ATLANTA—The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners announced that 100 percent of their new vending machines and coolers will be hydrofluorocarbon-free (HFC-free) by 2015. Coca-Cola is committing to use its scale to aggregate demand and encourage supply as a means of accelerating the transition to HFC-free refrigeration equipment. This announcement is a direct result of work with Greenpeace that began in 2000, and a demonstration that phasing out the use of HFCs is a tangible and near-term action corporations can take to protect the climate. The transition to HFC-free refrigeration will reduce the equipment’s direct greenhouse gas emissions by 99...

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—With its recent $1 billion in renovations, the Holiday Inn brand has earned well-deserved publicity. Perhaps the Holiday Inn property deserving of the most buzz this year, however, is the brand new Holiday Inn Northwest/Sea World in San Antonio. The 194-room hotel is on track to be the first LEED certified hotel in Texas and the first LEED certified property within the 3,300-property Holiday Inn brand. The hotel, which opened on October 5, is owned by a group of investors out of Lubbock, Texas, and managed by Dallas-based Hospitality Management Corp. Green highlights of the 100 percent...

MADISON HEIGHTS, MICH.—Two long-time hospitality industry stalwarts—SAFLOK and INNCOM International Inc.—recently announced a strategic alliance. The collaboration has yielded a new radio-frequency (RF) interface for energy management. Hyatt Regency Chicago, a four-diamond, 2,019-room hotel in the heart of downtown Chicago, just off the Magnificent Mile, is the first property to adopt this new interface. An existing SAFLOK customer, Hyatt Regency Chicago is updating from the SAFLOK MT (multi-technology) locks to SAFLOK’s Quantum ädese locks and installing energy management thermostats with an RF interface. The new RF interface provides a cost-effective energy management solution by allowing the lock and thermostat to...

NEW YORK—The total number of exhibitors may have been less than previous years due to the economy and other factors but the number of vendors offering green products and services was stronger than ever at this year’s International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS). The event was held November 8 to 10 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Visitors to the show found exhibitors featuring amenity bottles that biodegrade much faster than traditional plastic bottles; dispensers that eliminate amenity bottles altogether; a nonprofit that matches up hotels with other nonprofits to help eliminate food, toiletry...

GERMANTOWN, MD.—Telkonet, Inc., a company that develops and manufactures proprietary energy management and Smart Grid networking technology, announced that it has been ranked number 64 in the latest Technology Fast 500 list, Deloitte LLP’s ranking of 500 of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. Rankings are based on percentage of fiscal year revenue growth during the five-year period from 2004 to 2008. Telkonet grew 2,841 percent during this period. In addition, Telkonet has been named fifth on the Washington Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies list, based upon three-year revenue-growth...

ABU DHABI, U.A.E.—The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) has revealed that more than 90 percent of the hot water at its 408-room Aloft Hotel will be supplied through energy harnessed from solar panels. Aloft Hotel became the first hotel in Abu Dhabi to make such use of solar energy when it launched on October 25. A total of 560 solar panels, covering an area of 2,300 square meters, have been installed on the roof of ADNEC Car Park A. These panels heat water for the hotel’s 408 guestrooms, two production kitchens, food and beverage outlets, hotel offices and the...

DORCHESTER, ONT.—EnerWorks announced third quarter bookings that more than triple the value of orders for the same period in 2008. “We’re, of course, delighted by the exponential growth in bookings over the past three months,” says Dr. Phil Whiting, President and CEO, “and equally as heartened by the diversity of these solar water heating projects. As clear evidence of the value of our efforts to expand our channel partnerships, orders have come in for residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial installations, from new distributors of our products as well as long term partners, and from across North America and...

BOSTON—Magnum Energy Solutions recently put their Verde wireless and batteryless energy control system, powered by EnOcean, to the test in an independent study conducted at a Wyndham hotel. The test sought to measure the HVAC and lighting energy savings that could be realized by utilizing sensor and control devices that respond to hotel room occupancy statuses. The field test concluded that hotel rooms controlled by the Verde Energy Control System consumed 33 percent less energy than rooms without the energy harvesting controls. The Verde hotel room energy system determines if a hotel room is vacant or occupied according to the...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes FLS Energy, Inc. as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. FLS Energy is a solar energy generation company providing planning, design, installation and financing solutions for clients seeking clean energy alternatives and a hedge against rising energy costs. The company’s portfolio includes some of the largest solar hot water systems in the country in addition to utility scale solar electricity farms. Notable FLS Energy hotel installations include the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C., and the Hilton Asheville (N.C.). In Tennessee, two installations include the Hilton Knoxville Airport...

ATLANTA—“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” is often used to explain the less-than-comfortable temperatures in Florida. With that in mind, there seems to be no better place to discuss ASHRAE’s winter’s conference theme: “Building Sustainability from the Inside Out.” Whenever the temperatures outside are too hot or humid to handle, ASHRAE ensures that indoor environments are comfortable and, most important, sustainable. ASHRAE’s 2010 Winter Conference will be held in Orlando from January 23 to 27 at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel. The International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Expo, held in conjunction with the Conference, will run January 25 to 27....