EXCELSIOR, MINN.—Sustainable Lifestyles introduces its line of natural fiber rugs and carpet. The flooring products do not off-gas like those made from synthetic materials. The raw product for the company’s flooring is sustainably harvested. Sustainable Lifestyles offers a large variety of Sisal, Seagrass, Mountain Grass and Sisal Wool styles. The rugs come in standard and custom sizes, shapes and borders. Wall to wall carpet is available. The company will be exhibiting at the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in New York, November 11 to 14, at booth No. 4011. Go to Sustainable Lifestyles.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. unveiled its new extended-stay hotel brand: Element, a brand extension of Westin Hotels & Resorts. The Element name, new logo and website were unveiled last week at the 2006 Lodging Conference in Phoenix. “With Westin, we recreated the upper-upscale segment in the hotel industry,” says Starwood’s Chief Executive Officer Steven J. Heyer. “Strategically, Element fits into this mold. It is about creating a new category from the ground up. We know that Starwood’s guests are hungry for a new kind of extended-stay experience, and Element fills this white space in our portfolio...

AMERICAN CANYON, CALIF.—Imagine a hotel with the sound of birds chirping on a green roof, swans gliding across a half-acre lagoon and koi swimming in a pond. Designed to appeal to eco-tourists who want luxury and comfort, Napa Valley’s first environmentally sustainable hotel, Gaia Napa Valley, will open next month. Cutting-edge, environmentally friendly technology was used in its construction and will be applied in the daily operations. Gaia Napa Valley will offer the ultimate experience of harmony with nature. The hotel is pursuing gold LEED certification. The lagoon has its own eco-system, is surrounded by a lush...

OTTAWA, ONT.—The EcoLogo Program, an environmental certifying and labeling program, is about to launch its “EcoLogo USA Campaign 2006-2007.” The EcoLogo Program certifies products and services as Green and environmentally preferable in a variety of fields and industries. This includes everything from cleaning chemicals, building materials and agricultural products, to automotive and boating tools and equipment. According to Kevin Gallagher, EcoLogo vice president who is heading the program, the goals of the EcoLogo USA Campaign—which will begin September 6, 2007—are twofold: to help U.S. consumers better understand the value of using environmentally preferable products and to promote the...

The term “green building” can have a wide variety of meanings. One person may say it includes water conserving bathroom fixtures, solar panels, recycling, or nontoxic cleaning agents. Another person may say linen and towel reuse programs, lighting controls and organically grown foods. All these items (and many others) are green, as each item supports the basic 3Rs of green business practice: reduce, reuse and recycle. Many hotel operators have already incorporated very specific cost-saving and ultimately green strategies in their daily housekeeping and engineering programs. Embracing green operations is only one piece of the puzzle that makes today’s truly...

LOS ANGELES—Bentley Prince Street has been featured in a new report by Environment California Research & Policy Center. Titled “Greening the Bottom Line: California Companies Save Money by Reducing Global Warming Pollution,” it demonstrates how cutting global warming pollution can be good for California businesses. The company is among a dozen businesses and institutions profiled in the report that have collectively reduced their global warming pollution by more than 100 million pounds per year while saving $21 million each year in operating costs. “As California’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer, we take our responsibility to our environment and our...

MARIETTA, GA.—Formaldehyde is an important chemical used widely by industry to manufacture building materials and numerous household products. It is also a by-product of combustion and certain other natural processes. Because it is so common, there is a tendency not to give the impact of formaldehyde exposure a second thought. Every so often, however, the results of a new study, such as the Sierra Club’s recent investigation of the trailers used by the Federal Energy Management Assn. (FEMA) to house tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents left homeless after Hurricane Katrina, serve as an important reminder of...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to engage the largest cities in the world through the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group and provide them with the tools to become leaders in energy efficiency and green building strategies, which will result in the reduction of carbon emissions. CCI is focusing on three key deliverables: improving green purchasing power; mobilizing and deploying technical expertise; and implementing common measurement tools in the areas of buildings, power and water; and transportation. CCI, a program of the Clinton Foundation, launched...

SAN FRANCISCO—The Orchard Garden Hotel, California’s first hotel to be built to the nationally accepted standards for green buildings developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), will open in mid-September. The new construction followed the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System in order to earn the coveted LEED certification. The hotel’s green practices also include chemical-free cleaning products, a 100 percent tobacco-free environment, recycled paper and soy-based inks. In addition to the LEED certification, the Orchard Garden Hotel will be San Francisco’s first hotel to implement a guestroom key card that controls...

LOS ANGELES—Bentley Prince Street has made another step toward its Mission Zero goal of eliminating its potential negative impact on the environment by the year 2020 by thinking not just about what is in its carpets, but what is underneath them. The company announced the launch of a new eco-friendly adhesives line that sets a new industry standard for environmental innovation. These adhesives complement the company’s new recycled content backings launched earlier in the year. Healthbond 1500 Ultra Green Plus adhesive, designed for broadloom applications, and NexStep 2300 Ultra Green Plus adhesive, for carpet tile applications, both...