JEKYLL ISLAND, GA.—More than 300 people gathered Sunday to celebrate the official grand opening of the new Jekyll Island Convention Center. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal held the large scissors and cut the ribbon on the highly-anticipated new convention center, while state delegates, the Jekyll Island Authority board, staff and public came together to usher in a new era for Jekyll Island. The center, which is expected to earn LEED Silver, features numerous eco-friendly elements, including solar panels, a reflective roof, a cistern for collecting and dispensing rainwater, and low-impact lighting. Shells and sea glass from Georgia shores were ground...

LAS VEGAS—Hoteliers, designers, architects and others seeking green product and service options had a plethora to choose from at this year’s Hospitality Design Expo + Conference. The May 15 to 17 event was held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. Attendance was up 15 percent from last year, according to show organizers, with about 7,000 in attendance and more than 900 exhibitors. There were many first-time green exhibitors, offering items ranging from hotel drinking water systems to energy-efficient LED light bulbs to a bed that transforms into a heat chamber to effectively kill dust mites...

FISH CAMP, CALIF.—Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts has earned double Silver LEED certification at Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, an all-season resort located just outside of Yosemite National Park in Fish Camp, Calif. Both certifications follow a yearlong project that expanded Tenaya’s banquet, event and meeting spaces and office area, plus added a destination spa.Delaware North, which owns and operates Tenaya, followed a process laid out by its environmental program, GreenPath, to ensure environmental stewardship and measurable green practices. The company worked with Layton Construction Company and architect Peter Grove of Collaborative Design Studio.The Silver LEED-certified expansion brings Tenaya...

QUITO, ECUADOR—Mashpi Lodge, a luxury property three hours northwest of Ecuador’s capital Quito, opened its doors recently to receive its first guests, following four years of construction and 14 years since the land was first acquired.The lodge ranks among the most exciting hotel openings in South America this year. It has already garnered international media attention, including being featured in Outside magazine’s inaugural annual Travel Awards as Best Eco-Lodge.Mashpi Lodge is set to raise the bar in environmentally-sensitive lodging as its project embraces the protection of a 1,300 hectare (3,200-acre) reserve, while funding scientific research, providing sustainable opportunities for...

LAGRANGE, GA.—Interface, a designer and producer of modular carpet tile, is finalizing a strategic partnership with The Carpet Recyclers, a La Mirada, Calif.-based business that, since its establishment two years ago, has diverted more than 150 million pounds of used carpet from West Coast landfills, saved more than 15 million gallons of oil and created more than 100 green jobs. In sealing the relationship, Interface is following through on an aggressive expansion of its own carpet recycling system, ReEntry, to encompass carpet recycling specialists in regional hubs throughout North America. “In a nutshell,” explained John Wells, Interface Americas president, “Interface’s...

LAS VEGAS—NEWH Inc.—the Hospitality Industry Network is partnering with the 2012 Hospitality Design Exposition & Conference (HD Expo) to bring a series of green programming to the annual tradeshow at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas, May 15 to 17.The premier event is the Green Voice Luncheon: The Sustainable Design Competition Awards and Green Panel Discussion with the Experts, which will take place on Tuesday, May 15, from noon until 1:30 pm. Panelists include Herve Houdre, general manager, Intercontinental Barclay, New York, a noted author and speaker on sustainable lodging practices; Kathryn Fernholz, executive director, Dovetail Partners,...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—Valley Forge Fabrics has introduced its first faux leather collection protected by Nano-Tex technology. Executives from Valley Forge and Applied Textiles recently met in Southern China to tour the newly opened state-of-the-art facility dedicated to performance enhancement. The factory was built specifically to better support the growing demand for Nano-Tex.Nano-Tex technology has usually been applied to woven fabrics, increasing their stain repellency characteristics. Now, as a result of the partnership between Valley Forge and Applied Textiles, nanotechnology-based textile enhancements are available on faux leathers in the hospitality interiors market. Valley Forge is the first company that has...

STAMFORD, CONN.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced plans to open Element Harrison in summer of 2014, five miles from Newark Liberty International Airport. Owned and developed by Harrison Hotel 1, an entity of Ironstate Holdings, LLC, a Hoboken, N.J.-based developer, and managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts, Element Harrison will join Element Ewing Princeton as the brand’s second hotel in New Jersey. The new Element will have 138 guestrooms and suites built green from the ground up.Element Harrison will be walking distance to a variety of shops and restaurants and within proximity to Newark’s business district. Less than...

NEW YORK—As Hilton New York plays host during Earth Week to sustainability experts and advocates from across the corporate world for the Sustainable Operations Summit being held from April 17 to 19, Manhattan’s largest hotel announces the completion of a new green roof system and the installation of a cogeneration (combined heat and power) system, both designed to reduce the hotel’s overall carbon footprint. To help promote awareness of the hotel’s sustainability efforts, all guests staying at Hilton New York will be provided with room keycards that depict an image of the new green roof.“Hilton New York is dedicated...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The 2012 International Green Construction Code (IGCC), released in late March, will increase the energy-efficiency of structures, while providing governments direction and oversight of green design and construction, according to the International Code Council (ICC)—the code’s author—and one of several U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) partners in the effort. USGBC, makers of the LEED green building certification system and co-authors of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES/USGBC Standard 189.1, applauds this new model code that serves as an important new policy option for state and local governments looking to codify green building practice.“The IGCC and Standard 189.1 draw from more than a decade...