NATIONAL REPORT—Swimming pools are an important part of life for many people. When the temperatures heat up a swimming pool allows us to cool off, relax, and distract ourselves from our day-to-day stresses. As people become more environmentally conscious, however, more and more people are looking at the impact their behavior has on the world around them including their swimming pools. Traditionally, pools can be harsh on the environment as they use a lot of energy, water, and sometimes harmful chemicals. As a pool owner, you may even want to investigate your energy and water sources to see the true...

ALPHARETTA, GA.—LG Air Conditioning Technologies USA has unveiled a Connectivity Suite with new integration capabilities that offers hoteliers and building owners the flexibility to use their preferred hotel thermostat brand when installing LG Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems. This enables direct, seamless integration of data with control options that are compatible with LG’s award-winning HVAC systems. Expanding integration to the most preferred hospitality thermostats available, LG delivers a control solution that is compatible with the company’s highly efficient VRF systems. LG’s industry leading VRF technology minimizes efficiency losses, provides sustainable energy savings, and offers flexible design options, along with the...

SARASOTA, FLA.—Pürlin, LLC has hired Eric Eisenberg to serve as Vice President of Hospitality. In collaboration with their University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) partners, the entire team will be working with Eisenberg to introduce Pürlin’s unique closed-loop bedlinen system to the Las Vegas hotel market. “With his extensive background in hotel operations and his professional ties to the business community, we have every confidence in Eric’s abilities to lead Pürlin’s Las Vegas commercialization initiative and to build our South West Regional Sales Operation,” says Pürlin Founder and President, Richard Ferrell. In response to the devastating impact that COVID-19 continues to...

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—Friedrich Air Conditioning Co., a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of air conditioners and other home environment products, has introduced a space-saving 7,000Btu version of its award-winning VRP (Variable Refrigerant Packaged) Heat Pump system to address the needs of the lodging industry for a high-efficiency, cost-effective in-closet heating solution that delivers outstanding indoor air quality for smaller spaces. Designed to accommodate the latest trends in the lodging industry where smaller, better insulated rooms are increasingly common, the smaller unit called VRP studio, takes up less space, provides effective heating, cooling and dehumidification, and yet still allows customized comfort and sophisticated...

CINCINNATI, OHIO—If you were to look at all of the companies servicing the hospitality industry, there are few that have reached the level of sustainability as Cincinnati-based Melink Corp. The list of its accomplishments is long and so too are its future goals—from the headquarters it operates from to the products and services it offers. The company has been around a while. “I started the company in 1987,” says Steve Melink, Chairman & CEO. “We started as an HVAC company doing commissioning for restaurant chains.” It was not long before Melink saw that many restaurant ventilation systems were running constantly,...

Years ago I had a trip that took me from the United States to Iceland to Denmark. I must have come close to flying over the Faroe Islands. They are located about halfway between Iceland and Norway and are an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. I come across quite a few new and cool green hotel projects each week—even during this pandemic—and the Hilton Garden Inn Faroe Islands was one that caught my eye. It opened last October. I recently corresponded with Kate Mikesell, VP Corporate Responsibility, Hilton, and Martin Restorff, General Manager of the hotel, to learn...

FAROE ISLANDS—For those of you not familiar with their location, the Faroe Islands are a North Atlantic archipelago located 200 miles north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland. Like Greenland, it is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Last October, the 130-room Hilton Garden Inn Faroe Islands opened on the islands in Torshavn with a bundle of unique green features. Green Lodging News recently corresponded with Kate Mikesell, VP Corporate Responsibility, Hilton, and Martin Restorff, General Manager of the hotel, to learn about those green gems. For Kate Mikesell, VP Corporate Responsibility, Hilton: Q: Explain how...

BUENA VISTA, FLA.—Eight decades after McDonald’s restaurant revolutionized a speedier way to prepare and serve meals, the fast-food giant is once again setting new standards in the industry, laying the groundwork for a more ecologically responsible place to dine. The façade of the 8,000-square-foot McDonald’s at Disney World in Buena Vista, Fla., not only appears strikingly different than its traditional restaurant chain, but every segment of the building has been meticulously designed to create the world’s first “net-zero” fast food restaurant. “It’s McDonald’s goal to reduce its carbon emissions across its portfolio,” said Jean Gibbons, WSP USA Buildings Vice President. “McDonald’s...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLO.—Snowmass Base Village (SBV) introduces the all-electric and appropriately named Electric Pass Lodge. Designed to be 100 percent powered by renewable energy, this development will be one of the first of its kind in the country. The building will include 53 ski-in/ski-out, for-sale residences at the base of the iconic Snowmass Ski Area. “If you own a home at a ski resort, you’re inherently invested in the preservation of snow,” says Andy Gunion, Roaring Fork Valley Managing Partner for East West Partners. “Nobody wants their ski home to contribute to climate change, but the reality is most do—either...

KENNESAW, GA.—Carrier has released i-Vu Pro v8 software for the i-Vu building automation system. This latest update features new commissioning and visualization tools to help building owners and operators gain more insights on how their heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are operating. In addition, the software now supports the latest industry-standards for building automation, providing enhanced interoperability, usability, and security. Carrier is a part of Carrier Global Corp., a leading global provider of healthy, safe and sustainable building and cold chain solutions. “The latest i-Vu software tools provide building operators with more visibility into their day-to-day operations, and...