MCLEAN, VA.—Home2 Suites by Hilton, the mid-tier, extended-stay hotel chain targeting value-wise business and leisure travelers, announced the groundbreaking of its first hotel, the 119-room Home2 Suites by Hilton Fayetteville, N.C. The hotel is being developed by Alabama-based LBA Properties, a group of companies providing comprehensive hotel development and management services, on behalf of Apple Real Estate Investment Trust Companies (Apple REIT Companies). The hotel is expected to open in the 2010 fourth quarter. “Home2 Suites is a true complement to the current Hilton Worldwide portfolio,” said Paul Brown, president of global brands and commercial services for Hilton Worldwide. “All...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in accordance with the G.I. Bill, has agreed to reimburse veterans, eligible dependents and reservists for the cost of any of the LEED Professional Exams administered by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). “We are honored to be a part of the VA’s aggressive effort to help veterans gain the skills and credentials required for full participation in the new, green economy,” said Peter Templeton, president, GBCI. “For those veterans who are pursuing a career in green building or a related field, this support for attaining LEED credentials can go a long...

LAS VEGAS—Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas, a hotel located at the new CityCenter on The Strip, has achieved LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). It is the first hotel in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group to receive a LEED rating, and marks the sixth LEED Gold certification for CityCenter, which is one of the world’s largest sustainable developments. “Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is known for demonstrating its leadership in the hotel industry,” said Rajesh Jhingon, general manager of Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas. “We are honored to have the Group’s first LEED Gold certified hotel.” Mandarin Oriental Highlights • The...

NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS—Mr.greenpoints has launched a website to help architects, contractors and builders sort through the confusing green building product marketplace. Mr.greenpoints provides product sustainability information based on user-defined criteria as well as a clear summary of the growing number of certifications that confirm and validate green product attributes. In addition, the website will allow users to determine when a product may help achieve regional materials credits by calculating and ranking the mileage from the manufacturing location to a project site, a feature not currently available anywhere else. Regional credits are intended to help limit energy use on transportation,...

ANN ARBOR, MICH.—NSF International, the developer of the only American National Standard for sustainable carpet, announced that InterfaceFLOR, a leading manufacturer of modular carpet, has received certification to NSF/ANSI 140: Sustainable Carpet for both their GlasBac and GlasBac RE products. InterfaceFLOR’s facility in Chonburi, Thailand, is the first manufacturing facility outside of North America to achieve this certification. The NSF Sustainable Carpet Standard was developed to help drive the carpet industry toward a more sustainable future by providing a national standard that can be used for developing environmentally-friendly carpet. NSF International certifies carpet to ensure it meets all of the...

LAS VEGAS—Affirming its commitment to bring a new level of environmental consciousness to the Las Vegas Strip, CityCenter has earned its fifth and sixth LEED Gold ratings from the U.S. Green Building Council with the certification of Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas and Veer Towers. The accomplishment completes the certification process for all CityCenter components opening this December, and marks the highest LEED achievement by any hotel, retail district or residential development in Las Vegas. The 18-million-square-foot metropolis is one of the world’s largest sustainable communities. “From its inception to design, development and construction, we had one single goal in mind...

DALLAS—Thompson Mahogany Co., a fine hardwoods importer based in Philadelphia, has merged with East Teak Fine Hardwoods, Inc., an importer of First European Quality Teak and other fine hardwood products. Thompson Mahogany Company will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of East Teak, yet will maintain full operational autonomy from its headquarters location. The combined entities will leverage the strength of both companies to better serve customers in the residential, commercial, hospitality and marine industries. Founded in 1843, Thompson Mahogany Co. is a supplier of quality tropical hardwoods from Central America, South America and Africa. Thompson directly imports more than...

NEW YORK—Perkins+Will, a global integrated design firm, announced the creation of its Perkins+Will Precautionary List. It was unveiled at GreenBuild 2009. The goal of the list is to highlight chemicals, which are listed by government agencies as having negative health issues and the classes of building materials where they might be commonly found, while offering available alternatives in an effort to push the building industry to embrace healthier buildings. “There is an ever increasing focus in the green building movement on the relationship between humans and the built environment,” said Peter Syrett, AIA, LEED AP and associate principal at Perkins+Will...

LOS ANGELES—Bentley Prince Street has just moved a few steps closer to “closing the loop” entirely on its products through the introduction of new backing technologies for both its broadloom and carpet tile products. Both High PerformancePC, the company’s new standard broadloom backing, and SelectRC, its new standard hard-back carpet tile backing, incorporate recycled and reprocessed carpet backing into new carpet backing. All manufacturing processes for both backings are performed in the company’s California headquarters, eliminating the need for, and associated environmental impacts of, additional transportation. “Through these new backings, as well as the introduction of our first product using...

BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International, Inc. announced that it will expand its green hotel portfolio ten-fold over the next five years by introducing a green hotel prototype that will be pre-certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), an internationally recognized green building certification system designed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The green hotel prototype, which will be available in April 2010, will save owners approximately $100,000 and six months in design time, and reduce a hotel’s energy and water consumption by up to 25 percent, based on national averages. These savings, combined with incentives offered in many jurisdictions,...