MCLEAN, VA.—As the world returns to travel, doing so sustainably and responsibly has never been more important. With growing impacts from climate change and rising demand for more sustainable hospitality options, Hilton is evolving its environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments to help preserve the destinations where it operates and create inclusive growth in communities around the world. Hilton launched its 2030 goals four years ago as part of its ambitious ESG strategy, “Travel with Purpose,” making it the first global hospitality company to set science-based climate targets. Now, after a strategic review of those goals, evolving climate science and best practices,...

For years the EPA has been relaying evidence that indoor air can be more seriously polluted than outdoor air even in the largest and most industrialized cities. Given that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, that is not a good thing—especially for the young, the elderly and the chronically ill. These groups often spend time in your hotels. With the coming of COVID-19 and its many related variants, air quality (and surface quality) has finally got the attention it deserves, says Randy Mount, Owner & CEO of Extreme Microbial Technologies, who I spoke with for this column....

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Travel Assn. announced the launch of its new Sustainable Travel Coalition, which aims to align the travel, transportation and technology sectors in developing and advancing strategies to enable a more sustainable future for the U.S. travel industry. With nearly 60 member organizations at launch, the Sustainable Travel Coalition will serve as an advisory body to inform U.S. Travel on sustainability issues, opportunities and concerns within member organizations and destinations. A dedicated Policy Committee will help drive the broader coalition’s efforts to enable regular progress and collaboration. U.S. Travel has several long-term goals, which will inform the coalition’s near-term policy priorities....

NEW YORK—The Javits Center announced the creation of Jacob’s Harvest, a new line of pickled produce from the convention center’s new one-acre rooftop farm. The bottled produce is harvested directly from the rooftop farm—which was completed last year as part of a 1.2 million square-foot expansion—and will be distributed to customers and visitors to raise awareness about the venue’s roof-to-table culinary program. Managed by urban farming company Brooklyn Grange, the rooftop farm is in its first full season and is expected to generate up to 40,000 pounds of annual produce. From arugula to zucchini, the various crops being grown...

WEST CALDWELL, N.J.—MaxLite, a leading innovator in the LED lighting industry, announced it will relocate its headquarters in the fall to a single office in Montville, N.J. The new headquarters will consolidate existing facilities in West Caldwell, N.J. Featuring a large state-of-the-art training center and showroom, it will provide better space for representatives and customers to learn more about MaxLite’s extensive lighting portfolio, including its award-winning c-Max line of controls and M-Series outdoor products. “This move will bring our teams together, foster greater collaboration and innovation, and strengthen our Ease of Doing Business approach,” said Spencer Bolgard, MaxLite’s President and CEO. The...

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The NexGen LED Omni-Cob Lamps are heavy-duty, industrial grade lamps with highly efficient lighting design and offer excellent illumination all around. Saving between 67 percent to 90 percent they significantly reduce energy consumption and re-lamping costs. Designed for easy installation in new and existing fixtures, the NexGen LED lamps are suitable for damp locations and for fully enclosed fixtures which make them excellent for use in a variety of applications. The NexGen Omni-Cob Lamps are ideal for replacement of traditional CFL, MV, HID and HPS lamps. Quick and easy installation make them an easy retrofit into the existing socket....

As the pace of commissioning commercial PV systems increases while in parallel current systems mature, the market is looking at PV systems as more than just a source of clean energy. Instead, PV systems are now being viewed as long-term investments that need to be closely managed to improve their ROI and bottom line. As with any investment, the two main ways to improve the ROI of a commercial PV system is to increase energy production (and therefore annual revenue) and decrease lifetime costs. Let’s take a deeper look at how this can be done in commercial PV installations. A...

CHICAGO—To share progress made across World of Care, the company’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) platform, Hyatt Hotels Corp. published its 2021 World of Care Highlights and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Report to demonstrate how Hyatt is advancing care for the planet, people and responsible business. “Caring for people so they can be their best has been at the core of Hyatt’s story for 65 years. Through World of Care, we embrace our responsibility and opportunity to work together to shape a more sustainable world and future,” said Margaret Egan, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Hyatt. “By intently focusing on driving progress against...

LONDON—The Goodwood Hotel in West Sussex has been crowned the most Sustainable Business in a top award ceremony in London. Judges of the hospitality industry’s Catey awards said The Goodwood Hotel was a “shining example of how to work towards becoming a green business” and praised its impressive 10-year sustainability strategy. The Catey awards were held at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House, on July 5, 2022, to celebrate the best and brightest businesses and individuals in hospitality across the U.K. Goodwood Entertaining and Hospitality Managing Director, Andrew Coggings, commented: “Winning a Catey is hugely significant because recipients are nominated, selected and rewarded...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new legislation has been put in place known as the Biden Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Its purpose is to put action behind the long celebrated “infrastructure week” as there are many parts to this law. One piece of the document that stands out for hotels is the passion to increase electric vehicle (EV) use. To encourage combustion engine vehicle owners to switch over to EVs, $7.5 billion will be invested to implement chargers across the United States. Hotels that have been considering becoming more sustainable can benefit from this act considering it would allow them to finally have an...