BALTIMORE—The majority of architects and interior designers, 87 percent and 86 percent respectively, acknowledge that they are concerned with how products are manufactured with regard to sustainability, according to new research released by IMRE. The research showed that the number of sustainable projects performed by architects and interior designers is projected to rise in the next year, and that sustainable products are often associated with higher cost. These are some of the results released from the survey in which 812 architects and designers responded to an online survey fielded between September 19 and 23, 2011. The survey was spearheaded by...

BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International, Inc. is closer to reaching its goal of 300 LEED-certified hotels by 2015—now that three of its brands—Courtyard, TownePlace Suites and Residence Inn—have all earned LEED Volume pre-certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The Courtyard Scottsdale Pima in Arizona, scheduled to open in early 2012, and the TownePlace Suites Frederick in Maryland, will be the first of their brand categories to be built using Marriott’s LEED Volume pre-certification. Residence Inn projects are under development. “We live in a world where concerns about the environment and about sustainable development are a necessary and growing consideration for everyone,”...

BURLINGTON, VERMONT—Ground was broken for a LEED-eligible hotel as local developers Jay Canning and Chuck DesLauriers announced the commencement of construction on the new 125-bedroom Hotel Vermont and Hen of the Wood Restaurant in Burlington. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and Commerce Secretary Lawrence Miller attended to commemorate the occasion on September 21, 2011.   The new Hotel Vermont will open at in Burlington 100 years after the original Hotel Vermont first welcomed guests. The property will be locally developed, owned and operated with design, construction and management teams all Burlington-based. NBT Bank and the US Department of Agriculture collaborated...

ATLANTA—Acuity Brands, Inc., a provider of energy-efficient lighting, controls and daylighting solutions, has expanded its Sunoptics high-performance prismatic daylighting portfolio with the introduction of the SEAMLIGHT Curbless Daylighting System. The SEAMLIGHT System is designed for direct installation onto existing industrial standing seam roofing systems, creating new opportunities for the implementation of daylighting solutions. The Sunoptics high-performance prismatic skylights optimize indoor daylighting performance via a patented dome construction designed to capture more light at low sun angles, which maximizes the amount of light transmittance, while maintaining 100 percent diffusion and eliminating undesirable hot spots, glare and UV damage. Utilizing the same...

TORONTO—The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) annual conference and expo is making its way to Toronto next week to celebrate “what’s next” in green building. Greenbuild is the world’s largest green building conference and expo and is expected to make an economic impact of $26 million CAD, bringing 25,000 delegates from more than 115 countries to the event. A release from the Metro Toronto Convention Centre earlier this week also stated that Greenbuild will generate a positive impact on the local economy of more than $58 million from delegate spending. Toronto was selected by USGBC as the host city for...

WAALWIJK, THE NETHERLANDS—Desso, a global carpet manufacturer renowned for its Cradle to Cradle design vision, has launched an interactive website for its Hospitality division. Visitors to the site can view Desso’s range of products and services for the hospitality sector, recolor or design their own carpet, and then see how it would look in a virtual environment. The Design Library includes a broad reflection of a total of 25,000 designs that Desso has created. A thousand of these, sourced from completed client projects and themed collections including recent collections such as “Intrinsic Energy” and “Renaissance Redux,” have been selected for...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) next update to the LEED green building program, coined LEED 2012, will include updates to the Materials & Resources (MR) credit category. The updates reflect thousands of write-in comments received through the first LEED public comment period and include changes to existing LEED credit categories as well as two new credit categories, Integrated Process (IP) and Performance (PF). The second public comment period for LEED 2012 wrapped up on September 14, 2011. Public comment periods are part of the continuous development process of the LEED program. The Materials & Resources (MR) credit category,...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Grammy award-winning band, Maroon 5 will perform for more than 25,000 members of the green building community at the upcoming Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Greenbuild, the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building, will take place October 4 to 7 in Toronto. “We’re thrilled to host one of music’s biggest bands, Maroon 5, for what will be an unforgettable evening of inspiration and celebration,” said Kimberly Lewis, vice president, Conferences & Events, USGBC. “The green building community has so much to celebrate, and there is no better place...

DALTON, GA.—Shaw Industries Group, Inc. has released its third annual corporate sustainability report. Focused on Shaw’s commitment to sustainability through Innovation, the report highlights the Berkshire Hathaway company’s environmental and social responsibility leadership. Beginning with the question, “What if Sustainable Business Meant Smarter Business?”, the report covers Shaw’s significant investment in sustainability initiatives during the 2010 calendar year, substantiating the organization’s progress with metrics and data for more than 40 performance indicators. “Stakeholders are looking to private enterprise to take the lead in addressing the most critical questions facing today’s businesses—including questions about environmental and social risks,” said Shaw CEO...

ROCKVILLE, MD.—Foulger-Pratt Companies and Choice Hotels International recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the new headquarters building for Choice Hotels in Rockville, Md. When completed, more than 400 Choice Hotels associates will move to the new 190,907-square-foot Class A office building. Leaders from state, county and local government worked closely with Choice Hotels and Foulger-Pratt to finalize the negotiations for the relocation, which keeps hundreds of job opportunities in the local economy and will result in continued economic growth and stability for the Rockville area. The groundbreaking event was celebrated with speeches by Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Montgomery County Executive Ike...