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The News Blog gives Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor of Green Lodging News, an opportunity to comment, in just a few paragraphs, on industry news and trends. A more condensed version of Publisher’s Point of View, the News Blog is updated on either Wednesday or Thursday each week. Want to step in as a guest blogger? Or, have some news to share for the News Blog? To contact Glenn Hasek, call (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
The Role of Hydration Stations in Reducing Plastic Bottle Waste
I am currently working on an article on hydration stations. They are not water fountains but are sometimes paired with them. They make it easy to fill bottles with water and sometimes offer filtered water. Some machines even calculate the volume of plastic bottles you have filled or diverted from the landfill. The Hilton San Francisco Union Square has four of them. Zion Lodge in Springdale, Utah also has installed them. Hydration stations are an ideal way to eliminate, or at lease dramatically reduce, the volume of plastic bottle waste flowing from your property. Plastic bottle waste is a...
New Report: Global Green Building Doubling Every Three Years
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) last week released the results of the Dodge Data & AnalyticsWorld Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, to which USGBC is a contributing partner. If you would like to get a sense of the magnitude of the green building market, I highly recommend getting a copy of the free report. The report reflects the results of more than 1,000 survey participants from 69 countries. The survey was conducted in 2015. The report says global green building continues to double every three years. Increasing consumer demand has pushed the world’s green building market to...
Soneva Introduces Total Impact Assessment in Latest Sustainability Report
For its most recent sustainability report, for 2014 to 2015, Soneva conducted its first Total Impact Assessment (TIA) of its activities. According to Soneva, it is the first time an evaluation of this kind has ever been conducted in the hospitality industry. The TIA takes into account the total impact of Soneva’s business—in areas including environmental, human, social, economic and fiscal. Soneva has resorts in locations including the Maldives and Thailand. Soneva’s TIA differs from the usual sustainability reporting in that it assesses the impact of both the company’s direct activities as well as those of its supply chain....
How Will You Mark Earth Hour & Earth Day 2016?
Earth Hour and Earth Day are two occasions that have been marked by many hotel companies and individual hotels in years past. How will you be marking the occasions this year? This year, Earth Hour will be celebrated around the world on March 19 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time. The World Wildlife Federation has created a video that summarizes 2015 Earth Hour activities. Be sure to check it out. Last year lighting at more than 10,400 landmarks and monuments was turned off during Earth Hour. Wyndham Worldwide participated in Earth Hour by turning its lights down and...
Scribbles from Day One of Ecotourism and Sustainable Conference North America
I had an opportunity to attend the first day of the Ecotourism and Sustainable Conference North America last week. The event was held in Tampa, Fla. at the Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida. It was the first North America conference for the International Ecotourism Society. Approximately 100 attended the first day of the event. About 30 or so could not make it because of weather-caused flight cancellations. The conference featured speakers who provided a global perspective on the environmental challenges we all face while also featuring case studies on specific properties or projects....
Focus of Two February Webinars: How to Use the Hotel Footprinting Tool
Just a few months ago the International Tourism Partnership (ITP) and Greenview launched the Hotel Footprinting Tool. With the free tool one can access the carbon and energy footprint of thousands of hotels worldwide—ideal for those interested in benchmarking their own hotels’ performance. The Hotel Footprinting Tool uses data from the annual Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Study. Using the tool one can create reports of the carbon footprint of an individual or businesses’ hotel stays and meetings. Travel planners and corporate responsibility managers can use it to report on or offset their business travel emissions. If you have not...
Inaccurate Information on the Number of LEED Platinum Hotels
number of times now I have received press releases from folks with inaccurate information regarding the number of LEED Platinum hotels in North America. This week, for example, a PR agency sent me a release about the W San Francisco, stating that it is the fourth hotel in North America to reach LEED Platinum status. Somebody did not do their homework as the W San Francisco is really the fifth hotel in North America to earn LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). I suggested retracting the original release and sending out a correct version. Will...
Study Finds Strong Connection Between Healthy Indoor Air, Employee Sharpness & Productivity
The results of a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, SUNY Upstate Medical University, and Syracuse University show the connection between well-ventilated buildings and improved worker decision-making. In fact, the study of 24 workers found that improved indoor environmental quality actually doubled occupants’ cognitive function test scores. In the study, the 24 professional employees—architects, designers, programmers, engineers, creative marketing professionals and managers—participated in a six-day study examining the impact of green buildings on cognitive performance and decision-making performance. For the two-week test period, they relocated to the Total...