ST. JOHNSBURY, VT.—Offering recycling to its guests and staff, and expanding green purchasing have allowed the 107-room Comfort Inn & Suites in St. Johnsbury, Vermont to reduce its environmental footprint, respond to guest requests, and to be recognized as a Green Hotel through the Vermont Green Hotels in the Green Mountain State Program (also known as the Vermont Green Hotels Program). In April 2009, the Comfort Inn agreed to work with the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC), the Vermont Green Hotels Program, and EPA New England to initiate a recycling program and to increase and document its green purchasing efforts. These...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a little more than a year, 34 corporate customers have installed, deployed or purchased more than 250 fuel cell power systems and hundreds of backup power units, totaling more than 30 MW of power, plus more than 1,000 fuel cell-powered forklifts. “The Business Case for Fuel Cells 2011: Energizing America’s Top Companies,” a new report released by Fuel Cells 2000, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., profiles 24 new corporate fuel cell customers and revisits 10 companies that have installed or ordered additional systems for several North American locations since last year. One of the installations...

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—The meeting industry is one step closer to the introduction of the very first green meetings and event standards. The Convention Industry Council (CIC) announced that eight of the nine APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting standards are complete. “This is a major accomplishment for the collective conventions, meetings, events and exhibitions industry,” stated Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, Chief Executive Officer of the Convention Industry Council. “Sustainability is a strategic concern for planners, suppliers and the organizations they represent. These standards are much anticipated so this is a great moment for the volunteers who put such effort to this project.” The standards...

SANTA MONICA, CALIF.—Shore Hotel opened last month on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, just steps from the Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade, and the city’s popular beaches and shopping districts. Shore Hotel is the newest addition to the coastline—a Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified property that offers eco-friendly accommodations. Independently owned and operated by the Farzam family, Gensler Architecture conceived the 164-room hotel’s modern California exterior and interior design. The open-air, U-shaped design of Shore Hotel showcases an outdoor pool and patio, distinctive, steel trellis and three-tier glass sky bridge. Amenities on property include a...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The first annual NEWH Sustainable Design and Development Conference and Tradeshow will be held on December 9 at the Capitol Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. This tradeshow will bring together innovative, sustainable leaders, ideas, products, design and tangible business results. NEWH invites all members of the design and development community, hospitality industry, event professionals and sustainable partners who are looking to gain further insight and to promote and build strong business relationships to attend this new industry show. The trade show and conference will be a one-day event and will conclude with a cocktail reception on the show floor....

ITHACA, N.Y.—Thirty industry leaders in sustainability and a smaller group of Cornell University students met last week in Ithaca, N.Y. for Cornell University’s annual Sustainability Roundtable. The event featured six sessions covering different aspects of sustainability. Eric Ricaurte, principal, Greenview, moderated the day-long event. David Jerome, senior vice president Corporate Responsibility for InterContinental Hotels Group, led off the Roundtable by moderating a session entitled, “Managing Sustainability Across a Global Platform.” “Sustainability is new and people are going to make a lot of mistakes,” Jerome said. “Owners don’t live in this space every day. A lot of our general managers have not...

CHATTANOOGA, TENN.—The Residence Inn Chattanooga near Hamilton Place, among Chattanooga extended stay hotels, announced that it has added two new environmentally friendly Level 2 Blink Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations. The charging stations are complimentary to hotel guests. The hotel has taken great strides in the local and global effort to create a healthier, greener environment since its opening in 2009. Residence Inn is a member of the Chattanooga Green Lodging Certification Program. The hotel recycles soap, uses environmentally friendly laundry detergents, recycles plastic, and offers towel and linen reuse program which saves water. In 2010, ECOtality, a leader in electric...

NATIONAL REPORT—The number of hotels asking guests to pay more for rooms with filtered air is on the rise with the continued growth of PURE Solutions’ PURE Room program and the recent introduction of UV Flu Technology’s ABC “Purity +” Rooms. According to Brian Brault, CEO of PURE Solutions, his PURE Room program is now represented in 250 hotels in North America and should be in close to 300 hotels by the end of the year. Outside of North America, another 20 hotels are represented. By room count, there are now approximately 5,000 PURE Rooms—mostly in the United States...

BUFFALO, N.Y.—Delaware North Companies is celebrating the 10th anniversary of ISO 14001 registration of GreenPath, the company’s award-winning environmental management system, with the registration of its global headquarters in Buffalo, N.Y. The registration to the standards put forth by the International Organization for Standardization signifies Delaware North’s continued commitment to stewardship. Delaware North Companies’ global headquarters earlier this month completed a two-day audit necessary for maintaining ISO 14001 registration. The third-party ISO auditor reviewed the policy, the plan and the progress on Delaware North’s latest annual goals. The auditor then toured the building, quizzing employees and inspecting everything from the...

ANN ARBOR, MICH.—NSF International (NSF) and the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI) have developed an American National Standard that provides a standardized way to define and report the environmental and human health hazards associated with a chemical product and its manufacturing process impacts. The new standard, officially known as NSF/GCI/ANSI (American National Standards Institute) 355 Greener Chemicals and Processes Information Standard, establishes standardized criteria for comparing chemicals and processes that help chemical manufacturers and their customers make greener choices. The standard outlines a framework that chemical manufacturers will use to develop one comprehensive, standardized NSF/GCI/ANSI 355 report to...