LONDON—The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) and Greenview have launched the free Hotel Footprinting Tool which allows anyone easy access to the carbon and energy footprint of hotels worldwide. The Hotel Footprinting Tool uses data from the annual Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Study.It’s now far easier for hotels to compare their own carbon footprint to industry averages in their locality. Businesses seeking to map the footprint of their own hotel stays and meetings can now access more accurate figures for hotels in the area and market segment, rather than using broad industry averages or having to contact individual hotels for...

DUBAI, U.A.E.—INTEREL, a leading manufacturer of integrated room technologies in the luxury hospitality industry, introduced its latest technology solution to hoteliers recently at the Hotel Show Dubai.“For a number of years, hoteliers around the world have focused on reducing their properties’ energy consumption and costs to make their operations greener and more sustainable, and we see great results in this space,” said Florian Gallini, Group CEO of INTEREL. “However, water consumption remains a huge challenge for hotels.”On average, an overnight guest staying in a luxury hotel consumes 300 to 1,400 liters of water depending on usage profile and geographic...

CHICAGO—In its continuous effort to innovate around sustainability and improve the communities that it calls home around the world, Hyatt Hotels Corp. announced a new relationship with Bloom Energy, a fuel cell technology company known for its unique on-site power generation systems. Hyatt Regency Greenwich has been selected as the recipient of Hyatt’s first 500kW fuel cell, which will provide up to 75 percent of the hotel’s energy load, generating significant cost savings. By generating its own electricity on-site with Bloom Energy, the hotel will reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent compared to electricity purchased from the grid....

PLANTATION, FLA.—DHL Express was honored with a SmartWay Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and recognized as an industry leader in freight supply chain environmental performance and energy efficiency.SmartWay recognized DHL Express in the United States for its initiatives and efforts to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions within its operations. Between 2014 and 2015, DHL invested more than $50 million in new, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The company now has more than 500 liquid propane gas (LPG) vehicles along with many new fully electric, hybrid-electric and certified clean diesel vehicles.“We are honored to have been selected...

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J.—Hersha Hospitality Trust has selected AspirEnergy, a New Jersey-based Energy Services Company, to implement energy efficient solutions across its portfolio of hotels.Hersha’s partnership with AspirEnergy to implement LED lighting throughout its hotels demonstrates Hersha’s continued dedication to its EarthView program. This initiative will contribute to Hersha’s triple bottom line approach to sustainable hospitality, reducing the company’s carbon footprint by more than 3,000 tons and saving an estimated $1.25 million in energy, maintenance and HVAC costs in the first year of implementation.LED lighting will be implemented across Hersha’s portfolio, which currently consists of hotel properties located in Boston,...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently reached a significant milestone in bringing the building community together by releasing a common definition of a zero energy building, or what is also referred to as a “net zero energy” or “zero net energy” building.After leading an extensive stakeholder engagement process over the past year and a half, the Energy Department released its findings in the recently published “A Common Definition of Zero Energy Buildings,” which states that a Zero Energy Building is “an energy-efficient building where, on a source energy basis, the actual annual delivered energy is less than...

CARY, N.C.—Civilight North America announced that it has been recognized with a special engineering award from the Lighting for Tomorrow committee for its Energy Star-qualified Professional 3-watt Crystal Candelabra lamp.Since its inception in 2002, Lighting for Tomorrow has continued to challenge lighting manufacturers to develop residential lighting products that incorporate advances in energy efficiency with sleekness and beauty of design. The 2015 judging panel evaluated more than 120 lighting products, including indoor and outdoor fixtures, replacement lamps and control devices, in the categories of decorative lighting, retrofit kits, LED replacement lamps and lighting controls.“We are honored to be awarded...

EAST LONGMEADOW, MASS.—Excel Dryer, Inc. introduces the new ThinAir Hand Dryer, a high-efficiency surface-mounted model that protrudes no more than four inches from the wall, making it ADA-Compliant. ThinAir dries hands in 15 seconds, operates on 960 watts.“The ThinAir Hand Dryer eliminates the need to recess the dryer into a restroom wall to achieve ADA compliance, which is beneficial for facilities with walls that are difficult to modify,” said Excel Dryer Vice President of Marketing, William Gagnon. “ThinAir has a lower cost of ownership than other hand dryers, and is easier to install making it a cost effective and...

MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton Worldwide announced a major electric vehicle (EV) charging program, which will be available at 50 U.S. hotels by the end of this year with plans to rapidly expand to 100 U.S. hotels by the end of 2016. The program will cover all types of electric vehicles, including Teslas. Current, powered by GE, will provide stations to charge other car makes.Electric vehicle owners can now road trip from New York City to Los Angeles with the peace of mind that multiple Hilton properties will be along the way to accommodate their charging needs. This is one of many...

MORRIS PLAINS, N.J.—Honeywell announced that one of its new insulating materials was given the top 2015 innovation award by a leading industry group. Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA), a critical material used in energy-efficient polyurethane foam insulation, was named the winner of the 2015 Polyurethane Innovation Award by the American Chemistry Council’s Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI).Foam blowing agents allow closed-cell polyurethane foam insulation to expand and provide the majority of the foam’s excellent insulating properties. Solstice LBA has a global warming potential that is significantly lower than higher global warming hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) blowing agents while providing excellent...