MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton Worldwide announced an upgrade to LightStay, its in-house corporate responsibility measurement platform, across the company’s more than 4,440 properties globally. With new features and enhancements, this next generation of LightStay now serves as the comprehensive, one-solution platform for all environmental, operational and social impact reporting for Hilton’s global portfolio of hotels.    The year-long upgrade was based on in-depth analysis of hotel data across Hilton’s global portfolio from the last five years. With thousands of metrics, Hilton improved LightStay to help hotels better manage energy and water usage as well as drive improvement across hundreds of indicators over...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In its second iteration, the Green Venue Report (GVR) doubles its data set to highlight the state of sustainability in the meetings and events industry. With the motto, “Green Events Happen in Green Venues,” GVR invites convention centers from around the world to participate in an in-depth survey. The survey is made up of 158 questions covering topics of venue space, events, energy, waste, water, accessibility, food and beverage, staff involvement, and communications. The survey was conducted in the spring of 2015 and is based on 2014 operational information.The 2015 Data set includes: 30 Convention Centers from six...

LAS VEGAS—For the ninth year, Black Enterprise (BE) magazine has named MGM Resorts International one of the “Best Companies for Diversity” in the United States based on its diversity and inclusion practices. MGM Resorts is the only company in the integrated resort industry, and the only company based in Nevada, to be named to the magazine’s list.The 40 companies featured in the publication’s special report demonstrate a commitment to diversity in one or more of four key areas, including: Board of Directors mix, employee diversity, senior management mix and supplier diversity. Of those 40 companies, MGM Resorts was among...

LONDON—The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) and Greenview have launched the free Hotel Footprinting Tool which allows anyone easy access to the carbon and energy footprint of hotels worldwide. The Hotel Footprinting Tool uses data from the annual Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Study.It’s now far easier for hotels to compare their own carbon footprint to industry averages in their locality. Businesses seeking to map the footprint of their own hotel stays and meetings can now access more accurate figures for hotels in the area and market segment, rather than using broad industry averages or having to contact individual hotels for...

SAN FRANCISCO—For the 14th consecutive year Green Festival Expo is returning to San Francisco. This year’s version will be held the weekend of November 13th through the 15th, but this year the Expo will be held at Daly City’s Cow Palace. This larger venue is a confirmation of the growth of Green Festivals as well as the commitment of the Festival’s planners to bring green, sustainable products and practices to new audiences. This all vegan and vegetarian Expo is expected to attract more than 25,000 locals to the three day event.“This is an exciting time for Green Festival as...

CHICAGO—In its continuous effort to innovate around sustainability and improve the communities that it calls home around the world, Hyatt Hotels Corp. announced a new relationship with Bloom Energy, a fuel cell technology company known for its unique on-site power generation systems. Hyatt Regency Greenwich has been selected as the recipient of Hyatt’s first 500kW fuel cell, which will provide up to 75 percent of the hotel’s energy load, generating significant cost savings. By generating its own electricity on-site with Bloom Energy, the hotel will reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent compared to electricity purchased from the grid....

MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton Worldwide announced a new GED Assistance benefit that will give thousands of eligible Team Members the opportunity to earn their high school equivalency diploma. The new program marks the largest, most comprehensive high school diploma assistance benefit provided by a major hospitality company in the United States.The GED Assistance program is available to all full-time U.S. Team Members at owned and managed hotels and corporate offices with six months of service or greater. The new benefit will provide one-on-one advising and test preparation support. It will be free of charge for Team Members, and will also cover...

BETHESDA, MD.—This month Marriott International celebrates more than 25 years of its global diversity and inclusion program, along with the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and National Disability Employment Awareness Month in the United States. The company’s recently released 2015 Sustainability Report highlights its support for diversity and inclusion commitments such as these, as well as its recent achievements and initiatives supporting the environment, local communities and youth employment.Marriott spotlights a nonprofit partner that shares its founder’s name—the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities. Celebrating its 25th year, the Foundation’s Bridges from School to Work...

FAJARDO, P.R.—The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) has named the winners for the inaugural CHIEF Awards honoring member hotels and tourism-related enterprises for best practices in Business Operations, Sales & Marketing and Sustainable Practices. Awardees were announced at the Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF) which took place October 2 to 4, 2015 at El Conquistador Resort, A Waldorf AstoriaResort in Puerto Rico.“We have witnessed extreme forward-thinking programs from each of the winning companies who rightfully earned top honors in these important categories,” said Emil Lee, President of CHTA.The resort which earned top honors for the Sustainable Practices...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently reached a significant milestone in bringing the building community together by releasing a common definition of a zero energy building, or what is also referred to as a “net zero energy” or “zero net energy” building.After leading an extensive stakeholder engagement process over the past year and a half, the Energy Department released its findings in the recently published “A Common Definition of Zero Energy Buildings,” which states that a Zero Energy Building is “an energy-efficient building where, on a source energy basis, the actual annual delivered energy is less than...