WASHINGTON, D.C.—Grosvenor, the international property development, investment and fund management group, is embarking on a $35 million renovation and re-branding of an old Holiday Inn hotel in Chevy Chase, Md. It closed earlier this year and will reopen as a Courtyard by Marriott in the spring of 2009. Grosvenor is seeking a Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for the newly renovated hotel. The renovation will include expanding the hotel from 214 to 226 rooms and creating 1,500 additional square feet of retail space just north of Saks Jandel with...

BOSTON—Ember, a leading provider of low-power wireless mesh networking systems, will end 2008 with a flourish, setting company records for product shipments and revenue. Building on the foundation from the previous year, Ember has shipped a record quantity of its ZigBee/802.15.4 semiconductors in 2008, more than all the previous years combined. This achievement reflects its position as a leading vendor of ZigBee technology. It also validates the market acceptance of ZigBee as the wireless standard of choice for sensor and control networks, particularly for applications impacting energy management such as smart metering, as well as in home control and...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Solar Power International announced that its Solar Conference and Expo will be held in Anaheim, Calif., October 27 to 29, 2009 to accommodate the event’s rapid growth. Attendance at what was already the industry’s largest solar conference and expo in North America jumped from 12,500 in 2007 to 23,200 in 2008, according to the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the show organizers. The new location will be able to meet the increased demand for hotel accommodations, exhibition and meeting space, and will allow the event to deliver a positive experience for all...

CHICAGO—Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in downtown Chicago launched an extensive recycling program and energy conservation program entitled, “When not in use, turn off the juice,” one year ago. A unique effort to compost biodegradable food material has been introduced, and Hyatt Regency McCormick Place bottles its own water at its restaurant, Shor, as well. The hotel’s green program has garnered successful results with the participation of both its entire staff and guests. In the past year, 76 tons of material (equaling 300 cubic yards) has been recycled, approximately 1,500 trees have been saved, and more than three tons of...

FORT WORTH, TEXAS—Traulsen’s line of refrigerators and freezers—the G-Series—is expanding its product line to include hot-food holding cabinets. The affordable price and proven reliability mean higher value and lower total cost of ownership. The new Energy Star qualified G-Series hot-food holding cabinets, which include one- and two-section reach-in and pass-thru configurations, save energy and allow for a smaller environmental footprint. “Particularly in tougher economic times, Traulsen’s G-Series provides excellent value for foodservice operators and growing chains striving to drive down costs while maintaining quality, and the hot-food holding cabinet is no exception in delivering on this expectation,” said John Davis,...

MINNEAPOLIS—New McQuay scroll-compressor Templifier water heaters reduce energy costs by recovering waste heat and making it available for space heating and domestic hot water. Ideal for hotels, McQuay Templifier units with scroll compressors range from 500 to 3,000 MBh and can heat water up to 160° F (71° C) compared to 140° F for competitive units. The Templifier’s hermetic scroll compressors feature low sound levels for quiet operation and use R-134a refrigerant, which has no ozone-depletion potential or phase-out schedule. The McQuay Open Choices control feature allows easy integration with the building automation system of choice using BACnet, LonTalk...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Water Energy Laundry Consulting as a Green Product & Service Directory Partner. Water Energy Laundry Consulting offers the following turn-key laundry solutions for the hospitality industry: full-service consulting, advanced laundry design, construction, start-up, optimization and training. Laundry Consulting is the exclusive provider of Green Laundry Systems from Water Energy. These systems are built around advanced ozone technologies and deliver significant water and energy savings to a laundry. The newly updated Water Energy Laundry Consulting website includes calculators that enable one to calculate the carbon footprint of a laundry...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced that its flagship Element hotel—Element Lexington—is the first Starwood hotel to earn Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program and the first hotel in Massachusetts to achieve this prestigious rating. Element Lexington earned LEED Gold certification in recognition of its superior performance in areas including water and energy conservation and improved indoor environmental quality measures. The hotel, which opened its doors in July 2008, expects to recoup its investment in green building in less than five years, due to associated operational savings....

ATLANTA—As a part of the effort to find real-world solutions to the growing problem of climate change, IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), the world’s largest hotel company by number of rooms, announced that it is one of the 23 companies selected to participate in the ground-breaking Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative (CBI), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The CBI brings leading commercial real estate firms, retailers, financial institutions, and two of the DOE’s National Laboratories—Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)—together to produce building design solutions that yield significant and measurable energy savings in...

CAMBRIDGE, MD.—Cambridge Architectural, a full-service provider of sustainable architectural mesh systems, introduces Solucent, an energy-saving and daylighting mesh shading system for building exteriors and interiors. Solucent, “Where the Sun and Shade Mesh,” has been developed to meet the ever-increasing sustainability needs facing architects today, but without sacrificing beauty in design. The system combines the unique and striking aesthetic of architectural mesh with its shading and daylighting capabilities to create a one-of-a-kind energy and light management solution. Cambridge has also unveiled a new website, www.cambridgesolucent.com, which serves as the online home for Solucent. Solucent mesh shading systems reduce solar heat gain...