At $100 per barrel for crude or “black gold” as the “Beverly Hillbillies” sitcom suggested, we all wish we’d strike oil in our backyards. Before erecting your own rig, there are ways to minimize the impact that astronomical crude oil prices have on our budgets. Servicing HVAC equipment, adding insulation, purchasing energy-efficient lights and equipment are all laudable conservation measures. However, the greatest source of heat loss and gain is often overlooked—windows, the environmental and security Achilles’ heal of any building. A quality insulating window film retrofit will reduce the flow of energy in and out of windows and...

Hotels are going green (really)! And sustainability is the hot issue in the hotel industry. Although hotels have been the last real estate asset class to embrace sustainability, it looks like things are really changing. At the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), trash recycling containers were a welcome sight, and the program featured a full panel on green hotels, a keynote, and lots of mentions about sustainability by many of the speakers. I thought some of the most interesting comments came from the Hotel Leaders Outlook panel. Here are a few of the gems from hotel industry leaders on the...

It’s that time of year again—time to exhibit at a trade show or consumer event, and it’s time to make it known that your hotel is green, or at least striving to be. It’s great that consumer and industry trade shows are now greening themselves. They (the shows) definitely make it known that they are green or environmentally friendly through their marketing, promotions, publicity and often advertising. And if you’re exhibiting there, it only makes sense that you make travelers aware of your eco-friendly facility. The question remains, just how do you accomplish this? Because there are so many...

America’s feelings about global warming and its threat to our planet clearly shifted dramatically in 2007. Once ignored by the masses, it has become a mainstream issue driving millions of consumers to find out how they can live a more eco-friendly existence. That momentum is the impetus behind a new wave of consumer marketing. From Wal-Mart’s goal of selling one million compact fluorescent light bulbs in a year to Home Depot’s new Eco Options line of products, the race for green market share is on. That trend has only continued in service industries like lodging and hospitality, where many...

In a previous column (click here), I detailed what you need to know to write an effective “green” press release. Once you have done that (really, an essential part of an effective public relations campaign), it’s time to make it come to life. It’s not “alive” until it gets picked up as a story in a media vehicle (publication, TV story, etc.). That is when the true fun begins. Here are some things to consider when pitching: 1. Once you determine your press contacts and bloggers, call these people and explain your story idea and why you believe they should...

Design elements cannot be overvalued in the hospitality industry. Carpet contributes to the signature impression, adding comfort to small spaces and human scale to imposing interiors. When specifying carpet for hospitality, there are three considerations to ensure sustainable selections—design and purpose; maintenance during useful life; and end-of-life options. Where do you start and what do you ask? Fortunately the carpet industry has removed the angst from the green certification process. Now a single standard identifies carpets that have a reduced environmental impact. The first multi-attribute American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved Standard—NSF 140-2007, Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard was introduced at...

Energy is headline news and the pressure to affect savings is mounting. Balancing how best to maintain guest comfort with the drive for more efficient guestroom energy management is an ongoing challenge, despite the fact that guests are becoming more tolerant of greener energy measures. This conflict between guest comfort and property savings is compounded by the rapid increases in heating and cooling costs. This forces hotels to tackle the issue of cutting energy consumption and is encouraging utilities to recognize the potential within hospitality to achieve energy savings. Creative incentive programs are spurring the installation of guestroom energy management...

Business Week recently published an eye catching story on “Little Green Lies”—why some environmental initiatives may not currently make economic sense, even if others do. But what are the real economics behind green hotel development, conversion and operation? Is this the time to go green? Can you afford to wait? Here are some solidly documented answers based on substantial and reliable studies. The answers may surprise you. What Does a Pragmatist Say About This? A few friends who know me well as the “ultimately pragmatic” hotel lawyer asked me why I have jumped onto the green bandwagon for hotel development, conversion,...

A press release is one of the best techniques for publicizing an event or calling attention to a specific issue, your product or service. A well-written, well-distributed and well-timed press release is not difficult or expensive to produce. The key to writing an effective press release is getting it read and the information published. With these objectives in mind, the most important elements of a press release are clear and engaging text, careful selection of recipients, and good timing. When you add “green” into the mix, you should keep in mind the following essentials to getting your release noticed: 1. The...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may soon be pushing the green bandwagon. Technically, most SEC disclosure guidelines or rules only require “disclosure.” They do not impose substantive regulation. But SEC guidelines tend to set the disclosure standards for state laws, and establish industry standards for fair disclosure. And frequently the bright spotlight of disclosure focuses such intense attention on particular issues, that it changes behavior as effectively as a substantive regulation. That might well become the case with “green.” Here is what is happening: Investors and government officials are urging the SEC to adopt guidelines requiring public companies to...