BOULDER, COLO.—If you would like to learn about the Boulder Outlook Hotel & Suites’ zero waste program, I suggest checking with the property’s Ambassador of Cool (owner Dan King)—or maybe its Green Goddess (environmental champion Diane Schevene). Believe it or not, those are the titles the two have given themselves. Both have worked hard to push the property toward zero waste. Is zero waste possible in a hotel that has a full-service restaurant, 3,800 square feet of meeting space and 162 guestrooms? It is if one considers only the waste generated by staff. Because the hotel cannot control what guests...

PEACHTREE CITY, GA.—The Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center is now offering allergy-friendly guest accommodations and 99.9 percent allergenic-free meeting facilities, thanks to Pure Solutions NA’s PURE Room system. “At the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center, we’ve always made it a priority to offer personalized service to our guests,” says Helen Simmons, general manager at the property. “We’ve taken that philosophy to unprecedented heights with our new allergy-free rooms and meeting facilities.” Utilizing the PURE Room system, this hotel now offers guests an environment where surfaces are treated to minimize contaminants and irritants—such as mold spores, yeast, bacteria, pollen, dust, dust mites and chlorine—as...

ATLANTA—Healthy and sustainable buildings are the talk of the building industry, but what exactly defines what a healthy building is? ASHRAE will discuss this and other topics at its IAQ 2007: Healthy and Sustainable Buildings conference in Baltimore. The event will be held Oct. 15 to 17. IAQ 2007 will address what tools and metrics can be used to quantify buildings’ health and sustainability and how indoor air quality can be certified as sustainable. Plenary session speakers will compare the functionality of rating systems, how they can be improved and what information other than the ratings can developers, designers and...

PEMBROKE PINES, FLA.—The Chemically Safer Travel Directory, a guide for health-conscious travelers with sensitivities to chemicals, is now available. It features 658 listings (314 of which are new). Each listing represents a less-toxic place to vacation and stay in the United States, Canada and other countries. The “Safer” in Safer Travel Directory was inspired by the 1995 movie “Safe,” in which the main character inexplicably becomes allergic to the 20th century. Twentieth Century Disease (also known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity) is a very real disability with no cure. It is brought about by some 60,000 chemicals present in our environment,...

NATIONAL REPORT—If the growth of the Sustainable Furniture Council (SFC) is any indication of the current level of interest in sustainable furniture manufacturing, you can expect to read a lot more about this trend in the coming months. The Council, which was incorporated in March, already has 100 members. While the majority of all furniture purchased for lodging in the United States is not sustainable, that appears to be changing—albeit slowly. What exactly is sustainable furniture? It most certainly is not furniture that is made with illegally sourced wood, petroleum-based foams, fabrics and other materials, and finishes and glues that...

KEY WEST, FLA.—The Banyan Resort and the Gardens Hotel last week became the Florida Keys’ first certified members of the Green Lodging Program, created by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to recognize and reward environmentally conscious lodging facilities in the state. The two Old Town Key West properties were awarded “one palm” certification for their environmental commitment in ceremonies attended by State Representative Ron Saunders, Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson, Stacey Mitchell, director of sales for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council (TDC) and Laura Comer and Gus Rios of the DEP. “These businesses are stepping up to recognize...

NEEDHAM, MASS.—TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel community, announced the results of its smoking survey of more than 1,400 travelers worldwide, revealing that nearly 90 percent of respondents believe hotels and restaurants need to be clearer about whether they are smoking or nonsmoking establishments, and where smoking is permitted and prohibited. Eighty-six percent of travelers surveyed were nonsmokers. While only 14 percent identified themselves as smokers, 23 percent admitted to “social smoking.” Twenty-two percent of travelers said that visiting a city or country where smoking is prohibited is “always” a consideration, while 34 percent said it is “sometimes” a consideration. Whether...

ATLANTA—In today’s marketplace, a green building means an energy efficient, healthy building, but nothing can tarnish that sparkling image faster than indoor mold growth. Lenders and insurers as well as building owners and managers know that when mold takes hold, it can cause deterioration of building materials, which can be expensive and inconvenient to replace. Indoor mold growth also can become a source of indoor air pollutants, which can lead to serious health problems, including allergic reactions and asthma attacks. To help take the guesswork out of selecting building materials that resist mold growth and to support product manufacturers in...

KO OLINA, OAHU, HAWAII—The JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina is the first property in Hawaii and one of the first in the nation to adopt the PURE system which creates an allergy-friendly environment. All of the hotel’s 13 guestrooms and Presidential Suite on its 17th (top) floor have been converted to the system, and indoor meeting facilities and the Ihilani Spa will be converted by the end of the year. The allergy-friendly environment can help ease respiratory problems, asthma and allergies that affect more than 70 million Americans. “By providing PURE allergy-friendly hotel rooms and conference...

THAME, OXON, U.K.—The United Kingdom’s fastest growing budget hotel chain, Travelodge, became the first major hotel mover in the smoking ban debate by declaring that they will be completely smoke free by January 2008. The budget chain will make all public areas in their hotels smoke free by the beginning of July 2007 but go a step further by eradicating smoking from all rooms completely by the turn of the year. Travelodge, serving over 6.5 million each year and operating 318 U.K. hotels, made the move following overwhelming feedback on the subject from both customers and staff. Research by...