CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Free Clean Solar as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. The Free Clean Solar website provides a list of solar installers as well as lenders that finance solar panel installations for hotels, restaurants and casinos. The company’s solar power calculator tool shows how to save money on utility bills while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The website makes it easy to get quotes on solar projects and provides access to rebate information. For additional information, call (888) 498-3331, e-mail info@freecleansolar.com, or go to www.freecleansolar.com.

NATIONAL REPORT—Hotels are emerging as leaders in the Green movement. Many are now building more environmentally responsible properties and are even seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. For instance, the soon-to-open Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel will incorporate a number of energy- and water-conservation systems as well as several sustainable operating practices. And when construction is completed in August, the 750-room, $301 million hotel beside the Baltimore Convention Center will contain the area’s largest green roof—32,000 square feet, to be exact. So what does that mean? The Hilton Hotel’s gigantic roof is expected to reap big benefits for...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.— TOPS’L Beach & Racquet Resort in Destin, Fla., owned and managed by ResortQuest Northwest Florida, has been awarded the EcoGreen Award following their “Go Green” initiative. The resort wanted to rethink the way it did business and look at ways to help the environment, while saving money in the process. They discovered a large portion of energy consumption is related to lighting and discovered that it made sense, on a cost-saving level, to commit to the EcoGreen Award online program, pioneered by Tropical Lights, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale. The 52-acre property is comprised of gulf-front and...

GERMANTOWN, MD.—Telkonet, Inc., a leading provider of innovative, centrally managed solutions for integrated energy management, networking, building automation and proactive support services, announced that it has won an energy management contract with Cornerstone Hotel Management as part of Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy incentive program. Cornerstone Hotel Management will initially install the in-room, occupancy-driven Telkonet SmartEnergy (TSE) energy management system at three of its properties to lower utility bills by eliminating unnecessary heating and cooling of unoccupied guest rooms. Launched in March 2008, Telkonet and Focus on Energy provide eligible hospitality customers in Wisconsin with discounted energy management products and installation...

AUSTIN, TEXAS—Control4 Corp., a leader in IP-based control and entertainment systems, announced the release of Control4 Suite Systems, a customized version of the company’s home automation and entertainment control technology. Control4 Suite Systems provides a platform of innovative convenience and automation for the in-room environment by enabling hotel guests to control lighting, room temperature, television/video systems, music, draperies and requests for services through a single remote. “We’ve worked closely with the industry to develop a fully customized room automation platform that is incredibly easy to use, install and maintain,” said Will West, CEO at Control4. “Control4 Suite...

ALSIP, ILL.—Litetronics International, Inc. has introduced Spiral-Lite Covered CFLs into its product line. Spiral-Lite Covered CFLs come in a variety of familiar shapes to combine the energy savings of compact fluorescent lamps with the attractive look and feel of an incandescent. Available in 9-watt and 14-watt A19, 11-watt G25, 15-watt R30, 23-watt R40, and 23-watt PAR38, Spiral-Lite Covered CFLs provide up to 80 percent energy savings in a wide range of applications. These energy savings help lower utility bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Spiral-Lite Covered CFLs are Energy Star qualified and have an average life of 8,000 to...

ST. LOUIS, MO.—Emerson Climate Technologies, a business of Emerson, announced the launch of its Big Blue Humidity Control Touchscreen Thermostat. This universal thermostat, which features a large blue touchscreen, controls single-stage, multi-stage and heat pump systems with up to four stages of heat and two stages of cool. The Emerson Big Blue Humidity Control Touchscreen offers two selectable program schedules or can be dedicated non-programmable. It has up to four time and temperature settings per program and can be either battery powered with power stealing assist or hardwired. “Contractors now have an easy sell to their customers that desire premium comfort...

VANCOUVER, WASH.—The Hilton Vancouver, Washington, one of America’s first sustainably-designed hotels, is making history again this month as the first hotel in the world to earn both Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Green Seal certifications. The Green Seal environmental certification accolade comes three years after the hotel became the first major U.S. hotel—and the first Hilton Hotel—to earn LEED certification. “The Hilton Vancouver, Washington is the only hotel in the world to achieve environmental sustainability certification from two top universally accepted and independent analysts,” said Jeff Diskin, senior vice president, brand management—Hilton Hotels & Resorts. “This hotel...

STAR ISLAND, BAHAMAS—There have been many changes in the few years since “travel” and “sustainable” first appeared in the same sentence. Emerging technologies coupled with mounting consumer demand have given us thousands of green travel options—from luxury eco-lodges (that make a negligible impact on their ecosystems) to carbon-neutral resorts, tours and airlines. A new leader in this green revolution is Star Island, a private-island destination currently under development in the Out Islands of the Bahamas. It will open its doors in late 2009. “This is a very exciting time in the field of green technology and, by extension, sustainable tourism,”...

HOUSTON—Led by a dramatic increase in utility costs, the overall cost of running a facility is 10 percent higher than it was just four years ago, according to results from a recent International Facility Management Association research report. The study, Benchmarks V: Annual Facility Costs, shows that utility costs—which include electricity, gasoline, fuel oil, steam water and sewage—have jumped 19 percent compared to similar data from 2006. While the increase in utility costs may come as no surprise to some, it is happening at a time when energy consumption is down. When compared to IFMA’s 2006 benchmarking figures, average electricity...