PORTLAND, ORE.—What was once a vacant bank building in downtown Portland will open in May as the Courtyard by Marriott—Portland City Center. The 256-room hotel was built to earn LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The structure, which has been given a new shell, three new floors and brand new mechanical systems, is expected to be the first LEED Gold hotel in the Pacific Northwest. Certification is expected this fall. Green hotels are becoming the norm in Portland. The Avalon Hotel & Spa announced its LEED certification last summer, The Nines hotel is expected to be...

GLEN RAVEN, N.C.—Glen Raven Custom Fabrics, LLC has created a recycling program for Sunbrella fabrics, the company’s brand for awnings, furniture and boating. Sunbrella fabrics returned to Glen Raven will find new life in a variety of products ranging from felt used for car insulation and protective padding for sports equipment to decorative applications such as outdoor rugs. “For more than 20 years, Glen Raven has reclaimed Sunbrella fiber and fabric waste resulting from the manufacturing process, but this is the first time we have offered recycling to our customers and consumers,” said Randy Blackston, vice president of operations. “This...

LAGUNA BEACH, CALIF.—Montage Beverly Hills, the 201-room luxury hotel that opened November 2008 in Beverly Hills, Calif., has earned Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED for New Construction rating system. This is the first certified ultra-luxury hotel in Southern California for LEED for New Construction, one of just four Gold certified hotels worldwide designated by this third-party benchmarking system designed to encourage the design, construction and operation of more sustainable buildings. Montage Beverly Hills is also the first newly constructed mixed-use hotel and residential project to be LEED certified as a single development, denoting it...

SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco’s Orchard Hotel joins its sister property—the Orchard Garden Hotel—in green certification, earning LEED-EB (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification for an existing building by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). San Francisco’s only hotel to earn this honor, the Orchard Hotel is the second hotel in California and fourth hotel in the world with this certification. LEED-EB is the USGBC’s system for operating high performance buildings dedicated to whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues, recycling programs, exterior maintenance programs and systems upgrades. The Orchard Hotel includes 104 guestrooms and is located just two blocks from Union Square...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—Valley Forge Fabrics has introduced an innovative time-saving Technical Bedding Specifications book packaged in a new cover. It is the industry’s first of its kind Technical Bedding Specifications book. The 59-page book includes all details required for appropriate and varied customized bedding while showcasing ideas in artful and sophisticated combinations. “Designers and specifiers now have one central reference to help them prepare accurate bedding specifications for any item that could be on a guestroom bed,” says Diana Dobin, senior vice president of Valley Forge. “Complex and hard-to-illustrate ensembles for guestrooms, including box spring covers, dusters, bed scarves, bed...

OMAHA, NEB.—LEO A DALY, an international architecture, planning, engineering, interior design and program management firm, announced that 27 of its employees have recently become Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professionals (APs). LEED APs pass an exam to demonstrate a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and the LEED Rating System, a third-party sustainable design and construction verification tool created by the United States Green Building Council. The employees who received accreditation are technical designer Kenwood Burrows, senior associate and architect Mark A. Chalkley, intern architect Jay Chavda, junior interior designer Maria T. Araiza Davalos, interior...

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.—Scottsdale-based Forever Resorts announced the development of the United States’ first LEED certified floating green building at Nevada’s Cottonwood Cove Resort & Marina on Lake Mohave, just south of Las Vegas. Upon completion, the structure will be submitted to become the first floating LEED certified structure in the nation. A member of the U.S. Green Building Council, Cottonwood Cove Resort & Marina recently registered the boat rental and marina service for construction. The details will be unveiled during the Green Marina Launch on May 29, at which time Forever Resorts will also announce and celebrate the partners helping to...

CHICAGO—Chicago is recognized as one of the nation’s leading green cities so it is fitting that owners of the Hotel Felix, the city’s first hotel designed to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, announce the property’s opening during Earth Month. Originally designed in 1926 by Chicago architecture firm Levy and Klein, the former Hotel Wacker, a single room occupancy property, closed for redevelopment in 2007. Hotel Felix now provides an innovative, eco-friendly boutique hotel with efficiencies and key design elements that lessen the environmental impact of a newly...

LAS VEGAS—Eco Exotic, a group of Indonesian furnishing companies, will unveil a new set of sustainable creations at the Hospitality Design and Exposition Conference in Las Vegas (May 14-16) that marry innovative designs, attractive pricing—and a deep-rooted respect for nature. Rather than use timber from native rainforests, Eco Exotic has turned to more sustainable sources of wood for its furniture. This is how discarded railway sleepers find a new life when artfully turned into a simple glass-top occasional table, and teak sourced from a community-based forest provides the essence of an elegant lounge chair or desk chair for a hotel...

DALTON, GA.—Healthier Choice rolled out its new Double-Term Carpet Texture Retention Warranty for residential carpet cushion. The new warranty applies to all residential carpet cushions manufactured by Healthier Choice. The new cushion warranty effectively doubles the texture retention warranty of any residential carpet installed over Healthier Choice residential carpet cushion. The cushion warranty takes effect upon the expiration of the installed carpet manufacturer’s texture retention warranty and then remains in effect for an equal amount of time. “We are very excited to offer this additional warranty,” said Craig Poteet, Healthier Choice president. “Residential cushions from Healthier Choice carry the industry’s...