STAMFORD, CONN.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced the publication of its inaugural corporate responsibility report, “Global Citizenship at Starwood.” The narrative provides an update on Starwood’s recent Global Citizenship initiatives, and outlines the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, community involvement, opportunities for associate development, and best practices in corporate governance.Frits van Paasschen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Starwood, said, “At Starwood we believe being a good corporate citizen makes good business sense, and helps us offer our guests ‘A Better Way to Experience the World.’ Working closely with experts, NGOs, community partners, suppliers, and...

NEW YORK—1 Hotels, a new hotel brand from Starwood Capital Group launching in fall 2014, will feature “farm-to-table” restaurants from critically acclaimed chefs Jonathan Waxman, Tom Colicchio and Seamus Mullen. 1 Hotels will open three distinct hotel and restaurant destinations: New York City’s Central Park; Miami’s South Beach in Miami Beach; and Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, N.Y.1 Hotels is the first luxury hotel brand to focus on sustainable living. The goal is to celebrate nature, its beauty, its perfection and purity with natural and sustainable materials. Each of the 1 Hotels will be LEED certified and every hotel...

DENVER—Metropolitan State University of Denver announced that its SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown at MSU Denver and the attached Hospitality Learning Center have been certified LEED Gold for New Construction by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction. Managed by Denver’s Sage Hospitality, the 150-suite hotel is metro Denver’s first LEED Gold hotel.The public-private partnership between MSU Denver and Sage Hospitality created a vibrant hotel that opened in 2012, as well as the state-of-the-art HLC, the first of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region and one of only 11 in...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first-ever Energy Star label for clothes dryers. If all residential clothes dryers sold in the United States meet these new requirements, the utility cost savings will grow to more than $1.5 billion each year and more than 22 billion pounds of annual greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented. Informed by extensive input from manufacturers, retailers, the U.S. Department of Energy and environmental groups, the new specifications will recognize a selection of highly efficient electric, gas, and compact dryers that will use approximately 20 percent less energy than what is required...

ITHACA, N.Y.—A landmark Cornell University study has compiled and analyzed industry-wide data to develop sustainability benchmarks for hotels in 30 geographic areas in China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Using these benchmarks, hotels in and near these 30 locations can see how they stack up against their peers. With data contributed by nine global hotel companies, the benchmark data collection and analysis effort focuses on two key components of sustainability: energy usage and carbon emissions. The report, “Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking,” by Howard G. Chong and Eric E. Ricaurte, is available at no charge from the Cornell Center...

HONG KONG—A prominent research consortium supported by the EarthCheck Research Institute (ERI), together with Ecolab (ECL) and Griffith University, recently released its second white paper on water, calling on the tourism industry—a heavy user of water—to act fast. The paper titled, “From Challenges to Solutions: Providing the Business Case,” shows that water and its combined effect with energy use could become the most contested resource of the future.Addressing more than 50 tourism industry professionals at a lecture at Eaton Hong Kong, Dr. Susanne Becken, a Professor of Sustainability from Australia’s Griffith University, said the tourism industry is at risk.“Tourism...

WILKES-BARRE, PA.—When King’s College purchased the downtown Ramada Inn in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. in late 2013, the 190-room hotel came with just about everything one would expect to come with a full-service hotel. The kitchen was fully stocked with appliances. The guestrooms still had furniture, linens, etc. Meeting rooms also still included furniture. The previous owner left just about everything for the new owner to remove—more than 4,500 items. King’s College had no intention of running a hotel; it purchased the property in order to convert it into a dormitory and administrative space. King’s College could have called on a...

NEW YORK—The Wyndham New Yorker Hotel has made tremendous strides over the past several years to support its eco-friendly initiatives. In honor of Earth Day, the iconic hotel recently recommitted itself to upholding these standards in an effort to preserve the environment. As the hotel embarks on a fresh look with the rollout of a five-year, multi-million dollar renovation that will modernize the 912-room property, it will continue to purchase energy produced by green power like solar, hydro or wind power. The hotel also buys carbon credits to offset the energy they purchase, which is produced by burning fossil fuels....

LAS VEGAS—On May 15, two finalist teams presented concepts for the 8th annual Radical Innovation Award in Las Vegas. Green Air and Hotel 2020 were selected by an esteemed jury—out of nearly 100 entrants from 28 countries. The hotels are meant to propose new solutions for real problems within the hospitality industry.This year, the jury prepared the contestants to present live at the Hospitality Design Expo where opposing jury members and conference attendees considered the feasibility of the future development of the concept. The creator of the Green Air project received the grand prize of $10,000 following a live...

LAS VEGAS—The Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) Campaign has recognized MGM Resorts International for its dedication to sustainability and energy-efficient lighting. The company was recently honored with two Campaign awards: “Highest Absolute Annual Savings in a Retrofit at a Single Parking Structure” for a major lighting retrofit at MGM Grand Detroit, and “Largest Percentage of Facilities Upgraded (minimum of five facilities)” for MGM Facilities in Michigan and Nevada.LEEP is co-sponsored by the Business Owners and Management Association, Green Parking Council, International Facility Management Association and Better Buildings through the U.S. Department of Energy.“Our outdoor lighting projects are truly...