent recycled waste and 10 percent recycled paper.
Green Technology—BioHitech, Secaucus, N.J., for GohBio 1001, an on-site, high-speed food waste decomposition system that reduces a foodservice establishment’s carbon footprint and increases its bottom line.
“This year’s competition was extremely competitive, featuring a wide range of innovative products and resources that promise to take the guest experience to the next level,” said Lynn White, show manager. “These awards continue to serve as a distinguished honor for the industry, positioning the selected products for success in the marketplace.”
Almost 150 Entries This Year
Editors from leading hospitality trade publications reviewed nearly 150 submissions of cutting-edge, new products, and selected winners based on innovative product design, how a product answers a particular industry need, creative use of material or construction, and development or use of a new technology.
Judges for the 13th annual IH/M&RS Editors’ Choice Awards were: Michael Birchenall, Foodservice Monthly; Margaret Rose Caro, Hotel Food & Beverage Executive; Glenn Hasek, Green Lodging News; Dick Johnson, Hotel Online; Adam Kirby, Hotels; Fred Klashman, Total Food Service; Dennis Nessler, Hotel Business; Stephanie Ricca, Hotel & Motel Management; Len Vermillion, Lodging; Brian Ward, Restaurant Equipment Reports; and Ed Watkins, Lodging Hospitality.
Christine Ervin focused on sustainable “green” building in her keynote presentation, saying that its key drivers are economic, policy and sustainability considerations.
“Eight or nine years ago, there was no definition of green building,” Ervin said. “Now it is common knowledge. One out of every 10 residential and commercial buildings constructed in 2010 will be green. A total of 20,000 buildings are registered for LEED, including approximately 400 in the lodging industry. There has been an 80 percent increase in registration in 2008.”
Green Where It’s Colder Than Ice
Ervin showed examples of construction projects that have earned LEED certification, including one as remote as the South Pole. “If you can do it on the South Pole, you can do it here,” she says.
Summarizing the benefits of LEED buildings, Ervin mentioned the following: better resident and worker health, greater worker productivity, the ability to ask higher rents, greater occupancy rates, faster return on investment, and greater retail sales in retail establishments. She cited various surveys that backed up the argument that LEED buildings are more energy efficient and of greater value at the point of resale.
Ervin also addressed the “urban myth” that building LEED-eligible buildings cost significantly more. “It is 2 percent and going down,” she said.
The former president and CEO of USGBC also issued this warning to hotel developers: “If you are putting up a building that is not green, you are going to have an obsolete building.” Her rationale was that policy changes are going to come along—e.g., the emergence of a cap and trade market—that will penalize those buildings that contribute the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
