CHICAGO—The National Restaurant Association announced that exhibiting companies at its 2012 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show—held May 5 to 8 at Chicago’s McCormick Place—have donated more than 41,710 meals to the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD).“Donating surplus food from the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show is a long-time tradition we are proud to uphold,” said Jack Crawford, convention chair for NRA Show 2012 and president and CEO of Ground Round Independent Owners Cooperative, LLC. “The generosity of our exhibiting companies this year is amazing, as the number of meals donated this year exceeded the number of meals donated last year...

DALLAS—The Omni Dallas Hotel, which opened its doors last November, has received LEED Gold New Construction (NC) certification, making it the first and only LEED Gold hotel in Texas and the largest LEED Gold hotel in the United States outside of Las Vegas. This designation was made possible by the development and execution of a highly disciplined plan that included the use of recycled and regionally-sourced materials, reduced construction pollution and water conservation initiatives. Upon opening, the hotel has also instituted practices to operate at LEED Gold standards.“The Omni Dallas Hotel is living up to its expectations in every...

FRANKFURT, GERMANY—Accor unveiled its Carbon Optimizer for professional customers with an exclusive worldwide preview at the IMEX Frankfurt trade show. This tool will allow meeting and seminar organizers to know and cut their events’ carbon footprint. Accor is a leading player in meetings and seminars, with venues in roughly 2,000 hotels. The Carbon Optimizer is interactive, user-friendly and combines a comprehensive set of variables, including the number of participants, the number of nights they plan to stay, how long the seminar will last, how big the meeting rooms are and the energy mix in the host country (the proportion of...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The world’s first guide to aligning meeting and event planning practices with the scientific principles of sustainable development is now available as a free download, thanks to an innovative collaboration between The Natural Step and the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC).Meeting the Future was launched on the GMIC website after the two organizations pooled their knowledge to explain sustainability in a set of simple terms and clear examples for meeting organizers and suppliers.“The meetings industry has been clamoring for a practical approach to creating better events through sustainability,” said GMIC president Paul Salinger, vice-president of marketing at Oracle...

INDIANAPOLIS—CityWay, a transformative new 14-acre neighborhood in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, is incorporating a number of sustainable initiatives into the new community, including plentiful green space, energy and water efficiency, a recycling program, enhanced indoor environmental quality, carpooling and electric vehicle support. It is also pursuing LEED certification for the new Alexander Hotel, a Dolce Hotel, affirming CityWay’s support for environmentally-conscious design, construction and living for downtown.“Sustainable living and working are central to the vision for CityWay,” said Scott Travis, senior development director of Buckingham Companies. “From the construction phase through its completion, CityWay will remain on the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson has sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) president and CEO Rick Fedrizzi, urging changes to the treatment of forest products under the Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 2012 rating system. LEED, widely used by building owners and operators to certify their materials and operations are energy efficient and environmentally friendly, plans to release a revised rating system, LEED 2012, in November of 2012.The bipartisan letter, signed by Thompson and seven other Members of Congress representing districts with significant rural or forestry interests, urges USGBC to “accept...

ORLANDO—Gaylord Hotels has deepened its commitment to sustainability by partnering with Clean the World to recycle soaps and bottled amenities at all four Gaylord properties in North America—Gaylord National (Washington, D.C.), Gaylord Opryland (Nashville), Gaylord Palms (Orlando), and Gaylord Texan (Dallas).Clean the World projects that the entire Gaylord Hotels portfolio, representing 8,050 hotel rooms, will collect nearly 447,000 soap bars (more than 84,000 pounds of soap) and 62,500 pounds of bottled amenities (shampoos, conditioners, body washes, lotions and gels) annually for distribution to children and families in domestic homeless shelters, women’s shelters, and rescue missions. The sanitized and recycled...

BOULDER, COLO.—The Boulder Creek Quality Inn & Suites has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Energy Star certification, which signifies that the building performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA. The certification makes this property the first and only Energy Star rated solar powered hotel in Boulder, Colo.Commercial buildings that earn EPA’s Energy Star certification use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The Boulder Creek Quality...

JEKYLL ISLAND, GA.—More than 300 people gathered Sunday to celebrate the official grand opening of the new Jekyll Island Convention Center. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal held the large scissors and cut the ribbon on the highly-anticipated new convention center, while state delegates, the Jekyll Island Authority board, staff and public came together to usher in a new era for Jekyll Island. The center, which is expected to earn LEED Silver, features numerous eco-friendly elements, including solar panels, a reflective roof, a cistern for collecting and dispensing rainwater, and low-impact lighting. Shells and sea glass from Georgia shores were ground...

CHICAGO—The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) received a warm official welcome from one of North America’s most sustainable destinations when Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel formally announced that his community would host the 2013 Sustainable Meetings Conference next April.“This is a perfect example of the City of Chicago and its tourism and convention industry working together to achieve a key goal: attracting more visitors to Chicago,” said Mayor Emanuel. “This conference is one of many that have committed to the city and will create jobs and economic opportunity for our residents.”“We are honored to host this conference and demonstrate the...