WASHINGTON, D.C.—Fresh produce, locally sourced ingredients, herbs grown onsite—and a little bit of sunlight. These are the tools that Chef Josh Murray uses to create five-star dishes at SUMMIT the Rooftop at Conrad Washington D.C., a restaurant that’s making strides toward becoming a zero-waste kitchen. Working with pure and natural ingredients comes easy to Murray, who grew up on a farm in Spotsylvania, Va. He was raised dining on local ingredients—many from his own backyard. His appreciation for the healthy qualities that locally sourced produce can offer is just one of the factors that make Murray perfect to helm the eco-conscious cooking efforts...

DALTON, GA.—Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw) recently earned top honors in the Floor Covering Weekly annual GreenStep awards, which recognize the flooring industry’s contributions to sustainability. Shaw received the magazine’s most prestigious recognition, the Pinnacle Award, in addition to winning the Practice/Process and International award categories and being named honoree in the People and Promotion/Communication categories. “We’re proud to be recognized as an industry leader in sustainability,” said Kellie Ballew, Vice President of Global Sustainability at Shaw. “We’re steadfast in our commitment to minimizing our impact on the environment and maximizing human potential. It’s about people and the planet. The events...

WATERTOWN, MASS.—Bosch Thermotechnology, a leading global source of high-quality heating and cooling systems, announced the availability of its new, ultra-quiet heat pumps, the QV Series, for commercial spaces in multiple sizes and both horizontal and vertical configurations. The commercial grade QV Series, a Florida Heat Pump (FHP) geothermal system, is an industry leader in sound reduction and represents one of the most comprehensive sound performance offerings on the market. In addition to the lower sound levels, the QV Series also delivers a compact cabinet, in a very competitive package, making it ideal to fit into small spaces in commercial buildings. The QV Series...

DALLAS—Hoteliers can now control INTEREL’s EOS thermostat by voice command. The IoT device for smart buildings leverages Volara’s secure integrations hub to respond to voice commands spoken by guests who seek touchless control over the guestroom environment. The joint solution expands on Volara’s existing integration with INTEREL. “We are very excited to make this integration with Volara available on our new EOS WiFi Smart thermostat,” said Florian Gallini, INTEREL CEO. “Together, EOS and Volara provide a powerful combination of energy management and voice-based customer engagement with no on-premises infrastructure required. EOS leverages its built-in IoT radios and environmental sensors to enable any hotel to be retrofitted as a Smart Building, all packaged...

CORK, IRELAND—Atos and Johnson Controls, the global leader for smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings, announced a global partnership. Atos and Johnson Controls will help private and public sector customers accelerate their journey to Net Zero by providing a unique set of end-to-end advisory services, digital and other key decarbonization capabilities which aims to help clients formulate and sustainably achieve their Net Zero strategy by reducing their commercial, industrial and office building carbon emissions. Over the next decade, global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut by 45 percent to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of containing global warming to 1.5°C....

NATIONAL REPORT—There are many ways to improve the green credentials of your property. You can transition to renewable energy, adopt a green design, and use various systems to reduce consumption and waste. From minor steps like installing smart light bulbs to major steps like installing solar panels, there’s a lot of potential for improvement. Are green improvements worth the investment? Read on to discover the financial benefits of owning a green property. Higher Market Value The market value determines how many prospective buyers show an interest in your property and how much you can sell it for. Green properties have...

NATIONAL REPORT—The impact human beings have in their own homes is amplified when they head to hotels. The disproportionate impact that hotels have on the environment is clearly laid out by EHL Insights’ hospitality report, which shows hospitality industry emissions must drop by a gigantic 90 percent to meet Paris-compliant levels. Hotels are increasingly looking to go off-the-grid entirely, both to help their business prospects and the long-term health of the planet they rely on. The Off-the-Grid Concept There’s a degree of reclamation to be had when it comes to the term “off the grid”. As CN Traveller highlights, many hotels currently working under this...

CORTE MADERA, CALIF.—Marin Suites Hotel, a 101-room all-suite boutique hotel located in the town of Corte Madera, just minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge, announced the completion of a three year project to install solar panels by Bay Area-based Clean Solar. A fixture in Corte Madera since the 1960s, the ownership of Marin Suites Hotel has made a long-term commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. The hotel’s new solar system produces almost 250,000 kilowatt hours annually, which is the equivalent of planting more than 80 acres of trees, taking 45 cars off the road, or off-setting 15 million miles driven...

NORTON SHORES, MICH.—EarthTronics, dedicated to developing innovative energy-saving lighting products that provide a positive economic and environmental impact, introduces its new versatile LED Canopy Color Selectable Series available in three colors and three wattage options to deliver superior illumination. Ideal for entry ways, parking garages, low bay areas and perimeter lighting, the LED Canopy Color Selectable Series lights can easily be switched to provide 3000K, 4000K or 5000K correlated color temperature (CCT) during installation. All offer a high 80+ CRI for improved visual acuity. The color selectable temperatures offer facility and building managers the opportunity to match existing HID lamps,...

NATIONAL REPORT—With an eye on reducing carbon emissions, people moving has certainly evolved in recent years. One good example is the Tesla vehicles used in the Loop below the Las Vegas Convention Center. While a rare example of using electric vehicles to keep carbon impact down, much more common are the advances in energy efficiency in elevators and escalators in hotels and resorts around the world. Because of their presence in most lodging establishments, elevators especially have the potential to have a huge positive impact. Green Lodging News recently spoke with Mark Freeman, SVP Modernization/M&A Integration at Schindler Elevator Corp....