NEW YORK—Green Lodging News has finalized the panelist lineup for each of the two sessions it is organizing for the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS). The show will take place at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from Saturday, November 10 through Tuesday, November 13. The first session, “Green Building: LEED and Beyond,” will be held on Sunday, November 11 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Panelists will include: Fiona Cousins PE LEED AP, principal, Arup; Nicholas Lakas, director, element Hotels; and Wen-I Chang, founder and president, Atman Hospitality Group. The green building session will be moderated...

PEORIA, ARIZ.—LG Solid Source LLC (LGSS), the North American sales and marketing arm for LG HI-MACS Acrylic Solid Surface, LG HI-MACS Volcanics Collection, LG HI-MACS Eden Collection, and LG Viatera Natural Quartz is excited to announce that these products are now Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified for low chemical emissions with and without LG Adhesive. “The Greenguard Certification is a testament to our ongoing commitment to provide environmentally-sensitive products that meet the demands of everyone from the designer to the installer,” says product manager Mike Tasch. “It also complements our very popular LG Eden product line which has been independently...

SEATTLE—The developers of 1 Hotel & Residences, Seattle announced that buyer excitement surrounding its first-in-the-market City Suites product has prompted modification of the building to accommodate an additional three floors of fully furnished condominiums, which can be included in a rental opportunity with the hotel. With the retrofit, the nation’s first eco-luxury 1 Hotel will now offer 176 City Suites on floors nine through 16, says Paul Brenneke, president and CEO of Avalon Holdings, developer of the property. The 560,000-square-foot, 23-story, mixed-use project, which broke ground in June, plans a public sales debut for early October. Built on the principle...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Harbor Linen as a Green Product Directory partner. Harbor Linen manufactures quality bath linen for the hospitality market. Its Orchid Towel Collection is a unique blend of bamboo and cotton. It is naturally soft and luxurious yet made to endure numerous institutional washings. Bamboo benefits include: Naturally Anti-Bacterial, Anti-Fungal, and Anti-Microbial—reducing odors such as mildew. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the Earth, making it an eco-friendly “green product.” Harbor Linen also offers Microfiber cleaning cloths that help alleviate toxic chemical use. Go to Harbor Linen, write...

GLEN RAVEN, N.C.—Sunbrella, a leader in performance fabrics for more than 40 years, has been certified by the Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI) as a low-emitting product. The Greenguard Certification assures architects, specifiers, building owners and homeowners that they can use Sunbrella fabrics indoors with the confidence that these fabrics will contribute to healthy indoor air. Sunbrella has also received the Greenguard Children & Schools Certification, which requires that products meet even more stringent standards to help limit pollutant exposure in schools and other settings that serve children and other sensitive individuals. The Greenguard Certification Program, an industry independent, third-party testing program...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that former President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote speech of the opening plenary of Greenbuild, the world’s largest conference and exposition dedicated to green building, to be held Nov. 7-9, 2007, in Chicago. “This is an unprecedented opportunity for our green building community to hear from one of the greatest philanthropic and environmental leaders of this century,” says USGBC President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi. “The William J. Clinton Foundation is facilitating a series of global action plans that are addressing some of the most intractable problems of our times—AIDS, economic sustainability...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Worldwide, Inc. announced the development of its first wholly-owned aloft and element hotel project in Lexington, Mass. The project—aloft and element Lexington—will breathe new life into the select service and extended stay markets in this vital and energetic suburban community. Both hotels are scheduled to open in late spring of 2008. Just twelve miles outside of Boston, Lexington offers a charming combination of historical sites, farm stands and greenhouses, as well as convenient access to Boston’s thriving business community and leisure attractions. Sharing the same parcel of land, the two hotels will be located...

When first launching Green Lodging News a little more than a year ago, there were just two lodging properties in the United States that had received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)—the Marriott-managed University of Maryland University College Inn and Conference Center, Adelphi, Md., and the Len Foote Hike Inn in Dawsonville, Ga. Since then, three other U.S. properties have obtained LEED certification. Given that there are many hundreds of commercial buildings outside of lodging that have been LEED certified, it would appear that our industry has been late to...

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND—Key players in real estate and construction misjudge the costs and benefits of green buildings, creating a major barrier to more energy efficiency in the building sector, a new study by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) reports. Respondents to a 1,400-person global survey estimated the additional cost of building green at 17 percent above conventional construction, more than triple the true cost difference of about 5 percent. At the same time, survey respondents put greenhouse gas emissions by buildings at 19 percent of world total, while the actual number of 40 percent is double this. The findings...

ATLANTA—Decca Hospitality Furnishings announced that it will convert its entire product line of high-end and custom furnishings to new, environmentally conscious green standards by the end of this year. This action reflects a corporate culture at Decca that is mindful of the environment across its business practices, while underscoring the need for all companies to be good stewards of our environment. Decca’s manufacturing operation will be the first in Asia to meet these rigorous environmental standards. The company’s initiative will also ensure that its products contribute points toward the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating systems and the Green Building...