WASHINGTON, D.C.—Those looking for assurance that a laundry wastewater recycling system does indeed reduce utility costs can find proof in study results recently released by the U.S. Department of Energy (D.O.E.) Building Technologies Office. The D.O.E., with the assistance of outside consultants, conducted a demonstration project to evaluate laundry wastewater recycling technology in the hospitality sector. The D.O.E. report, entitled, “Demonstration of Advanced Technologies for Multi-Load Washers in Hospitality and Healthcare—Wastewater Recycling Technology,” documents the demonstration of a wastewater recycling system installed at the Grand Hyatt Seattle.The Grand Hyatt, a four diamond hotel located in downtown Seattle, has 425...

NEW YORK—Christopher L. Thompson, President and CEO of Brand USA, will open the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS) with a keynote address on Sunday, November 9 at 11:45 a.m., helping kick off the industry’s 99th annual event at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.The keynote presentation, The Brand USA Effect: The Power of Partnerships, will provide an update on the work of Brand USA since its inception, as well as Thompson’s vision for helping to lead the United States to become the world’s premier travel destination—and how travel brands and destinations can fully leverage the...

OTTAWA, ON.—The New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association (NYSHTA) has announced that it will adopt the Green Key Eco-Rating Program as its official sustainable certification program for the state’s lodging industry. The selection of Green Key Global as its certification partner complements a drive by the association to instill a culture of sustainability amongst its lodging members.  This partnership will see Green Key Global working with NYSHTA to educate its members on the variety of benefits that third-party verification brings to the table. In addition to valuable resources such as toolkits, templates, and detailed performance reports, Green Key...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) recently announced a new initiative designed to ensure the use of sustainable and environmentally protective products in buildings by applying technical and science-based approaches to the LEED green building program. This new initiative acknowledges USGBC’s success in leading the transformation of the built environment and sets up a pathway to take advantage of the materials science expertise of ACC and its members.“USGBC and ACC share the goal of advancing sustainability in the built environment, and we will work together to take advantage of our collective strength...

LONDON—The vast majority of travel companies consider sustainability to be important to their business, according to the World Travel Market 2014 Industry Report. Released by World Travel Market—the leading global event for the travel industry—the report surveyed 1,229 respondents from the travel trade and found that green issues are high on their agenda.A total of 86 percent said they consider sustainability to be important to their company, with 10 percent of those quizzed saying it had a central importance. Two fifths (40 percent) said it was very important while 36 percent said it was quite important.And the findings bode well for...

ORLANDO, FLA.—David Siegel, founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, announced a company-wide increase in minimum pay for its team members to $10 per hour, effective January 1, 2015. All employees currently earning less than $10 per hour will receive a pay increase to the new level, with the exception of commissioned and tipped employees or employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement. In addition, all future team members outside of these exceptions will have a minimum starting pay of $10 per hour.Although there are no Westgate team members paid at the federal minimum wage (other than commissioned or tipped...

ATLANTA—The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) was recently awarded LEED Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a rating system for the design, operation and maintenance of green buildings. The GWCC is now the world’s largest LEED certified convention center. With 3.9 million square feet, the GWCC is also the 14th largest LEED certified building in the world.The facility, located in downtown Atlanta, first opened in 1976 with a total of 750,000 square feet. The fourth and final phase of construction of the building was completed in...

STAMFORD, CONN.—W Hotels Worldwide announced it has joined forces with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality, in the fight for nationwide LGBT equality by launching a fundraising and awareness initiative, “TURN IT UP FOR CHANGE”. Grammy and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson will lend her support and voice to the campaign, which combines the W brand’s longstanding support of the LGBT community with its ongoing passion for music. As part of the program, W Hotels around the country will host monthly TURN IT UP FOR...

NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS—The marine environment at Baha Mar continues to flourish, with the introduction of more than 300 coral antlers to the $3.5 billion resort’s eco-reef experience.The eco-friendly coral antlers were installed in July, adding to the artificial eco-reef experience at Baha Mar. Before the antlers were installed, volunteers from Baha Mar assembled each 55 pound antler by hand.The installation of 48 reef balls and 320 coral antlers began in April 2014 by Baha Mar’s environmental team. The reef balls and coral antlers were designed to complement each other by creating optimal conditions for coral and marine life just...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that it will allow LEED users to register projects under the LEED 2009 rating system until October 31, 2016. The original date for LEED 2009 registration to close was June 15, 2015. Extending to October 2016 gives LEED users and members of the green building industry additional time to prepare for LEED v4, the latest version of LEED, which features increased rigor and multiple updates.  “When USGBC launched LEED v4 last year, we set out with one goal in mind—to raise the bar in a way that challenges the building industry...