NEW HYDE, N.Y.—Evolve Guest Controls announced that it has designed, developed, and implemented the single largest successful Z-Wave deployment of wireless lighting and energy management devices to date. This deployment of Evolve’s LCD Director Series Energy Management System is located at The Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The installation includes more than 65,000 devices residing in more than 2,700 rooms and suites. Using Evolve’s LCD Director Series, each guest has the ability to wirelessly control each room’s motorized draperies/sheers, communicate privacy please/service room to housekeeping, activate various lighting scenes, adjust the temperature, and put the room into energy...

ZIONSVILLE, IND.—Fanimation has introduced The Landan LED Ceiling Fan. The Landan features a dimmable LED (light emitting diode) luminaire, which is designed with a frosted white glass shade and CREE LEDs on top to create an up-light glow, and an LED cluster to provide quality down-lighting. The up-light includes eight LEDs that consume only 10 watts and produce 627 lumens, which is the approximate equivalent to one 60-watt candelabra bulb. The down-light uses 12 LEDs that consume 15 watts to deliver 855 lumens, which is the approximate equivalent to two 40-watt candelabra bulbs. The LED fixture offers a CRI (color...

DANVERS, MASS.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE) have awarded Osram Sylvania a 2011 Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award in recognition of its continued leadership in protecting the environment through energy efficiency. This is the tenth consecutive year the company has received an Energy Star award.Osram Sylvania is committed to promoting energy efficiency among consumers, businesses and within its own operations, company-wide. Since becoming an Energy Star partner in 1999 and receiving its first Energy Star award in 2002, Osram Sylvania has made advancements in energy saving lighting technology.“Receiving our tenth consecutive Energy Star Partner...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the completion of updates to the Energy Star requirements for televisions and cable and satellite boxes. Effective in September 2011, these products must be 40 percent more efficient than conventional models in order to qualify for the Energy Star label. The updates are the first of more than 20 revisions to product requirements the Energy Star program is expected to complete this year. The new television requirements reflect an acceleration of pending changes made possible by a rapid market response to the current Energy Star requirements. Sustained consumer demand and strong...

DALLAS—Motel 6, known for providing guests with a clean, comfortable room at a low price, announces the winners of the brand’s 2010 “Phoenix My Break Room” energy-saving program. This unique employee incentive program challenged Motel 6 team members at corporate-owned locations in North America to reduce energy consumption at their motels over a six-month period. One location in each of the brand’s 10 operational regions earned the prize of a renovated break room, modeled after the award-winning Motel 6 “Phoenix” room design. Winners were determined based on the percentage reduction of energy consumption (kilowatt hours used) from the previous year,...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Starwood is switching off on March 26—but just for one hour, and for a great cause. The global hospitality leader will once again join the worldwide movement of people and businesses planning to turn off the lights for Earth Hour 2011 in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common—our planet. This year will mark Starwood’s third annual participation in Earth Hour, making it one of the biggest companies to create a statement with a voluntary hour of darkness. Hundreds of hotels in the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. portfolio will take part...

ITHACA, N.Y.—In one of the first empirical studies of the effects of energy saving treatments on hotel guests’ satisfaction, Cornell University researchers have found that carefully designed conservation treatments do not diminish the guest experience. The study, sponsored by Philips, was conducted at the Statler Hotel, the four-diamond hotel operated as a teaching and research laboratory by the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. Conducted by Associate Professor Alex Susskind and Professor Rohit Verma, the study tested reduced television power levels and alterations in bathroom lighting in the guestrooms. The study, “Hotel Guests’ Reactions to Guest Room Sustainability Initiatives,” by...

ASHEVILLE, N.C.—The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa and FLS Energy of Asheville, N.C., have completed a project to add solar panels to the resort’s modern Sports Complex. The 12-panel solar thermal system at the Sports Complex will provide about 600 gallons of hot water a day for use in the locker rooms. The project was designed using a solar Power Purchase Agreement, in which FLS Energy built and installed the system on the roof of the complex with no up-front cost to The Grove Park Inn. Grove Park Inn will in turn purchase the thermal energy to heat the...

CHESAPEAKE, VA.—Solar Panels Plus (SPP) announces that the SplitCool DC-18 solar air conditioner has passed its TUV product safety testing and now carries the CE mark. Electrical, fire and mechanical safety issues have been properly addressed and the SplitCool unit now fully complies with global product safety standards. The SplitCool system design allows for operation between 5,000 BTU and 18,000 BTU, meaning that capacity, refrigerant flow and compressor speed are variable and are dynamically adjusted in real time to match the current conditions and heat load. The system is designed to use the lowest possible amount of electric power so...

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—The 58-room Hotel Skyler, set to have its soft opening here in Syracuse on April 1, could soon join the exclusive club of hotels that have earned LEED Platinum certification. There are just two other U.S. properties that have earned such a distinction—the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C., and the Bardessono in Yountville, Calif. Hotel Skyler, which is pursuing the top-level LEED designation, is truly unique; it was first a synagogue constructed in 1921 and later a home for a theater group. According to Tom Fernandez, director of marketing for the Syracuse-based Woodbine Group, which owns Hotel Skyler,...