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...

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...