WASHINGTON, D.C.—Green Seal Inc. announced that the Green Seal Environmental Standard for Restaurants and Food Services, GS-46, has been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). First published in May 2009, GS-46 is based on real data on the environmental impacts of restaurants and food services including the impacts of food, energy and water use, and supplies. As a result, the GS-46 standard provides a comprehensive framework to guide operations on how to reduce their environmental impacts and is the basis for Green Seal Certification. GS-46 is the first Green Seal specification to be approved as an American National...

LAS VEGAS—CityCenter announced that it has received three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council for: ARIA Resort’s hotel tower; ARIA Resort’s convention center and theater; and Vdara Hotel. ARIA and Vdara will open in December on the Las Vegas Strip and are the first of CityCenter’s developments to be LEED certified. CityCenter anticipates Gold or Silver LEED certification for its remaining developments which include Las Vegas’ first Mandarin Oriental; Crystals, a 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district; Veer Towers, the community’s only strictly residential buildings; and The Harmon (opening late 2010),...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS) and Boutique Media Group announced the launch of boutique DESIGN New York, a new hospitality interiors fair that will coincide with the 95th annual IH/M&RS in November 2010. Featuring an edited selection of 200 exhibitors, boutique DESIGN New York will serve as an opportunity for interior product manufacturers to showcase the latest in high-end, unique and innovative design products for hospitality. “This exciting new fair fulfills an industry need for an event that caters specifically to the growing boutique hotel community,” said John Russell, CEO of NYLO Hotels, IH/M&RS board member...

NATIONAL REPORT—Every new Home2 Suites by Hilton will have them. The Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle has them. So does the Nines hotel in Portland, Ore., the Bardessono in Yountville, Calif., the Hotel Terra in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and many other properties. What are they? Dual flush toilets. These highly efficient cousins to standard toilets increasingly are being selected for new construction and renovation projects. Just entering the U.S. lodging market in the last few years, they have been used in Australia, Asia and Europe for more than 20 years and are becoming more common in Canada and...

CHICAGO—The Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza announces its LEED Gold Certification (Existing Buildings, Operations & Maintenance) by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED-EBOM), making the hotel the first LEED certified hotel in the city of Chicago. LEED certification is the nationally accepted benchmark for design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. The 521-room Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza is part of the 2.25-million-square-foot, 25-story 350 West Mart Center which has also been awarded LEED Gold certification. The Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza is operated by Hostmark Hospitality Group. The hotel, originally built...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Environmental Protection Agency has revised the qualifications for televisions to achieve the Energy Star label, requiring TVs to be 40 percent more energy efficient than conventional models. These requirements will help consumers save even more energy and money and fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions while allowing them to continue to enjoy the features, performance and quality they expect. Televisions meeting EPA’s new, more stringent Energy Star specifications will be available in stores nationwide starting May 1, 2010. The new requirements raise the bar on how energy efficient a TV must be to earn the...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced the debut of the Aloft brand’s first adaptive re-use project in the heart of downtown Dallas. The Aloft Dallas Downtown opens in a historic railroad freight depot, now transformed into a destination complete with 193 spacious, loft-like rooms, accessible technology and a hip, social atmosphere. Aloft Dallas Downtown occupies an eight-story antique gem built in 1924 as a Santa Fe Railroad freight terminal and commercial dry goods warehouse. Evoking an era when train tracks formed the arteries of the commercial district, the sleek, new hotel delivers the Aloft brand’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) released “H1N1 Influenza Management in Hotels,” a guide for lodging businesses to use in managing H1N1 influenza virus situations at their properties. The 26-page manual gives hoteliers guidance for employees and guests who are afflicted with the H1N1 flu and other influenza strains. It also covers basic sanitation practices to use when cleaning guestrooms and public areas. The “H1N1 Influenza Management in Hotels” manual is divided into 10 areas: a basic introduction to H1N1 flu and its treatment, the need for a hotel response plan and its basic components, employee safety, what...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council stepped up its commitment to improved building performance with the launch of the Building Performance Initiative, designed to put in place a comprehensive data collection effort from all buildings that have achieved LEED certification; implement an appropriate analysis methodology of that data; and provide feedback to building owners so they have better information with which to address any performance gaps that stem from predicted building performance versus actual performance. This initiative complements the announcement earlier this year that will require ongoing performance data from buildings as part of their certification under the...

WASHINGTON, VA.—Heritage House, a small historic bed and breakfast in “Little” Washington is helping save lives while making the world a little cleaner and greener. As the first Virginia lodging partner with Clean the World (a new nonprofit foundation that recycles gently-used soap and shampoo donated by hotels and provides it to impoverished countries), Heritage House B&B is donating leftover amenities from their guestrooms that would otherwise end up in the local Rappahannock County landfill. Instead, they will end up in the hands of some of the world’s neediest people who—according to the World Health Organization—tragically lose their young...