HONOLULU—Hawaii Energy’s largest incentive for a hotel to date was recently awarded to Hawaii’s largest hotel—the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Hawaii Energy, the ratepayer-funded energy conservation and efficiency program for Hawaii, Honolulu and Maui counties, presented a $471,192 incentive check to the Hilton after the completion of phase I of a multi-phase, multi-million dollar energy efficiency upgrade project. Phase I included a major lighting retrofit in 1,839 guestrooms and the installation of energy-saving fan coil motors in all 2,860 guestrooms. The incentive will help Hilton offset its phase I project costs of more than $1.91 million. Hawaii...

PHILIPSBURG, ST MAARTEN—The Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa, St. Maarten made its mark as a game-changer in the hospitality industry by completing a landmark solar installation earlier this year that allows the resort to produce six to eight hours of its own power during peak times. The resort has harnessed the power of the Caribbean sun for more than a year and reached an environmental milestone by generating one gigawatt hour of solar power, or one billion watt-hours. The resort also just installed a completely oil-free Smardt Chiller to further conserve energy; the Chiller is used in the...

DENVER—The piece-of-pie shaped Brown Palace Hotel, a fixture in the heart of Denver since 1892, has been undergoing a green transformation the last couple of years that has caught the eye of many. The 241-room property won the Good Earthkeeping Award in 2013 from the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Assn. and the Good Earthkeeping Award in 2014 from the American Hotel and Lodging Assn. While dabbling in sustainability for a number of years—bee hives have been on the hotel roof as part of the hotel’s Bee Royalty Initiative since 2009—it was in October 2012 when good things really started...

BANGKOK—Green tourism has become an important trend in recent years, with travelers and hospitality operators alike all doing their best to minimize the impact that tourism can have on the environment.Centara Grand Beach Resort &Villas Krabi, which is set directly on the beach in a small bay that can only be reached by boat or along a pathway through the national park that surrounds the resort is especially aware of its environmental responsibilities. Last year it was awarded EarthCheck Silver Certification for its environmental management programs.As part of the resort’s ongoing commitment towards environmental responsibilities, Centara Grand Krabi has...

LOS ANGELES—Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, recently announced a $30 million rennovation—which includes all new guestroom interiors as well as upgrades in the hotel’s meeting areas and its famous pools with a completion date set for early 2015. Known for reflecting a stunning blend of Hawaii’s culture and natural beauty, the upgrades are designed to further enhance the guest experience with a fresh, contemporary island look.  Room design updates are being headed by interior architect Robert Barry of the Los Angeles based Barry Design Associates (BDA) who won the account via a design competition. The firm was behind...

STAMFORD, CONN.—Officials of the Sheraton Stamford Hotel recently announced the completion of the hotel’s next step to achieving its sustainable goals to improve environmental efficiencies that help the hotel as well as its community. The Sheraton Stamford Hotel just completed a $200,000 project, in which they upgraded their lighting to LED throughout the hotel. According to a study from the Connecticut Energy Efficient Fund, over the life of the fixtures, the hotel’s increase in LED usage will have saved an estimated 7,412,770.00 kWh. This is equivalent to 3,755,988 pounds of coal not burned, 308,755 gallons of oil not burned,...

OAHU, HAWAII—Turtle Bay Resort, Oahu, Hawaii, has completed the installation of an innovative green roof that covers a total of approximately 60,000 square feet as part of its commitment to environmental sustainability.“We are dedicated to preserving Hawaii’s delicate and natural resources as stewards of the land,” said Scott McCormack, Vice President of Real Estate for Turtle Bay Resort. “We have received positive feedback from our resort guests who appreciate the project’s eco-friendly benefits and are enjoying enhanced guestroom views of the ocean and landscape art atop the newly designed roofs.”The lower flat roofs of Turtle Bay Hotel were completely...

DEATH VALLEY, CALIF.—In keeping with its “pillars of sustainability,” the AAA Four Diamond Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley National Park has enacted a series of initiatives designed to minimize the impact of its operations and of its guests. The resort has put in place programs to reduce waste and water usage, generate electricity and offer sustainable choices to its guests.Those efforts are working as the resort reports solid waste has been reduced by 44 percent, water usage has dropped 19 percent and electricity use is down 18 percent since 2010. In that same time period sustainably sourced food...

SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M.—Bees can bring to mind sci-fi like headlines, and thoughts of painful stings. In reality honeybees are important contributors to the many fruits and vegetables that we eat. Earlier this summer, Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa added two colonies containing 20,000 bees each to its grounds, furthering Tamaya’s mission of being an environmentally friendly resort.Honeybees are the major pollinators of the resort’s many flower beds and its on-site orchard, vegetable and herb gardens. It’s estimated that in the first year, these bees will produce 70 to 80 pounds of honey as well as beeswax. While...

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK—The large structures arriving in Yellowstone National Park’s Canyon Village are tangible indications that the Canyon Lodge & Cabins redevelopment project is truly taking shape. Constructed in Boise, Idaho by Guerdon Enterprises, the modules will eventually comprise five multi-story lodges featuring stone and wood that blend into the surrounding area. The first three lodges will open in 2015 and the remaining two the following year.The modules are being created in a controlled environment that allows for year-round work while minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency. As part of its concessions contract with the National Park Service (NPS), lodge...