SAN FRANCISCO—Airbnb, a leading community-driven hospitality company, released a new study quantifying the environmental benefits of home sharing for travelers. Conducted by Cleantech Group (CTG), this study finds that Airbnb promotes a more efficient use of existing resources and is an environmentally sustainable way to travel. Traveling on Airbnb results in significant reduction in energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste, and encourages more sustainable practices among both hosts and guests.“Resource sharing is rapidly growing across a number of sectors including hospitality, consumer goods, and transportation,” said Michael Ellis, EVP Advisory for CTG. “Cleantech Group’s initial analysis...

HARTFORD, CONN.—The Connecticut Convention Center has recently taken steps in the green direction with the completion of two major projects that will improve the facility’s energy efficiency. Beginning last summer, the Center entrusted the help of Strategic Building Solutions (SBS) to review the energy usage for chilled water, hot water, and steam throughout the facility. For four months, SBS made adjustments to the Center’s computers, pump controls, motor controls, and Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs). Within a month of SBS completing these adjustments, the Convention Center saw a savings in chilled water and hot water usage. To this day, those...

ITHACA, N.Y.—A new study from Cornell University has found that hotels gain a revenue benefit when they are certified under the LEED sustainable building program. By comparing LEED certified hotels with a competitive set of non-certified hotels, the study found substantial increases in average daily rates and revenue per available room for the LEED hotels. The study, “The Impact of LEED Certification on Hotel Performance,” by Matthew Walsman, Rohit Verma, and Suresh Muthulingam, is available at no charge from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at the School of Hotel Administration.“The hotel industry has embraced environmental sustainability and...

NATIONAL REPORT—It is no secret that energy management can be a major challenge for hotels. By all means, energy is important for any building these days. In an industry focused on providing superior customer experiences and maintaining immaculate facilities, high electricity bills can feel uncontrollable—just another cost of doing business. Hotel facility managers are trained to think about electricity bills in terms of kilowatt-hours (kWh), which equates to how much energy the building consumes each month. However, there is another component of the bill measured in kilowatts (kW), or the maximum peak rate at which the facility used electricity...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The Oregon Convention Center (OCC) has been certified to the highest level of a new international sustainability standard. OCC achieved Level Four certification for the ASTM Standard pertaining to the evaluation and selection of venues for environmentally sustainable meetings, events, trade shows and conferences. The venue standard is one of nine standards introduced by the meetings, conventions, exhibitions and events industry in 2012 to provide event planners and suppliers with specifications for producing events in a more sustainable manner.Scott Cruickshank, Executive Director of the OCC, commented, “We are proud and excited to be the first convention center to...

OTTAWA, ON.—Green Key Global (GKG), in partnership with MPI Foundation Canada, announces the release of version 2.0 of the Green Key Meetings Program, a comprehensive environmental assessment tool for facilities, both lodging and non-lodging, that host meetings of any scale. Developed with the assistance of senior meeting planner professionals, the Program has been updated to ensure incorporation of current meeting practice elements as well as to complement the well-known APEX/ASTM Green Meetings Standards.“The MPI Foundation is proud to continue its support of the Green Key Meetings Program as it embraces the importance of corporate social responsibility within our industry,”...

NATIONAL REPORT—Prior to one of her recent trips, Judy Smith* called the motel where she was going to be staying and requested that no chemicals, air fresheners or room deodorizers be used in her room. Unfortunately, housekeeping only got the message about not using cleaning chemicals and not the part about not using air fresheners or room deodorizers. Upon entering her $110 room, Judy said a flowery fragrance of artificially scented products hit her immediately and her throat began to close. “I became hoarse and had to leave the room, sit outside for an hour or longer while my...

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK—Featuring a lineup of top architects, historians and preservation specialists, Yellowstone National Park will be the site this fall of a two-day event focused on the preservation of outstanding rustic architecture. Scheduled for September 30 to October 3, 2014, the Conference on Preservation & Stewardship of Historic Places will be presented through a partnership between the National Park Service, Yellowstone concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the Montana Preservation Alliance and American Institute of Architects Historic Resource Committee. The conference will become an annual event.The event will take place at the Old Faithful Lodge Recreational Hall, just a...

STAMFORD, CONN.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced plans for a dual-branded hotel development in Columbus, Ohio, featuring its Aloft and Element brands. Owned by Indus Hotels, the 136-room Aloft Columbus and 123-room Element Columbus will be located adjacent to The Ohio State University, minutes from downtown Columbus. Marking the debut of both the Aloft and Element brands in Columbus, the hotels are slated to open in early 2017.“Our fast-growing Aloft and Element brands are a perfect fit for the lively city of Columbus and will help meet the demand for high-caliber lodging generated by The Ohio State University...

W. CONSHOHOCKEN, PA.—The ever-increasing cost of resources and the threat of adverse environmental impacts indicate that the time for sustainable manufacturing processes to emerge is now. A proposed new ASTM International standard will help industry adopt more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices by informing manufacturers how they can incorporate sustainability into their daily operations.ASTM WK35702, Guide for Evaluation of Environmental Aspects of Sustainability of Manufacturing Processes, describes methods to enhance resource efficiency, considering environmental impacts, at the manufacturing process level.“WK35702 will help identify opportunities in operations planning, provide guidelines for collecting data and give insight into how to calculate...