MINNEAPOLIS—Healthier Choice, a premium carpet cushion manufacturer, will use BiOH polyols, a soy-based ingredient in greener foam production, to offer a more responsible, greener choice in cushioning for carpet and flooring. Derived from natural vegetable oils such as soybean oil, BiOH polyols can deliver unique performance benefits while helping customers reduce their environmental footprint and market themselves to downstream customers. Healthier Choice, an environmentally conscious maker of functional foam underlay, sees a partnership with BiOH polyols as a logical step. The company is now integrating the use of BiOH polyols throughout its total product line, including Healthier Choice Carpet Cushion,...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Met-Tile, Inc. as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. The Ontario, Calif.-based company’s “tile panel” cool roofing features 10 designer colors that meet or exceed Energy Star requirements. It combines the popular look of tile with the light weight of metal, often saving on construction costs because substructure requirements are reduced. It also offers all-weather performance, including a 230+ miles per hour wind rating. Call (909) 947-0311, e-mail met-tile@met-tile.com, or go to www.met-tile.com.

LOS ANGELES—Jim Burba, chair of this year’s Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), started the event this week by announcing that the travel of every one of the approximately 3,000 attendees would be offset by a donation to the Conservation Fund’s Go Zero program. That announcement set the tone for this year’s ALIS here at the Hyatt Regency Century City. Throughout the three-day event, green hotel development and operations most definitely were hot topics. At the Hotel Leaders Outlook session, some of lodging’s leading executives were asked to give their take on the sustainability movement and whether or not it is...

LAGRANGE, GA.—Milliken Hospitality’s latest carpet introduction, Orsay, takes its design cues from the work of the great impressionist masters—Renoir, Monet and Cassatt. With original interpretation from decorative artist Tracy Lee Stum, Orsay draws from an encyclopedia of decorative painting techniques and calligraphy. Using Milliken’s étage technology, the collection allows designers to define their own style and create a fully custom look quickly and easily. By simply selecting and combing pattern layers, the designer has complete control to create their own masterpiece. Orsay is available in both broadloom and 36-inch tile formats. The collection includes small, medium and large scale...

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CALIF.—For the fifth consecutive year, Bentley Prince Street has been recognized for its efforts to reduce waste and conserve resources. It is the winner of the Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) award. Sponsored by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the state’s leading authority on recycling and waste reduction, the WRAP Awards recognize California companies for their commitment to a range of environmentally preferable business programs, including resource-efficient practices and innovative waste reduction, reuse and recycling achievements. “At Bentley Prince Street, just as we have our own Mission Zero goal of eliminating our potential negative impact on...

ARCOLA, ILL.—Agri-Fab Holding Company (AFHC) and Bob McElwee announced that they are developing about 100 acres into a green village near Arcola, Ill. This resort, called Green Mill Village (GMV), is set to open in the fall of 2009 and will include a lodge/conference center, spa, restaurants, retail center and education center—all operated on wind power and solar power. “It will be an unprecedented midwestern sustainable project, from both an environmental and an economic standpoint,” McElwee says. The resort lodge, to be called the Green Mill Hotel, will have 200 rooms and guestrooms will feature furniture made locally. McElwee says there...

BEREA, KENTUCKY—It was in 1909 that Berea College, located here, first opened the Boone Tavern Hotel. Next year, 100 years after its opening, the college intends to reopen the hotel as a green property, one that will pursue the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings Gold certification. The hotel, which is managed by Atlanta-based Cornerstone USA, is currently undergoing a $9.6 million renovation. If Berea College achieves its LEED Gold goal, the Boone Tavern Hotel will be the first Gold-certified property in Kentucky and one of the first in the United...

DES PLAINES, ILL.—Leading luxury bedding manufacturer United Feather & Down introduces the season’s newest bedding collection from designer brand Joseph Abboud, with a focus on eco-friendly materials inherent in the designer brand’s exclusive, modern, organic aesthetics. The Joseph Abboud brand is a sophisticated American lifestyle brand with a rich heritage that reflects and expresses the confidence of its discriminating customer who embraces smart luxury and approachable style. Inspired by this heritage, the Joseph Abboud bedding collection of comforters, duvet covers, pillows, blankets, sheet sets, and decorative accessories naturally embodies eco-friendly materials of organic cottons, luxurious silks, rich wool and soft...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Roos International Ltd. as a Green Product Directory partner. Roos is the maker of EnVision, a wallcovering that performs like vinyl and looks like vinyl, but is an alternative to vinyl. With no VOCs, it is printed with water-based inks, includes recycled and renewable content, and can be recycled. It is affordable, easy to install/remove, dimensionally stable, and highly breathable. Envision meets Type I and Type II Wallcovering Durability Characteristics and is available in a variety of textures and patterns. Go to Roos International Ltd., write to...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced Archbishop Desmond Tutu as the opening keynote speaker for USGBC’s annual Greenbuild Conference & Expo. Greenbuild will be held November 17-19, 2008, in Boston. Bishop Tutu, a Nobel Peace Laureate, lead a crusade for social justice and racial conciliation in South Africa as then-General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. Today, he is revered worldwide as a “moral voice” seeking to end poverty and human rights abuses. “Bishop Tutu’s life, work, and message demonstrate the power of transformational change,” commented Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chairman of USGBC....