NEW YORK—Humanscale, a leading manufacturer of high-performance ergonomic work tools, has formed a partnership with Artemide, a world leader in high-end residential and professional lighting. Under the partnership, Humanscale will have the exclusive rights to distribute the new LED version of Artemide’s Tolomeo task light to the U.S. contract market. Already available with halogen, fluorescent and incandescent fixtures, the Tolomeo’s highly efficient LED version will be ready to ship to the United States in January. “With Tolemeo Classic being the No. 1 seller in the world for Artemide, I look at the Tolomeo LED as a brand new extension in...

NEW YORK—Carnegie, a leading manufacturer and innovator of textiles and wallcoverings, announced that its product line, Surface IQ, has achieved SCS Indoor Air Gold Certification. Surface IQ is built from the polymer up: eliminating the hazardous use of vinyl, chlorine, plasticizers, heavy metals, formaldehyde and dioxin. Built on thermoplastic olefin technology (TPO), it delivers both performance and ecology simultaneously, and features the colors, patterns and textures that the Carnegie name has become synonymous with. SCS is a global leader in the independent certification of environmental, sustainability, food quality, and food purity claims. Products that qualify for Indoor Advantage...

EAST LONGMEADOW, MASS.—Excel Dryer, Inc. announced that it has released the findings of a peer reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for its high-speed energy efficient hand dryer, XLERATOR. The LCA study, conducted by Quantis, an international life cycle assessment research firm, determined that when compared to traditional electric hand dryers and paper towels (virgin and 100 percent recycled content), XLERATOR reduces the Climate Changing Score (carbon footprint) of hand drying by 50 percent to 75 percent. Each hand drying system was evaluated on 10 years of service, or drying 260,000 pairs of hands. The LCA measured the entire environmental...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes WiSuite as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. WiSuite’s Central Control and Monitoring system interfaces with WiSuite’s ZigBee Wireless Digital Thermostats to provide real-time building, zone, room and device level controls, monthly temperature schedules, device history and maintenance alerts. The WiSuite real time PMS I/F is the key to achieving a 35 to 40 percent reduction in heating and cooling costs. WiSuite’s centrally controlled energy management supports a walk-in quota system that allows hotel managers to specify a quantity of rooms to keep ready for sale at...

DALLAS—More than 40 Marriott hotels throughout Texas are doing their part to help the Texas environment. TXU Energy recently conducted energy audits at several large Marriott properties in the state. The recommendations, if fully implemented, would reduce electricity consumption by more than 2 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year—enough to power 115 homes—for a savings of $250 thousand per year. “Our goal was to do things that make sense from an environmental and financial perspective,” said Rob Bahl, regional vice president of engineering for Marriott. “TXU Energy helped identify the green steps we can take to achieve that goal.” The audits were...

MADISON HEIGHTS, MICH.—Two long-time hospitality industry stalwarts—SAFLOK and INNCOM International Inc.—recently announced a strategic alliance. The collaboration has yielded a new radio-frequency (RF) interface for energy management. Hyatt Regency Chicago, a four-diamond, 2,019-room hotel in the heart of downtown Chicago, just off the Magnificent Mile, is the first property to adopt this new interface. An existing SAFLOK customer, Hyatt Regency Chicago is updating from the SAFLOK MT (multi-technology) locks to SAFLOK’s Quantum ädese locks and installing energy management thermostats with an RF interface. The new RF interface provides a cost-effective energy management solution by allowing the lock and thermostat to...

NEW YORK—The total number of exhibitors may have been less than previous years due to the economy and other factors but the number of vendors offering green products and services was stronger than ever at this year’s International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS). The event was held November 8 to 10 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Visitors to the show found exhibitors featuring amenity bottles that biodegrade much faster than traditional plastic bottles; dispensers that eliminate amenity bottles altogether; a nonprofit that matches up hotels with other nonprofits to help eliminate food, toiletry...

GERMANTOWN, MD.—Telkonet, Inc., a company that develops and manufactures proprietary energy management and Smart Grid networking technology, announced that it has been ranked number 64 in the latest Technology Fast 500 list, Deloitte LLP’s ranking of 500 of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. Rankings are based on percentage of fiscal year revenue growth during the five-year period from 2004 to 2008. Telkonet grew 2,841 percent during this period. In addition, Telkonet has been named fifth on the Washington Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies list, based upon three-year revenue-growth...

MADISON HEIGHTS, MICH.—SAFLOK has announced a collaboration with Control4. As a leader in electronic locking systems and part of the Kaba Group, SAFLOK has integrated some of its best-selling Messenger technology on the Control4 Suite Systems for “smart rooms” at hotel properties. “This integration will be a winning technology venture for SAFLOK, Control4, and most importantly the hotels,” says Kerry Hirschy, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Kaba Lodging Systems. “The integration between our two systems is proof of the smart room interoperability concept as a significant benefit to a hotel property.” The SAFLOK lock essentially becomes part...

ABU DHABI, U.A.E.—The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) has revealed that more than 90 percent of the hot water at its 408-room Aloft Hotel will be supplied through energy harnessed from solar panels. Aloft Hotel became the first hotel in Abu Dhabi to make such use of solar energy when it launched on October 25. A total of 560 solar panels, covering an area of 2,300 square meters, have been installed on the roof of ADNEC Car Park A. These panels heat water for the hotel’s 408 guestrooms, two production kitchens, food and beverage outlets, hotel offices and the...