ORLANDO, FLA.—The Doubletree Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Orlando announced that it has become the first hotel in the city to introduce PURE Allergy Friendly Rooms. The Doubletree location has introduced an entire floor of 24 new PURE rooms which create an allergy-friendly environment and remove up to 98 percent of bacteria and viruses. Travelers who occasionally suffer from allergies and asthma can now enjoy cleaner, fresher air in their rooms and enjoy a more restful sleep during their stay. “The Doubletree Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Orlando is proud to be the first hotel in Orlando to...

ATLANTA—Two newly constructed Marriott International-branded hotels located in Atlanta’s Gateway Complex—adjacent to one of the world’s busiest U.S. airports and home to the Georgia International Convention Center—will be among the greenest hotels in the city. The SpringHill Suites Atlanta Airport Gateway is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) registered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and on track to becoming Atlanta’s first LEED Gold hotel. The Atlanta Marriott Gateway will apply for LEED Silver status upon opening in August. This major step in Atlanta brings Marriott one step closer to its goal to expand its LEED portfolio...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Green Lodging News has just added a new case study to its website. The case study focuses on the Fontainebleau Miami Beach and its installation of dehumidification and HVAC control technology from Dectron Internationale, Roswell, Ga. The engineering firm for the project was TLC Engineering for Architecture (TLC), Fort Myers, Fla. Four DRY-O-TRON model DA-5 dehumidifiers manufactured by Dectron were installed in four aquatic areas: the men’s spa, the women’s spa, the rain shower/co-ed pool, and wet treatment area. The result of the investment for the Fontainebleau Miami Beach: $16,000 in annual energy savings.To read the complete case...

BOSTON—Spend some time chatting with Brian Gorski, director of engineering at the 498-room Hyatt Regency Boston and you will quickly understand how the all-electric hotel has been able to slice its annual power consumption by a whopping 42 percent—from 12.3 million kilowatt hours of usage per year to 7.1 million. The drop in energy consumption did not happen in just one year but over a time period of approximately 10 to 12 years when approximately $3 million was spent on improvements in infrastructure, equipment and other systems to improve energy efficiency. NStar, the Massachusetts-based, investor-owned electric and gas utility,...

MONTREAL—The Circul-Aire subsidiary of Dectron Internationale, Roswell, Ga., has introduced Circulaire Cleanaire, efficient and sustainable gas-phase air filtration media for removing chemical odors and airborne gaseous contaminants in industrial complexes, laboratories, office buildings, healthcare facilities, schools, hotels, museums, and other commercial buildings where indoor air quality (IAQ) is critical. The Circulaire Cleanaire proprietary process produces a randomly-shaped, coarse-surfaced, granular media resulting in multi-faceted macro surface adsorption capacity that’s superior to the industry’s conventional smooth-surfaced and symmetrically-shaped media pellets. Each granule’s rough surface increases contact and adsorption with air stream gaseous contaminants, thus creating a more efficient and adsorbent...

NATIONAL REPORT—Summer is here. And, with mild temperatures, comes the chance to assess the damage inflicted on your deck and porches by winter snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Your old finish may be worn leaving the wood unprotected and open to rotting and splitting. The ultimate test is to apply a few drops of water to the wood. If it beads, your wood should be well protected for another season, but if it soaks into the wood, it’s time for restoration. For many years, staining wood meant working with toxic solvents and harmful fumes. But, to meet growing demand for...

HARTFORD, CONN.—Do “green” buildings protect human health from environmental hazards? The answer is “not necessarily,” according to a recent report released by Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), titled “LEED Certification: Where Energy Efficiency Collides with Human Health.” EHHI is a nonprofit organization composed of doctors, public health professionals and policy experts who specialize in research that examines environmental threats to human health. The organization receives no funding from corporations or businesses. The lead author of this study is John Wargo, Ph.D., professor of Risk Analysis and Environmental Policy at Yale University. Wargo summarized the study, “Although the U.S. Green...

KNOXVILLE, TENN.—Sansin Corp. released its new Purity Interior Zero VOC Penetrating Stain (0-VOC), a water-based interior wood stain with a base free from any harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that penetrates both soft and hard woods with consistent, uniform coverage. Sansin has been a leader in researching and developing environmentally friendly interior and exterior wood stains for a quarter century. The Sansin Purity Interior Zero VOC Stain is available at participating dealers or can be shipped direct from a nearby dealer location. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified VOCs as a source of unhealthy indoor air with health...

ATLANTA—Simmons Bedding Company announced that all of the polyurethane foams in the company’s mattress lines have earned the CertiPUR-US certification seal, verifying that the foams are low-VOC and free from ozone-depleting CFCs. The certified foam products are made without PBDE fire retardants, lead, mercury, formaldehyde, prohibited phthalates and other potentially harmful materials. Simmons played an instrumental role in facilitating the CertiPUR-US certification process for each of its foam suppliers, encouraging them to achieve the certification as a way to address growing consumer concerns about the safety of polyurethane foams. “Consumers today are paying very close attention to what’s inside...

ROSWELL, GA.—Dectron Inc., a leading international manufacturer of indoor air quality equipment, introduces the DRY-O-TRON DSV Series, an energy-efficient dehumidifier designed for light commercial and residential indoor pool and spa areas. Besides Dectron’s signature feature of heat recovery for free pool water heating, the new DSV Series includes green features such as a variable frequency drive (VFD) controlled plenum fans, optional electronically-commutated motors (ECM), micro channel condensing coils, and the energy-saving Supervisaire controller. Additionally, DSV offers engineers and contractors a choice of three environmentally-friendly refrigerants: R-134a, R-407C or R-410A. “The new DSV is state-of-the-art energy efficiency and total designer indoor air...