Years ago I had a trip that took me from the United States to Iceland to Denmark. I must have come close to flying over the Faroe Islands. They are located about halfway between Iceland and Norway and are an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. I come across quite a few new and cool green hotel projects each week—even during this pandemic—and the Hilton Garden Inn Faroe Islands was one that caught my eye. It opened last October. I recently corresponded with Kate Mikesell, VP Corporate Responsibility, Hilton, and Martin Restorff, General Manager of the hotel, to learn...

FAROE ISLANDS—For those of you not familiar with their location, the Faroe Islands are a North Atlantic archipelago located 200 miles north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland. Like Greenland, it is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Last October, the 130-room Hilton Garden Inn Faroe Islands opened on the islands in Torshavn with a bundle of unique green features. Green Lodging News recently corresponded with Kate Mikesell, VP Corporate Responsibility, Hilton, and Martin Restorff, General Manager of the hotel, to learn about those green gems. For Kate Mikesell, VP Corporate Responsibility, Hilton: Q: Explain how...

OAKLAND, N.J.—Amerlux, an award-winning design-and-manufacture lighting company, announced that it has released the newest addition to its dark sky-friendly family of LED luminaries, providing developers and municipalities with stylish solutions for effectively curtailing rampant lighting pollution and costs. The new DS770FC Series is a set of traditionally styled, post-top fixtures that can be specified and used in place of typical acorn-styled luminaries, which offer little in lighting control and typically have a large amount of wasted up-light. The decorative DS770FC post-top luminaire alternatively utilizes fully shielded optics to minimize glare while reducing light trespass and unwanted skyglow. Each solution has...

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND.—Concrete is not glamorous. It is the workhorse of building materials: versatile, durable, and almost universally ubiquitous, with 30 billion tons of concrete produced every year. Cement, a component of concrete, produces 8 percent of the world’s carbon footprint. Looking to lower that percentage, Purdue University engineers have discovered a way to make concrete more sustainable. Their new recipe for concrete has the potential to cut carbon emissions dramatically, creating building blocks for a better world. A team lead by Mirian Velay-Lizancos, an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue, proposes adding small amounts of nanoscale titanium dioxide to...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA—His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, Chairman of The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), has launched the Coral Bloom concept, which was created by architectural firm Foster + Partners, and designed to blend in with the island’s pristine natural environment. TRSDC, the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism project, has since shared the striking vision for its main hub island at the destination, Shurayrah. “We expect guests to be awed by what they see when they first arrive at The Red Sea Project, enjoying a truly immersive barefoot luxury experience. The Coral Bloom designs,...

DENHAM, ENGLAND—IHG Hotels & Resorts has launched Journey to Tomorrow, a series of ambitious new commitments to make a positive difference for people, communities and planet over the next decade. Guided by IHG’s purpose to provide True Hospitality for Good, it will work side by side with those who stay, work and partner with it, to help shape the future of responsible travel—supporting people and making a positive difference to local communities, while preserving the planet’s beauty and diversity long into the future. In an open letter, IHG’s CEO, Keith Barr, said that the global response to Covid-19 has shown what can be achieved when organizations...

BUENA VISTA, FLA.—Eight decades after McDonald’s restaurant revolutionized a speedier way to prepare and serve meals, the fast-food giant is once again setting new standards in the industry, laying the groundwork for a more ecologically responsible place to dine. The façade of the 8,000-square-foot McDonald’s at Disney World in Buena Vista, Fla., not only appears strikingly different than its traditional restaurant chain, but every segment of the building has been meticulously designed to create the world’s first “net-zero” fast food restaurant. “It’s McDonald’s goal to reduce its carbon emissions across its portfolio,” said Jean Gibbons, WSP USA Buildings Vice President. “McDonald’s...

ODESSA, FLA.—Green Lodging News has added SportsArt as a Founding Sponsor at the Silver level. As the green fitness company, SportsArt believes movement is energy and that our human energy can make the planet more sustainable—one workout at a time. SportsArt’s mission is to create superior fitness equipment that helps people find their best selves while being as environmentally friendly as possible. The heart of SportsArt’s brand comes together in its ECO-POWR line of cardio equipment that captures 74 percent of the energy generated during a workout and feeds it back into the facility’s grid, offsetting consumption and providing meaningfulness to guests’...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLO.—Snowmass Base Village (SBV) introduces the all-electric and appropriately named Electric Pass Lodge. Designed to be 100 percent powered by renewable energy, this development will be one of the first of its kind in the country. The building will include 53 ski-in/ski-out, for-sale residences at the base of the iconic Snowmass Ski Area. “If you own a home at a ski resort, you’re inherently invested in the preservation of snow,” says Andy Gunion, Roaring Fork Valley Managing Partner for East West Partners. “Nobody wants their ski home to contribute to climate change, but the reality is most do—either...

The government of Spain recently announced a public process to identify projects to which to allocate European Recovery Funds. Meliá Hotels International, one of the world’s largest international hotel groups, revealed the third of the projects it has submitted to the government’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The project aims to help combat climate change and push forward the decarbonization of the hotel industry. Specifically, the project presented to the Ministry aims to accelerate the transformation of hotel management (and its entire value chain) towards a more sustainable and responsible business model, something in which Meliá has been working...