PORTLAND, ORE.—The sixth annual Sustainable Meetings Conference, organized by the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), kicked off yesterday with a full slate of educational sessions and news that GMIC has grown to 600 members in more than 30 countries. The conference, which has drawn 250 people in person and 60 “virtual” attendees, is being held at the Doubletree Hotel Portland. Four years ago, when the conference was also held in Portland, total attendance was closer to 60. Guy Bigwood, president of GMIC and director of sustainability, MCI Group, told attendees that GMIC currently has 20 chapters up and running...

NEW YORK—Hilton Inn at Penn, a AAA Four Diamond hotel, is nearing the end of a multi-million dollar renovation designed to modernize the property’s 238 guestrooms and suites. The two-phased project, under the creative direction of interior design firm RD Jones & Associates, will update each guestroom with contemporary and sustainable features, including energy-saving technology, WaterSense showerheads and Apple iPads. The renovation is expected to be completed by March 2011. Hilton Inn at Penn maintained its focus on environmental responsibility by integrating sustainable features in the guestrooms that are designed to positively impact the guest experience. Fabrics, wallcoverings and bathroom...

CHICAGO—Companies that occupy office space around the world consider sustainability a key factor in their space occupancy plans, and half of corporate real estate executives say they will pay extra for space in green buildings, according to the fourth annual Sustainability Survey conducted by CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle.  Conducted in the fourth quarter of 2010, the survey results reveal a corporate real estate industry in the process of reconciling the focus on reducing environmental impacts of buildings with the need to control costs and support corporate financial performance. CoreNet Global, the association of corporate real estate professionals worldwide,...

EDMONTON—Edmonton’s Shaw Conference Centre has received the Building Owners and Managers Association’s (BOMA) “Building Environmental Standards” certification. BOMA’s certification program, or BOMA BEST for short, recognizes organizations like Edmonton Economic Development Corp., which manages the Shaw Conference Centre, for its commitment to the environment. Applications for certification must be verified by a third-party assessor. The application process included showing 12 months of consumption data and a green purchasing policy, documenting in-house green practices, and meeting indoor air quality requirements for clients and staff. BOMA BEST is the successor to BOMA’s Go Green program, which Shaw Conference Centre achieved in...

LAS VEGAS—Green Day will precede Hospitality Design Exposition & Conference (HD Expo) once again this year, taking place at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 17. Green Day is the only accredited conference of its kind that brings together a targeted group of passionate industry leaders dedicated to sustainable hospitality design. This unique forum continues to be at the forefront of education and innovation to promote more socially responsible, ethical and eco-friendly practices within the industry. While the U.S. market of green building products and services has increased 500 percent in the past...

BOULDER, COLO.—Although the primary purpose of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in commercial buildings is occupant productivity, a new report from Pike Research finds that the objective of most changes to HVAC systems in the next five years will be to decrease energy cost. According to the study, because of rising energy prices and the drive to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with building operations, many building owners have begun to manage energy cost as an asset, rather than a fixed cost. The tools for improving efficiency of HVAC systems include building energy management systems (BEMS), on-site...

GREENVILLE, MAINE—A new green destination for outdoor recreation in Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness region is now available to the public with the official opening of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) Gorman Chairback Lodge and Cabins, on Long Pond, between Greenville and Brownville. The new central lodge building is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) registered, making it the first sporting camp lodge in Maine, and one of only a handful of backcountry facilities in the nation, to be LEED registered. Overseen by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED provides a nationally recognized set of industry standards for evaluation and certification...

AUSTIN, TEXAS—Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook director of market development, is slated to discuss how social media is radically changing the way we work, live, communicate and vote at the opening session of the 2011 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC). Zuckerberg will present “Change Through Social Media: How the Web is Radically Altering Our World” on Monday, June 20 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. “As the director of market development for Facebook, Zuckerberg knows first-hand how this platform hit the sweet spot of consumer demand for connectedness, and it’ll be interesting to hear how she intends to...

PARIS—Novotel’s traditional certification organization is changing its name and Accor’s midscale hotel brand is taking advantage of the occasion to reaffirm its goal of obtaining environmental and social certification for all of the more than 400 hotels in its network by the end of 2012. At present, 78 hotels in 18 countries have already been certified and an additional 104 hotels have embarked on the project. EarthCheck, known as Green Globe until 2009, is one of the first worldwide certification programs developed especially for the tourism industry. Its process is based on the notion of continuous improvement and requires a...

ATLANTA—An integrated design approach to building energy modeling—and learning how to use modeling tools more effectively—improves the accuracy and reliability of simulation results and increases the return on time and resources invested to generate the models. ASHRAE’s Energy Modeling Conference: Tools for Designing High Performance Buildings, April 4 to 6, 2011, ASHRAE headquarters, Atlanta, will provide hands-on modelers and principals with the information to better harness the power of energy modeling tools. The conference covers modeling fundamentals, building component contributions, software demonstrations and case studies. A collaborative perspective is provided that demonstrates how energy models and computer simulations can...