Ever felt like your stay in a hotel was like staying in a zoo? If so, I am sure you did not mean it in a good way. Well, now you can practically stay overnight in a zoo at Belgium’s Pairi Daiza Resort. Visitors can literally walk and sleep between wolves, bears, Steller sea lions, mountain lions and more. There are four hotel options for guests: The Full Moon Lodge, Native Village, Paddling Bear Hotel, and Paddling Bear Suites. The Full Moon Lodge, of which there are 10, is constructed all of wood and stone and is completely covered with...

Interested in learning about some of the planet’s most cutting-edge sustainable buildings? The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has launched a new digital case study library showcasing examples of the world’s most cutting-edge sustainable buildings. Each case study demonstrates enhanced performance in relation to health benefits or achieve net zero operational carbon, as verified by established certification schemes, rating tools or other third-party verification. According to WorldGBC, buildings and construction together account for 36 percent of global final energy use and 39 percent of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when upstream power generation is included. Additionally, people spend 90 percent...

KEX Portland opened earlier this month in Portland, Oregon. While the property does not shout sustainability from its website, it most definitely has some important green elements. First, the hotel which sleeps 152 guests is housed in a fully restored 1912 building on the National Register of Historic Places. The interior is designed by Hálfdan (Dáni) Pedersen, the designer of the hotel’s first location in Iceland. Pedersen first collected elements for KEX Portland during a buying trip in Europe. There, he sourced furniture, artwork, building materials, and unique objects from the 1920s to the 1970s from the Netherlands, France,...

I have posted two articles on Green Lodging News recently having to do with glamping—a more glamorous version of camping. First, an article about the Twin Lakes Camp Resort in Florida. The second is an article about the originators of glamping and their project called “The Green O.” According to the 2019 North American Glamping Report, glamping is really beginning to take off. The report, which represents the first-of-its-kind look at the North American glamping market and is supported by Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA), reveals that 30 percent of North American travelers say they have taken a glamping trip,...

I started coaching my son’s soccer team this year. I was actually “volunteered” to be a coach by my wife. Maybe some of you can relate to that type of experience. I love watching my son play and enjoy watching and learning the game. Admittedly, every now and again I have had an “I will never do this again type of experience” but the thought usually passes within a couple of days. Maybe some of you can relate to that, too. I thought about my coaching experience this morning and how I might relate it to green teaming at a...

This past week I learned about one of the most impressive wellness resort projects in the world—Amaala. The ultra-luxury well destination in Saudi Arabia is slated to be completed by 2028 and will include approximately 30 hotels, an airport, and much more. Sustainability is a cornerstone of the project with the primary goal being a zero-carbon footprint. The project has the support of many international companies. Very impressive. One of the team members behind the project is His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. It was the CIA’s assessment that His Royal Highness ordered the murder...

At the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa in Grand Cayman, the Seafire team has joined forces with a local dive company to help replenish the coral in Caribbean waters, launching a program called Seafire Guardians. The mission of Seafire Guardians is to protect, develop and regenerate the Caribbean’s coral reefs. The property sponsored staff members to become coral certified through the PADI Coral Restoration course, after which they founded the Guardians project to ensure continued action. As “rainforests of the sea”, corals are not just a diver’s dream, but also support an astonishing 25 percent of marine life and...

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy just released its 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. The 50-state Scorecard reveals increasing state commitment to energy efficiency, the least-expensive clean energy resource, even where it had traditionally been overlooked. Research has shown that energy efficiency can slash U.S. energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050—getting us halfway to the U.S. climate goals. The 13th annual report identifies the leaders—Massachusetts and California; the most-improved states, notably Maryland; the states that lost ground, such as Kentucky; and those lagging behind, including North Dakota and Wyoming. According to the Scorecard, Nevada,...

While on a press trip in New York City with Lutron last week, I got to visit their new Commercial Experience Center as well as the gigantic $20 billion Hudson Yards development located just south of the Javits Center. If you have an interest in the power of commercial lighting and controlling it, I highly recommend visiting the Experience Center. If you have a general interest in green building, I recommend a visit to Hudson Yards. Wikipedia does a good job explaining the scope of the Hudson Yards development. According to the site, Hudson Yards is a real estate development...

According to an article published by Maria Stamas and Pierre Delforge of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the City Council of San José, Calif., yesterday voted to adopt requirements for builders that will provide San José residents with clean, affordable energy in buildings and make good on the city’s promise to lead on sustainability. The new ordinance will make San José the largest U.S. city to require construction of electric buildings. Following adoption of the ordinance and a forthcoming ordinance directed by City Council for an October vote, greenhouse gas emissions of San José’s new buildings will be cut...