DALLAS—Approximately 185 people, including hoteliers, exhibitors, speakers and others, attended the first annual Lodging Green + Sustainability Conference & Expo. The event, organized by Lodging Magazine, was held at the LEED Gold certified Omni Dallas Hotel from October 1 to 3. The conference offered many educational and networking opportunities with highlights including a tour of the 1,001-room host hotel and a keynote presentation by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.James Cannon, Director of Engineering at the Omni Dallas, toured attendees through guestrooms and back of house areas, pointing out the ways in which the $500 million hotel is saving energy, water...

ATLANTA—InterContinental Hotels & Resorts announced that it is the first hotel chain to have all of its IHG corporate-managed restaurants in the United States and Canada become Certified Green Restaurants.In September 2011, the InterContinental Boston hotel’s Miel Brasserie Provençale was the first of the hotel chain’s restaurants to receive the certification. Based on the hotel’s positive feedback about the certification process, the InterContinental brand made the decision to require all of its internally managed restaurants to meet the rigorous environmental certification standards of the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), and last week the hotel chain achieved this goal.InterContinental Hotels &...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently launched the 2013 Energy Star National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. Teams from more than 3,000 buildings across the country are competing to see who can most reduce their buildings’ energy use. In support of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which calls for buildings to cut waste and become at least 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020, the competition specifically targets wasted energy in commercial buildings and motivates businesses to improve energy efficiency, reduce harmful carbon pollution, and save money.More than 25 different types of commercial buildings are facing...

BERKELEY, CALIF.—The installed price of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2012 and through the first half of 2013, according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost tracking report produced by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).Installed prices for PV systems in 2012 fell by a range of roughly $0.30 per Watt (W) to $0.90/W, or 6 to 14 percent, from the prior year, depending on the size of the system. “This marks the third year in a row of significant price reductions for...

ORANJESTAD, ST. EUSTATIUS—The head of the Caribbean region’s tourism development agency has called for legislation to regulate the disposal of waste in Caribbean waters. Delivering the keynote address at the opening of the 2nd Sustainable Conference in St. Eustatius last week, Hugh Riley, the secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), said the Caribbean has a responsibility to protect and preserve its water resources.The two day conference, organized by the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation with support from the CTO, had as its theme, “Tourism and Water: Protecting Our Common Future.”Reflecting on the theme, Riley reminded delegates, including...

BLOOMINGTON, MINN.—The 500-room Radisson Blu Mall of America was green out of the gate when it opened in March this year just next to the bustling 520-store Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. A highly energy efficient building, typical of all new Radisson Blu properties, it is on its way to be the first hotel in Minnesota to achieve LEED certification.While the hotel is the second Radisson Blu in the United States, all future hotels will strive for LEED certification.“Why would we do it any other way?” says Ted Lorenzi, Senior Director of Technical Services, Americas, Carlson Rezidor Hotel...

STAMFORD, CONN.—In an event that culminated in a pedal-powered “spin” on traditional ribbon-cuttings, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide celebrated the grand opening earlier this month of the Element Vaughan Southwest. The Toronto-area hotel represents the international debut of Element Hotels, Starwood’s extended-stay, eco-wise brand. Built green from the ground up, Element Vaughan Southwest is a 152-room hotel in Vaughan, Ontario, just outside Toronto. Its opening marks the beginning of a global expansion that will see the Element brand add to its global portfolio and enter key European and Asian markets over the next few years. These include new...

LONDON—IHG plc. (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s largest hotel companies, announced a series of new corporate responsibility (CR) targets for 2013 to 2017. The new targets will continue to focus on driving impact through IHG’s three core CR Programs—IHG Green Engage, IHG Shelter in a Storm Program and IHG Academy—and will see IHG track and report supply chain diversity and integrate CR criteria into the selection and evaluation process for all preferred suppliers. IHG has also published an update on progress made against previous targets, as well as its 2010 to 2012 carbon footprint results.IHG Green Engage...

SEATTLE—Reducing the amount of food waste that restaurateurs, retailers and manufacturers produce was the main topic of conversation at an August meeting of the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) in Seattle.The meeting was conducted by the National Restaurant Assn., the Grocery Manufacturers Assn. and the Food Marketing Institute, the three charter members of the FWRA. The meeting, one of three during the year, focused on ways to reduce the amount of food waste that goes to landfills and increase the amount of food that is donated to food banks and other like-minded charitable organizations, said Laura Abshire, the NRA’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site, have joined forces on their sustainability initiatives to encourage the hospitality industry to adopt more eco-friendly practices. AH&LA has integrated the minimum eco-friendly requirements of the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders program as part of its Green Guidelines. Now accommodations meeting the AH&LA guidelines will also qualify for the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders program.“TripAdvisor is a trusted site visited by millions of travelers each year,” said Katherine Lugar, AH&LA president/CEO. “Our partnership will effectively educate consumers about green practices incorporated by the lodging industry in their operations, and it...