NEW YORK CITY—Sina Pearson, founder and head of New York City-based Sina Pearson Textiles, introduces her latest eco-friendly collection with Crypton Green technologies. The collection utilizes the exuberant palette of India. Indian Summer, sustainably produced from post-consumer recycled polyester fibers, offers two related patterns in a total of thirteen colorways. The Crypton Green finish adds stain, moisture, microbial and odor resistance, without harming the environment. The collection will premier in November 2009. To create the fabrics’ palette, Pearson imagined women in brightly colored silk saris standing in rice fields, a juxtaposition of hot colors with earthy green and brown landscape...

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The environmentally-focused Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte has opened, becoming the first LEED-built hotel for Ritz-Carlton and the first for greater Charlotte. The contemporary 146-room hotel features a 13,000-square-foot Wellness Center, 12,000 square feet of meeting and conference space featuring recycled aluminum conference tables and green meetings as a standard, and a slate of innovations for frequent travelers. An eco-focused rarity among top-tier branded hotels, The Ritz-Carlton is located in Charlotte’s thriving Uptown, within walking distance of the city’s most popular sports, entertainment and business destinations. Highlights of the Property • A green roof vegetated with 18,000 plants insulating the building, slowing...

DALTON, GA.—Shaw Industries, Inc., through its division Shaw Hospitality Group, and La Quinta Inns & Suites have partnered to keep more than 30 tons of carpet from landfills during five La Quinta hotel renovations in Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida. Shaw Hospitality Group, a manufacturer of sustainable, reclaimable carpets for public spaces and guestrooms, was specified earlier this year to re-carpet La Quinta guestrooms during a large-scale renovation project. Instead of sending tons of the old hotel carpet to landfills, Shaw Hospitality Group worked with La Quinta to reclaim the carpet and divert it to Shaw Industries’ Evergreen Nylon...

BETHESDA, MD.—Two Courtyard by Marriott hotels on opposite coasts—Chevy Chase, Md., and Portland, Ore.—made eco-history last week as they were recognized simultaneously via webcast by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). This milestone puts Courtyard—with more than 830 hotels worldwide—on track to deliver a LEED hotel prototype that will be cost-effective for hotel owners and franchisees to develop. “I applaud these two hotels and their owners for making the choice to build the most environmentally-sound properties possible and paving the way for more Courtyard hotels to be LEED certified,” said Arne...

BETHESDA, M.D.—Jeanne Varney (formerly vice president, Host Hotels & Resorts) and David Mahood (principal, Olive Designs) have recently joined their consulting services to create Olive Hospitality Consulting. The new organization will provide balanced business solutions for a wide variety of sustainability challenges facing the hospitality industry. Combining Varney’s wealth of hotelier experience and Mahood’s sustainable design and manufacturing background, Olive Hospitality Consulting will offer a broad range of services from operational audits to “green” product sourcing. “We have passed beyond the stage of choices without consequences and have entered into a period of habitat reconstruction,” Mahood says. “We must rethink...

DALTON, GA.—Zeftron nylon has added new, sustainable and stylish colors to its color line. Zeftron nylon, a premium branded nylon 6 commercial carpet yarn system, now offers more than 100 fashionable colors, all of which are fully recyclable, contain a minimum of 25 percent recycled content, and are MBDC Cradle to Cradle certified. “Color is an essential part of Zeftron nylon’s business,” said Karen Martin CMG, with Beaulieu Commercial. “These new additions bring even more depth to their color bank and more complexity and sophistication to their offerings. As a designer, you can never have too many colors and these...

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA—In the highly competitive business events market, hundreds of cities around the world are vying to attract global attention and a larger slice of the meetings market. Melbourne, one of the “World’s Most Livable Cities”—according to The Economist—has found a way to not only be noticed, but to set a global benchmark. Responding to the international call for sustainability, the Australian city has opened what could be the greenest convention center in the world, described in superlatives everywhere for its architectural design, cutting-edge technologies and comprehensive Earth-friendly services. Opened in June 2009 and integrated with the Melbourne Exhibition Centre,...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—California’s first-in-the-nation Green Building Standards Code will help guide new green code regulations for commercial buildings worldwide. The International Code Council (ICC) has announced it is developing a new code for commercial buildings entitled the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), and will use the current California Green Building Standards Code as a key reference document. “California continues to lead the nation and the world in protecting the environment and fighting climate change,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I am proud that our efforts to reduce energy consumption and carbon output serve as an example for the rest of the nation and...

LAS VEGAS—CityCenter announced that it has received three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council for: ARIA Resort’s hotel tower; ARIA Resort’s convention center and theater; and Vdara Hotel. ARIA and Vdara will open in December on the Las Vegas Strip and are the first of CityCenter’s developments to be LEED certified. CityCenter anticipates Gold or Silver LEED certification for its remaining developments which include Las Vegas’ first Mandarin Oriental; Crystals, a 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district; Veer Towers, the community’s only strictly residential buildings; and The Harmon (opening late 2010),...

SEATTLE—The Olive 8 building, a 39-story hotel/condominium building located in downtown Seattle, has officially received LEED Silver from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a first for hotel/condominium buildings in the Seattle area. As the first mixed-use hotel and residential project to be LEED certified in Seattle, Olive 8 has been recognized as a high-performance building that is a responsible and efficient place to live, vacation and work. The cornerstone Hyatt at Olive 8 hotel located within the Olive 8 building is now also one of only 20 hotels in the United States to be officially designated “green” by...