CLEVELAND, OHIO—Green Lodging News has added a Continental Girbau Vendor Case Study to its website. The case study profiles the Westin Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, and its replacement of aging, inefficient washers with more efficient Continental Girbau models and a water reclamation system. The installation is saving the hotel from 300,000 to 350,000 gallons of water each month. As part of the washer purchase, the hotel’s owners took advantage of a $29,000 rebate from the San Antonio Water System.The Westin’s laundry now features two 130-pound capacity Continental E-Series soft-mount washers; a 55-pound capacity Continental E-Series soft-mount washer;...

INWOOD, N.Y.—Laundrylux announced that Great Lakes Commercial Sales is now an authorized Electrolux and Wascomat distributor for coin and on-premises laundry equipment. “We are pleased to welcome Dan Naumann and the Great Lakes team to the Electrolux and Wascomat distributor network,” says Laundrylux president Howard Herman. “After 20 years in the business, industry leader Great Lakes is a super addition to our family. Everyone at Laundrylux is looking forward to working with Great Lakes to further expand the business and our relationship.”“I’ve worked with Dan Naumann and the Great Lakes team for many years now,” says Bryan Rausch, regional...

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—TRSA has launched its Hygienically Clean certification program to recognize textile services companies’ commitment to cleanliness through third-party, quantified biological testing and inspection. The certification process eliminates subjectivity by verifying that textiles cleaned in these facilities meet hygiene standards appropriate for any type of business that uses garments, linens, towels, floor mats, mops and other professionally laundered items. A specific designation for laundries with medical work (Hygienically Clean—Healthcare) is available and another will soon be offered for those who serve restaurants and other businesses where food safety is paramount (Hygienically Clean—Food Service). To attain a Hygienically Clean certification, a laundry...

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.—On Saturday, May 5, Charles Court restaurant at The Broadmoor is going back to its roots to host a “Farm to Table Experience” by partnering with Colorado farms, wineries and distilleries. The event includes a Saturday afternoon farmer’s market followed by a Farm to Table Dinner at Charles Court that evening.Arkansas Valley Organic Growers (AVOG), a group of farmers who have come together to create a distribution system for restaurants, schools, and other businesses in the Colorado Springs and surrounding areas, will sample and sell their fresh produce to at the market. The Broadmoor’s chef Barnhill will...

CHICAGO—An independent panel of judges has selected the finalists for the National Restaurant Association’s inaugural Operator Innovations Awards. Three finalists in each of five categories—Sustainability, Technology, Food Safety, Health & Nutrition, and Menu Development—will be brought to Chicago for the Association’s 2012 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show this May. The winners in each category, plus an Innovator of the Year selected from all finalists, will be announced live during Destination: Celebration on Saturday, May 5. “The Operator Innovations Awards is designed to celebrate and encourage continued advancement in the restaurant industry, while shining a spotlight on industry-leading innovators who inspire other...

SEATTLE—The menu at the remodeled Aquaterra restaurant at the Seattle Airport Marriott reflects more sustainable seafood and local Pacific Northwest ingredients, according to chef James Neighbor. He said fine dining in Seattle has been taken up a notch with the introduction of Marriott’s “Future Fish” program which works with local produce vendors to help reduce the restaurant’s carbon footprint.“‘Freshness embraced’ is the philosophy of our kitchen,” Neighbor, who has been with Marriott for 18 years, said. “Our focus is on fresh local items prepared simply, seasoned correctly and not over-sauced.”Signature items now include Cascioppo Bros. chorizo and clams and...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Green Lodging News announces the addition of Continental Girbau, Inc. as a Founding Sponsor. Continental Girbau, a manufacturer and supplier of commercial and industrial laundry equipment, offers a web of support services to its hospitality clients, including financing, laundry design, technologically-advanced laundry equipment, a parts facility, and a professional distributor network.Continental and Girbau Industrial washer-extractors, tunnel washers, drying tumblers, flatwork ironing systems, folders, stackers and feeders withstand the rigors of multiple cycles, offer highly programmable controls and are designed to reduce utility consumption. Continental E-Series Washer-Extractors, for example, feature up to 387-G-force extract to curb dry time and...

HOUSTON—In an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, Hilton Americas-Houston, the city’s largest hotel and first Green Seal certified hotel in Texas, is now even greener with the installation of the AquaRecycle water recycling system in the hotel’s laundry. The laundry facility, covering 27,000 square feet and rivaling most commercial laundry plants in both size and capacity, is by far the largest hotel laundry in the city, washing and finishing more than 675,000 pounds of linens per month.The two massive Lavatec tunnel washers wash 100 pounds of linens every two and half minutes, with a maximum working capacity of...

MENOMONEE FALLS, WIS.—Alto-Shaam introduced a new grease collection unit that safely and conveniently collects grease and meat by-products from their Combitherm ovens in high volume production facilities. The Combitherm Automatic Grease Collection System is designed to save labor and provide greater employee safety by eliminating the handling of hot grease that is normally collected in the drip pan.Through patent-pending technology, the system is electronically activated during the chicken cooking process. Chicken grease and other by-products are automatically pumped from the cavity drain into nearby mobile grease collection containers, which can hold enough volume for multiple batches of chicken during...

TROY, OHIO—Two Hobart products—the Energy Star qualified Advansys CLeR conveyor-type warewasher with Energy Recovery and the Advansys LXiPR undercounter warewasher with PuriRinse—are included on the Food Consultants Society International (FCSI) “10 Most Innovative Products for 2012” list. One product from this list is going to be selected as “Product of the Year” based on voting slated to take place at the FCSI Americas Conference in Kansas City, Mo., April 19 to 21. FCSI is a recognized organization of more than 1,400 members who design foodservice installations and specify a broad range of equipment ranging from commercial ovens and storage refrigerators to...