DALTON, GA.—Zeftron nylon, a premium branded nylon 6 fiber for the commercial interiors marketplace, announced that Julie Kelly is the grand prize winner of its second annual Sustainable Practices Award. Kelly, an interior designer at Chicago Design Network, was chosen for her variety of innovative green practices. Sheri Gorman, director of business development and marketing at RD Weis Companies, was selected as this year’s runner-up. The award honors commercial architecture, interior design and facility professionals who incorporate sustainable practices at home, at work and in their communities. “Zeftron nylon recognizes that the key to a sustainable future is not just...

ATLANTA—IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced that its in-house sustainability system—Green Engage—has been awarded with a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) volume precertification established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). IHG is the first hotel company to receive this award for an existing hotels program. The USGBC’s LEED rating system is a program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. Volume precertification is a preliminary step that provides a streamlined path to LEED certification for a large group...

LAS VEGAS—Healthier Choice Flooring, LLC will launch a new line of stainable flexible transition moldings, called Flexitions, at Surfaces 2011 in Las Vegas. The event will be held January 25 to 27. The company will also display its line of “green” cushions and underlayments which includes premium products for residential, commercial and hospitality markets.Flexitions is the solution to installation headaches when dealing with a curve, arch or radius. Available in t-molding, threshold, reducer, stair nose and quarter round profiles, Flexitions can be stained and finished to match and or coordinate floor coverings such as wood, laminate, tile, vinyl, stone...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s BioPreferred program announced that a final rule to initiate a voluntary product certification and labeling program for qualifying biobased products has been published in the Federal Register. This new label will clearly identify biobased products made from renewable resources, and will promote the increased sale and use of these products in the commercial market and for consumers. “Today’s consumers are increasingly interested in making educated purchasing choices for their families,” said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. “This label will make those decisions easier by identifying products as biobased. These products have enormous potential to...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In summer 2009, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced its Building Performance Partnership (BPP), a program to engage owners and managers of commercial and residential LEED-certified green buildings, optimizing the performance of buildings through data collection, analysis and action. Starting this past summer, USGBC opened the program to all current whole-building LEED-certified commercial and residential projects. BPP will further the efforts to understand how buildings perform from the moment of LEED certification and years beyond.  This partnership among USGBC and the thousands of LEED project owners will result in the population of a comprehensive green building performance...

BOULDER, COLO.—Despite the general weakness in new construction due to the global recession, one building-related field has continued to grow: retrofits tied to improving the efficiency of facilities. A number of factors have been driving this growth, including the need to improve the energy performance of buildings for cost savings as well as the desire to obtain green building certification. A new white paper from Pike Research identifies 10 key trends that are having a strong influence on the worldwide building industry. The paper, which includes predictions about the building efficiency market in 2011 and beyond, is available for...

ST. LOUIS—Michael Jantzen, an artist strongly influenced by nature and technology, who has been producing conceptual art and architectural projects for almost 40 years, has released his latest hotel design—The Solar Winds Desert Hotel. An idea still in need of a developer, the hotel design, according to Jantzen, evolved from his thoughts about desert plants and how they function in a hot dry climate. The 140-room luxury eco-hotel, vertically cylindrical in design, would be powered by the sun and the wind. The “stem” of the hotel would house the hotel rooms, a vertical axis wind turbine would sit atop...

SAN FRANCISCO—Smith & Fong Co., manufacturer of Plyboo bamboo architectural plywood and flooring, announced the company has launched a new range of FSC-certified PlybooStrand bamboo plywood and flooring. “Strand bamboo has long been popular among the architecture and design community for its performance and aesthetic qualities,” Smith & Fong president and founder Dan Smith said. “Adding FSC certification ensures managed forestry and the associated LEED MRc7 credit.” Smith said FSC PlybooStrand plywood and flooring are both PlybooPure urea formaldehyde-free. This allows for certification of the plywood under SCS/Indoor Advantage Gold and certification of the flooring under SCS/ FloorScore. FSC PlybooStrand panels are...

BOULDER, COLO.—Green building certifications from programs such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) are quickly becoming the standard for the construction industry in many countries. While green building certification programs are well-known for their importance in new construction projects, a recent report from Pike Research forecasts that by 2020, nearly half the total certified footprint—25 billion square feet—will comprise certifications for existing buildings. “As the new construction market has slowed during the global recession, green building certifications for existing buildings have become an increasing area of focus,” says research...

DALLAS—The Fairmont Dallas announces Sean Springer of Springer Design Studio as the first Artist in Residence of 2011. Springer crafts furniture, home accessories and sculptures using salvaged wood creating purposeful, functional pieces from materials that would otherwise end up as waste. Springer’s resume is a veritable journey through a series of high-profile internships and jobs, working for and learning from artists, each in a different craft, who shaped him and helped hone the skills that allow him to create poignant, consequential pieces. The deliberate edges, complimentary contours and fluid arches of Springer’s work are manifestations of his experience, which...