WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking action to protect the public from seven ethylene glycol ethers or glymes chemicals that can cause health effects including birth defects and blood toxicity.“Today’s action is part of our continuing efforts to help ensure that chemicals in products we use every day are safe for the American public,” said Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Finalizing this action could prevent an increase in the use of these chemicals and reduce human exposure through ingestion and inhalation.”Some of these chemicals are currently used in consumer products, including...

VIENNA, AUSTRIA—The original pioneers of natural swimming pools, BIOTOP Landschaftsgestaltung GmbH, headquartered in Austria, has seen an increase in requests from the hotel and tourism industry for chemical-free natural swimming pools, to provide the ultimate luxury and sustainable guest attraction.Most guests visiting luxury hotels expect to find a swimming pool, but the health risks, high maintenance costs and environmental impact of chlorinated swimming pools has led to many green hotels seeking out a natural alternative. Natural swimming pools are filtered purely by plants and environmentally friendly pumps without the use of any harmful chemicals. Natural pools also look beautiful...

NATIONAL REPORT—Most chafing dish fuel gels found today are made from corn-based ethanol, methanol and other additives to help the product burn hotter. Methanol is added to make it too toxic for consumption. Fuel gel using methanol and other additives is considered hazardous waste and should be treated as such, several industry experts told Green Lodging News for this article. Methanol gel, according to Don Haldenby, CEO of Ecoflame International Inc., is poisonous and contains dioxin and emits nitrous oxide, arsenic, carbon monoxide and excessive carbon dioxide when burned. It is dangerous to touch and dangerous to the environment...

TAMPA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Tampa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Agaia, Inc. as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. According to Agaia, Evolve is the first all-natural, green cleaning technology proven in both lab testing and customer use to match or exceed the performance of petroleum-based Jan-San cleaners and laundry detergents. Five products have received the coveted Green Seal certifications: All Surface Cleaner, Glass & Window, All Duty Industrial 203, Hard Water & Scale Remover, Laundry for Industrial and Institutional Use. Call (800) 992-4242, e-mail learnmore@agaiainc.com or visit www.agaiainc.com.

PLANO, TEXAS—NexRev Inc., a leading manufacturer of performance-improving energy efficiency upgrades for HVAC equipment, announced the availability of DrivePak Advanced Rooftop Control (ARC), an expanded model of the company’s DrivePak HVAC retrofit upgrade incorporating advanced controls that allow customers to further capitalize the savings from DrivePak as well as additional prescriptive energy rebates and incentives.By incorporating integrated economizer control and CO2 Demand Control Ventilation (DCV) with their DrivePak load-matching fan speed control, DrivePak ARC further optimizes energy savings and indoor air quality. Built-in Fault Detection further addresses a common problem related to failed or non-functioning economizer equipment, providing notification...

MURFREESBORO, TENN.—The Hilton Garden Inn Murfreesboro, a new hotel located 30 minutes outside Nashville, has added 10 hypoallergenic PURE Rooms to provide an allergy travel alternative for its guests. “PURE Rooms will offer a more comfortable stay to our guests with allergies,” said David Allison, General Manager at the Hilton Garden Inn Murfreesboro. “As a new hotel, we strive to meet the latest standards for health and wellness, which PURE Rooms help enable us to do.”The rooms were installed by PURE Solutions, a leading provider of allergy travel accommodations in the United States. PURE Rooms are treated according to...

CHICAGO—A dirty packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) often has to work twice as hard and consumes twice the electricity to reach cooler room temperatures. To help hoteliers select the best A/C coil cleaning process as they plan their 2015 budgets, Cintas Corp. released a complimentary white paper covering the results of two independent A/C coil cleaning studies while providing tips for improving unit life.“Dirty A/C units have to work a lot harder and longer to cool the room, causing both increased noise and annoyance to guests,” said Todd McKeown, Vice President of Direct Sale Strategic Markets, Cintas. “This guide...

NEW YORK—Carrier Enterprise, a leading provider of temperature and energy control technologies for commercial, hospitality and residential properties, previewed E-TAC II technology from Gree at the 2014 International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show. During the show, Carrier exhibited Founten’s Intelligent Wireless HVAC Energy Management Solution and the PTAC Air Knight air purification system.Attendees of IHMRS got a sneak preview of the redesigned E-TAC II by Gree and Carrier Enterprise. Scheduled for full release in early 2015, E-TAC II is significantly quieter and more energy efficient than the previous version. Hotel guests will enjoy increased comfort from humidity controls, greater...

In the last few years, we have seen a growing trend towards minimal decoration and a “less is more” focus, particularly during the recession. This was clearly based on a belief that money spent on office plants is wasted. The long standing lean philosophy, where it is argued that clean work surfaces create a better working environment, is dispelled unambiguously in a new paper published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, and authored by leading academics from the Universities of Exeter (U.K.), Cardiff (U.K.), Queensland (Australia) and Groningen (Netherlands). The study, which looks at both short...

NEW ORLEANS—The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) launched the WELL Building Standard Version 1.0 at the inaugural WELL Building Symposium in New Orleans. The WELL Building Standard is the world’s first building standard to focus on enhancing people’s health and wellbeing through the built environment. Following a two-year pilot program and a formal Peer Review process, the WELL Building Standard is now publicly available at www.WELLcertified.com.“The public release of the WELL Building Standard v1.0 marks a momentous step forward in our efforts to bring health and wellness into the indoor environments where we spend more than 90 percent of...