The former Brookfield Building in downtown Kansas City, now almost 90 years old, is now newly renovated and highly efficient thanks in part to Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing. PACE Sage Capital structured the C-PACE deal and CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital provided the $2.4 million in capital for what is now the Hotel Indigo Kansas City Downtown. The $2.4 million helped close the deal on the $36 million mixed-use project that includes the 118-room boutique hotel and 27 apartments. (See article.) The owners saw C-PACE as a perfect solution for financing high-efficiency new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems,...

ELKHART, IND.—Dometic will be exhibiting at Boutique Design West in Los Angeles, for the first time April 4 to 5 at booth #1232. Dometic is known for providing smart solutions, reliable products, and outstanding design and this is how they achieve that recognition: Smart Solutions Hotel guests want a place to keep their drinks cold, snacks fresh, and valuables untouched just as they are at home. Dometic offers a variety of minibars and safes that provide additional in-room comfort, convenience, and safety for hotel guests.  Reliable Products Dometic understands that guests are not always as gentle on products in hotels as they would...

KANSAS CITY, MO.—Josh Smith, Senior Transaction Counsel for CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital in Sausalito, Calif., is seeing changes in how hotel developers finance their efficiency projects and that is good news for the environment and hoteliers alike. “Hospitality is where we are seeing our largest growth,” says Smith, whose company specializes in long-term financing for energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy and seismic improvements for commercial, multifamily and other nonresidential properties in the United States. CleanFund provides private capital for Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE), a financing structure adopted in 33 states and the District of Columbia that allows...

TORRANCE, CALIF.—LEDtronics announces its new All-Weather, UL-Listed Filament-look LED String Lights that answer the demands for brilliant, mood-setting lighting with all the benefits of energy-efficient LED technology. These versatile LED string lights are ideal for applications such as special outdoor occasions, garden or backyard parties, or providing a decorative flair to outdoor restaurant porches, shopping plazas, hotel pool areas, decks, driveways and patios, as well as for sign perimeter lighting. The 48-foot, IP65-rated waterproof black string cord holds 24 1.5-watt S14 LED lamps with a bulb separation of 2 feet. It features industrial-grade outer neoprene rubber sockets that endure years of...

NATIONAL REPORT—These days, and for the foreseeable future, businesses will have to “go green” in order to make some green. Simply put, employing environmentally friendly policies and practices and technologies, will greatly help businesses be profitable—and even save some money. This is especially true for the hotel industry. The continuous consumer shift into eco-friendliness spans across nearly every demographic group and is strong among Millennials. In recent years, Millennials, those born from 1981 to 1997, have grown in numbers. This generation has become the largest generation in the United States, according to a report from the Pew Research Center. Millennials...

MOLINE, ILL.—Element Hotels, part of Marriott International, and Ctwo Hotels, announced the opening of Element Moline, marking the debut of the eco-conscious, extended-stay brand in Illinois. With the support and inspiration of the Moline Historic Society, Element Moline offers guests eco-friendly and wellness-focused amenities within the historical surroundings of one of Moline’s oldest buildings. Part of the hotel is housed in the O’Rourke Building, a warehouse that was originally built in 1916. “We are thrilled to be bringing Element Hotels to Illinois for the first time with the opening of this landmark property,” said Marlon Whyte, Senior Global Brand Director...

ATLANTA—ASHRAE announced the launch of a new, redesigned version of its website, ashrae.org. This website offers quick and easy access to essential information and simplified navigation through mega-menus. ASHRAE’s redesigned website features a device-responsive layout to support viewing on smartphones, tablets and desktop/laptop computers. The new search is powered by Amazon Elasticsearch Service, a new and powerful technology. The new search includes thousands of relevant results from other ASHRAE sites such its bookstore, eLearning platform and Technology Portal. “Visitors are now able to move seamlessly between learning, planning, and participating online,” says Jeff Littleton, Executive Director of ASHRAE. “We are excited...

ODESSA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Odessa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Verdant Environmental Technologies as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Verdant Environmental Technologies manufactures state of the art, plug & play energy management solutions for the hospitality sector. For over 40 years, Verdant has helped its customers save money on their energy bills by reducing HVAC runtimes when guestrooms are empty. Over that time, Verdant has amassed numerous patents on its technology that has helped it maximize energy savings without compromising guest comfort. Verdant is an approved vendor of all major hotel chains and was most...

WEST CALDWELL, N.J.—Building on its portfolio of LED products designed to save installers time and money, MaxLite introduces the Universal Commercial Downlight Fixture as the simple and economical way to add high quality recessed lighting to commercial spaces. Designed with a universal voltage driver and integrated wire whip, the Energy Star certified downlight eliminates the need for a traditional recessed downlight frame in new construction and retrofit projects. The fixture simply gets wired and placed into the ceiling—no can, bulb or extra labor required. MaxLite offers the Universal Commercial Downlight in 6- and 8-inch diameters, and color temperatures of 3000K...

Name: Laura Abshire Title: Director of Sustainability Policy and Government Affairs Organization/Location: National Restaurant Assn./Washington D.C. Years in Position: 5+ years Primary Responsibilities: “I view my role as someone who is increasing education around sustainability—monitoring everything around the sustainability space and how it impacts our members.” Organization’s most significant sustainability-related accomplishment: “The NRA has done a lot of work linking sustainability efforts with restaurateurs and their daily operations. Raising awareness and inspiring action has been a very big accomplishment.” Organization’s most significant sustainability-related challenge moving forward: “There is so much more work to be done to educate members on sustainability. The lack of infrastructure for...