SUFFOLK, VA.—The Fibrex Group introduces the Steora Smart Bench. It is available in the United States and is the result of a business partnership with Include. Steora was invented by Ivan Mrvos of Include j.d.o.o in the Republic of Croatia.Steora Smart Bench’s unique design provides self-sustaining green solar energy to power a large suite of applications such as cell phone charging, WiFi Hot-Spot Internet connection, area LED lighting, sensor data gathering capabilities and temperature control. It even has a built-in cooling fan system to keep the seating area below 80F on hot days. Steora also brings a note of...

PHILADELPHIA—It was just a year ago that Hersha Hospitality Trust released its first Sustainability Report. Last month, Jay Shah, CEO of the lodging REIT, announced the release of the company’s second Sustainability Report. According to Bennett Thomas, Senior Vice President of Finance and Sustainability for Hersha, it is one of only a few lodging REITs to issue a sustainability report. “Hersha is one of the few lodging REITs that report on sustainability,” Thomas says. Hersha’s second report reflects the activities of its 55 owned hotels.Last year was another strong year for sustainability accomplishments for Hersha. For the third time...

SAN BRUNO, CALIF.—GREEN CREATIVE, the commercial grade LED lighting manufacturer, announces the launch of its new Filament Series LED lamps. Part of GREEN CREATIVE’s TITANIUM LED SERIES, the Filament Series features a wide variety of vintage style bulbs that use the latest in LED technology. They include the new A19 7.5W, A19 4.5W, ST19 5W, G25 4.5W, B10 3.5W, BA10 3.5W Flame Tip and B11 3.5W E26. Each filament bulb uses a high quality LED package which results in longer lifetimes and higher efficacies. Each lamp’s micro designed driver provides excellent dimming performance without the need for a heatsink.“Maintaining...

LAS VEGAS—NRG Energy, Inc. and MGM Resorts International announced the completed expansion of the nation’s largest rooftop solar array. On the roof of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, the expanded solar array has more than 26,000 photovoltaic panels and produces a combined 8.3 MW dc (6.5 MW ac) of electricity, a new national record for rooftop arrays. At full production, the system supplies 25 percent of the power demand of the entire Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino campus.  It is projected that the expanded solar installation will displace approximately 8,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually, the equivalent...

NEW YORK—The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced its partnership with BuildingIQ and Energy Solutions to implement a scaled deployment of BuildingIQ’s Predictive Energy Optimization (PEO) platform as part of the Emerging Technology Accelerated Commercialization Commercial-Institutional (ETAC-CI) program. This initiative supports market adoption of energy-saving and load-reduction technologies through high-impact, statewide demonstrations and aligns with Governor Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) strategy. It offers training and certification on BuildingIQ’s cloud-based PEO platform, as well as up to $20,000 per building for installation. The pilot will run until fall 2017 or until incentive funds expire.The...

Name: Wes Shirley Title: Director of Engineering Hotel: Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead Years with hotel: Six Primary responsibilities: “It’s my responsibility to make sure every single guest that stays in our hotel has a flawless and enjoyable stay. I do that by making sure that my employees are happy, well trained and completely engaging with our guests. It’s my responsibility to the owners to ensure that their building is well maintained. At all times it should look and run like a new hotel. It’s also my duty to spend their money wisely, always looking for new, inventive ways to lower their costs...

Solar is now more cost-effective than ever, offering a number of compelling financial and environmental benefits for the hospitality industry. Solar technologies have been proven over decades in the field, and are becoming increasingly efficient, reliable, and affordable. Large corporations are investing billions in the industry, powering a record number of installations in 2015. Total solar installations hit the 1 million mark in February of this year, and total industry growth is projected to hit a staggering 119 percent this year. As the solar market expands logarithmically, the costs of installation are plummeting. A hotel can reap the benefits of...

ROCK HILL, S.C.—HyLite LED Lighting has introduced a new Plug-in LED lamp for down lighting applications. With its compact size, the new HyLite LED VL lamp efficiently delivers illumination at 116 lumens per watt with a 120° beam angle. At only 12W, the HyLite VL Lamp replaces up to a 42W CFL, effectively reducing energy consumption by up to 71 percent.Designed for reliable performance, the HyLite VL lamp, with a rated life of 50,000 hours, lasts up to seven times longer than CFL lamps. The lamp operates on 120-277V and does not require any ballast or additional equipment to...

NEW YORK—The Light Human Hotel, a new eco-friendly brand and concept created by two France-based entrepreneurs—Jean-Pierre Bandeira, CEO of Light Human Hotel and Julien Veyron, Architect and CEO of atelier arcau—will make its first appearance in the United States later this year in Miami. That 80-room hotel on Collins Ave. will be the first of now eight Light Human Hotel properties to open. Additional hotels are planned in the next few years for Miami, San Antonio, Los Angeles, New York, Sao Paulo, Antibes, Rio de Janeiro and London.Bandeira says Light Human Hotels will go beyond LEED in regard to...

ODESSA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Odessa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, has added Hartdean Ltd. to its Green Product & Service Directory in the “Linens & Towels” category. The company’s EcoKnit Terry Towels are luxury hospitality cotton towels with two to three time’s longer lifespan and provide energy and water savings which recover the cost of the product. EcoKnit Towels are snag free, dry up to 40 percent quicker than standard terry towels, reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, and use 15 percent less water with every laundering cycle. EcoKnit Towels also require less detergent. E-mail enquiries@hartdean.com, or go...