Commercial ice makers—the kind you see in hotel hallways, restaurants, and hospitals—can churn out anywhere from 50 pounds to 4,000 pounds of ice every day. They can produce regular cubes, ice nuggets for drink machines, or soft flakes used in supermarket displays, and they use a lot of water and energy to do it. As of last month, thanks to updated efficiency standards, almost every new ice maker sold in the United States will use 10 to 25 percent less energy. Sunday (January 28) was the day that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) efficiency standard for automatic commercial ice makers went into...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Restaurant Association released the 2018 edition of The State of Restaurant Sustainability to highlight sustainability efforts by restaurant operators. The report provides the latest trends in environmental practices in the restaurant industry, along with consumer insights. It aims to help restaurant operations of all types and sizes understand what other restaurateurs are doing to begin or continue their own sustainability journey. The Association surveyed more than 500 restaurant owners and operators about their sustainability efforts, opportunities and challenges. More than 1,000 consumers also were surveyed about the best ways restaurants can communicate their sustainability initiatives to their...

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), owned by the City of Los Angeles and managed by AEG Facilities, recently received California’s highest environmental honor, the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA), for its waste reduction efforts in a ceremony at the California Environmental Protection Agency. The LACC sustainability initiatives recognized include the installation of a “cool roof” and light defusing windows to reflect sunlight and direct heat away from the building, new water-efficient kitchen dishwashers and the replacement of 30,000 square feet of turf with drought-tolerant landscaping. As a result, the LACC is now 36 percent more energy...

COMMERCE, CALIF.—Nora Lighting introduces Onyx Squares, modernist square-shaped LED retrofit downlights with deep-set optics for optimal visual comfort. The Squares can be installed in new construction, remodels or retrofits, and are a recent addition to Nora’s Onyx LED Downlight Series. New models are available in 3” apertures for 4” housings (650 lumens) and 4.125” apertures for 6” housing (800 lumens). An integral driver and Samsung LEDs are part of the Onyx package. Onyx Squares can be retrofitted into existing 4” and 6” round housings and oriented to any position within the housings. Featuring contemporary sharp-edged styling, Onyx Squares are designed for residential...

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Control4 Corp., a leading global provider of smart home solutions, announces the immediate availability of the Control4 CA-1 Automation Controller. The CA-1 enables Control4 Dealers to provide an orchestrated smart home experience for homeowners interested in lighting, temperature control, and security. The new controller is designed to appeal to homebuilders, MDU developers, and hoteliers, giving them a way to differentiate with the inclusion of the most sought-after smart home experiences. “The emerging range of smart locks, thermostats, lights, and cameras available today have certainly raised consumer awareness for the promise of the smart connected home,” said Martin Plaehn,...

OLYMPIC VALLEY, CALIF.—To help achieve Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows’ goal to be powered by 100 percent clean, renewable energy sources, Liberty Utilities, the electric service provider in the Lake Tahoe region of California, is actively collaborating with resort leadership to identify and develop new renewable energy generation, storage and energy efficiency projects to benefit the Olympic Valley and surrounding areas. Subject to regulatory approval, the two companies intend to achieve the resort’s 100 percent renewable goal as early as December 2018. “Liberty Utilities is committed to furthering the renewable energy goals of the State of California and has already made...

FORT MILL, S.C.—Although LED lighting has a longer lifespan, there comes a time when the they will eventually have to be replaced. A major obstacle on LED tube light replacement is not knowing whether the previously installed LED tube light is: ballast compatible, direct wire, with single-end wiring or double-end wiring, etc. This situation poses a major challenge for installers and maintenance providers. Identifying the wiring configuration is fairly time consuming and quite frustrating. The HyLite LED new OptiMax Tube solves this issue by offering a completely universal LED tube light which is ballast compatible and direct wire, single-end or...

LOS ANGELES—VivoAquatics, a leader in providing innovative and sustainable aquatic solutions, has just announced the publication of the first data driven assessment of water safety and management: “State of Market - Recreational Water Safety in Commercial Facilities”. The report, the result of analyzing over 7 million data points and surveying hundreds of commercial hotels, waterparks, apartment buildings, fitness clubs and municipalities is the first publication of its kind to provide detailed analysis of water safety and management practices in commercial properties. The State of the Market report also provides insights into emerging regulations, trends and technologies that properties are using...

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Hotel101 Resort-Boracay will soon rise on the beachfront of Boracay Newcoast featuring 1,001 rooms and is expected to become the biggest hotel in the Philippines in terms of room count. The project will sit on a two-hectare property on the beachfront cove and support environmentally friendly operations and sustainable tourism. Hotel101 Resort-Boracay is a joint venture project of Hotel of Asia Inc., a subsidiary of DoubleDragon Properties Corp., a property company led by Mang Inasal, Founder, and DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar Injap Sia II and Jollibee Founder and DoubleDragon Co-Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong, and Newcoast South Beach, Inc. led by...

The momentum toward energy efficient buildings is transcending the harsh political climate in Washington, occurring primarily at the state and city levels in the United States, at the level of nonprofit organizations, and in other countries that are the fastest-growing source of climate pollution. Locally initiated policies for improved building efficiency have always driven the bulk of activity at the national level, both in the United States and in countries such as Russia. With the ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change, which calls for the world to pursue action to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees, we see...