Hersha Hospitality Trust recently made its 2016 Sustainability Report (its third annual) available to the public. Results in the report relate back to 2010 when Hersha launched its EarthView program. According to Hersha, it has accumulated $6.8 million in energy savings since launching Earthview. Energy consumption per occupied room has been reduced by 19 percent. Some of those savings, according to Hersha Hospitality Trust CEO Jay H. Shah, are due to the implementation of guestroom energy management systems. Ninety-seven percent of Hersha hotels have been retrofitted with LED lighting. In 2016, approximately 10 percent of Hersha’s hotels had electric...

We have all heard of hotels being under water before—but literally? It could happen if entrepreneur Tony Webb gets enough support for his Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel venture. Watch for more details soon on Green Lodging News. Here is what we know so far: Late last month, Webb issued a press release formally inviting the hotel industry and prominent resort properties to partner with his company and open the world’s first underwater luxury boutique hotel. The first hotel would be located in Cuban waters. The company has selected 15 ideal sites for its underwater hotels and its vital coral...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the energy-efficiency progress made by the 345 leading public and private sector organizations in the Better Buildings Challenge. These efforts have led to a combined 240 trillion Btus and an estimated $1.9 billion in cumulative energy and cost savings. These results are summarized in the 2017 Better Buildings Progress Report that highlights accomplishments across the broader Better Buildings Initiative. More than 900 organizations across many diverse sectors are now part of the Better Buildings Initiative. These partners represent more than 13 percent of total U.S. commercial building space, about 12 percent...

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show is just 10 days away. It will run from May 20 to 23 and take place at McCormick Place in Chicago. If you plan to walk the show floor, give yourself at least a couple of days as more than 2,000 companies (2,219 at last count) are expected to be exhibiting. Many of those exhibitors will be featuring products and equipment that can help you reduce energy, water and waste. Some of those exhibitors are 2017 Kitchen Innovations Award recipients. Ecolab, for example, was recently recognized with a Kitchen Innovations Award for its...

Corporate Responsibility Magazine just announced its list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens. This is the 18th year for the list. To appear on the list a company must first appear among the Russell 1000. The Russell 1000 is the list of the 1,000 largest U.S. public companies. For each company, 260 data points of publicly available disclosure and performance measurements were considered. Each company was ranked in seven categories: environment, climate change, employee relations, human rights, corporate governance, financial performance, and philanthropy and community support. There were only three lodging companies that made this year’s top 100 list:...

If you are looking to retain Millennials, you may want to pay attention to their preferences for working for companies that pay attention to sustainability. Absent a sustainability program you will not lose everyone but you may lose your best and brightest. According to a new study, “Recycling in the Workplace: A Millennial View”, conducted by Lightspeed, a globally integrated research organization, on behalf of Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP), nearly one in 10 Millennials would go so far as quitting their jobs if they found out their current employer was not sustainable. More than 1,000 Millennials participated in the...

In covering green lodging I have often heard about companies that incentivize their business travelers to stay in hotels with sustainable practices. Turns out the practice may be less common than I thought. According to a new study released by the GBTA Foundation, the research and education arm of the Global Business Travel Assn., in partnership with AIG Travel, only one in six travel management professionals (16 percent) currently incentivize their business travelers to stay in hotels with sustainable practices. Even fewer (4 percent) require travelers to book suppliers with sustainable practices. The GBTA Foundation conducted an online survey...

The International Facility Management Association has updated its Sustainability How-to Guide: Global Green Cleaning. The green cleaning guide for facilities managers is free to download. This guide outlines the steps to establish a comprehensive green cleaning program, covering key topics such as indoor air quality, green cleaning products and equipment, greenwashing, green cleaning service providers, the business case for green cleaning, how to develop a green cleaning program, and performance measurements. The authors of the guide have decades of experience in commercial and green cleaning. According to the authors, “The guide has been created to serve as an instrument for...

As published on Green Lodging News, The Rezidor Hotel Group just published its Responsible Business Report 2016. For those of you not familiar with the company, Rezidor’s current core brands include Radisson Blu—the largest upper upscale brand in Europe—and Park Inn by Radisson. Radisson RED is another Rezidor brand. The report, 61 pages long, describes the most important corporate responsibility and sustainability aspects of the company’s operations. Last year was a good one for the company with it being named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the eighth straight year by Ethisphere. The Rezidor Hotel Group also...

As highlighted in my weekly column this past week, Earth Hour will take place on Saturday, March 25, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time. Pranav Jampani, Director of Sustainability at The Venetian | The Palazzo | Sands Expo, has been sharing the Las Vegas properties' Earth Hour plans with me. The Venetian | The Palazzo | Sands Expo will celebrate Earth Hour in grand style in the Doge’s Palace plaza, in front of The Venetian. The resort’s official “Earth Hour DJ” will lead a countdown to the 8:30 p.m. start of Earth Hour, when all exterior building lights...