OAKLAND, N.J.—Amerlux, an award-winning design-and-manufacture lighting company, announced that it has released the largest 1" family of architectural cylinders and downlights in the market for interior and exterior applications, each providing industry-leading lumen output for beautifully illuminating sophisticated spaces. Recipient of the Architect’s Newspaper’s Best of Products Award and the bronze medalist in the 2024 IDA Design Awards for indoor home lighting, the FINCH 1" collection offers output up to 1500 lumens in several configurations, including recessed downlight, wall mount (with window mullion mount), exterior ground mount and surface adjustable with a patent-pending 50-degree tilt mechanism. Domestically engineered and built for high-end residential, retail, commercial and...

NATIONAL REPORT—Most known for use in items ranging from wine bottles to bulletin boards to flooring, cork is beginning to find a home in hospitality as cork leather. Cork leather can be used to upholster furniture, as wallcovering, or in other design features such as room dividers and offers a much more favorable sustainability story than traditional leather. “The concept of cork leather comes out of the apparel and accessories markets,” says Sustainiture’s Steve Sechrest. “It is brand new to the hospitality world.” Sustainiture is the U.S. distributor for PortugaliaCork’s Suberise Cork Leather. TFS Natural Home’s Suzanne Diamond says her company...

IRVINE, CALIF.—Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering, the industry’s largest supplier of commercial textiles and wallcoverings, announces the launch of its brand-new Light Collection. This innovative offering, grounded in evidence-based scientific research on the healing properties of light, blends biophilic design elements with high performance materials to promote wellness in a mix of environments from healthcare spaces to workplaces of the future. Light exudes warmth, supports life, and significantly influences the prosperity of natural environments. For human beings, access to light is directly linked to physiological and psychological health outcomes. Within the built environment, especially in healthcare facilities, the presence of natural...

It is “popping up” everywhere: cork. Known for its wine bottle role, versatile, sustainable cork is being used as a source material in a wide variety of new products. ReCORK just announced it has developed a material made from 75 percent recycled natural cork to be used as a replacement for petroleum-based foam used in shoe soles. The material will be featured in a new line of shoes by ReCORK’s founding company, SOLE. At this past fall’s Boutique Design New York, I was introduced to cork leather by TFS Natural Home’s Suzanne Diamond who showed me an example of how...

EAST LONGMEADOW, MASS.—Artists For Humanity (AFH), whose 23,500-square-foot Epicenter is Boston’s first LEED Platinum certified building, has combined its commitment to sustainability with its dedication to art and design—and ensured neither stops outside the restroom doors. The organization provides Boston teens with opportunities for creative expression, mentorship, and paid work experience on an array of client art and design projects, all while they prepare for college and their careers. Now, thanks to a partnership with Excel Dryer, AFH has installed first-of-their-kind XLERATOR Hand Dryers customized with artwork designed by local teens in its facility bathrooms. “When we learned about the amazing work AFH was doing,...

Yesterday, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the leading authority on green building and the global developer of the LEED green building program, released its annual list of Top 10 States for LEED. For the first time ever, New York ranked number one, based on LEED-certified gross square footage per capita over the past year, leading the country in green building. New York totaled 201 newly LEED-certified projects in 2023 that encompassed more than 93 million square feet, equating to nearly 4.6 LEED-certified square feet per resident. Following behind was Illinois (3.213 square feet per capita), Massachusetts (3.210 square feet per...

ODESSA, FLA.—Green Lodging News welcomes Len-Tex Wallcoverings to the Wallcoverings category of its Green Product & Service Directory. Len-Tex Wallcoverings has been designing and manufacturing commercial wallcoverings for over 40 years. Its globally recognized wallcoverings provide inspiring design, superior quality, and are manufactured with the utmost respect for the environment and human health. The company is passionately committed to material transparency, healthier indoor air quality, and creating positive environmental impacts. Len-Tex Wallcoverings’ innovative Clean Vinyl Technology formulation addresses the chemicals and associated health risks typically found in vinyl wall coverings and identifies the safe alternatives used in CVT. Len-Tex Clean...

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.—Room & Board, the Minneapolis-based furniture retailer committed to sustainable sourcing and American craftsmanship, today announced it is a newly Certified B Corporation (“B Corp”). Room & Board and Room & Board for Business, the brand’s commercial arm, join a select global community of purpose-driven companies that are using their businesses as a force for good. B Corps are certified to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. This esteemed milestone reaffirms the company’s commitment to making a positive impact on the environment and society. Room & Board underwent a comprehensive and stringent evaluation of its...

SAUDI ARABIA—St. Regis Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of The St. Regis Red Sea Resort in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The captivating new address is the first private island to open in The Red Sea, one of the Kingdom’s luxury regenerative tourism destinations on the west coast of the country. Situated on the pristine Ummahat Island in the Al Wajh Lagoon, the resort is a destination-defining oasis with its avant-garde architecture, sustainable design details and bespoke service. “One of the world’s unexplored treasures, The Red Sea in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is set to become a coveted leisure destination,” said...

TORONTO—A new, greener era in hardscaping is here thanks to award-winning EcoTerra technology by Unilock, North America’s premier manufacturer of concrete interlocking paving stones and segmental retaining walls for patios, plazas, walkways and more. EcoTerra technology replaces traditional Portland Cement with a carbon-neutral alkali-activated mineral binder which results in a 100 percent cement-free face-mix. This results in a highly durable, remarkably colorfast product that will reduce carbon up to 15 percent. The first-of-its-kind in the North American hardscape market, EcoTerra’s leading-edge technology will allow designers and contractors to create beautiful outdoor spaces—sustainably: Zero Cement: With no cement in the face-mix, there is no chemical reaction...