WASHINGTON, D.C.—In conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is launching an Energy Slasher Challenge. The year-long challenge asks hoteliers to track their quarterly energy and natural gas consumption from April 1, 2009 thru April 1, 2011, and report the totals via www.ahla.com/slasher. Participants can benchmark their progress through GreenQuest, a Web-based service free to AH&LA members; EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager; or their own corporate benchmarking program. Each quarter AH&LA will update an online leader board, and Green Guru Pat Maher will provide monthly strategies, assistance, and best practices to help...

MCLEAN, VA.—Following two years of testing, Hilton Worldwide has unveiled LightStay, a proprietary system developed to calculate and analyze environmental impact. In the first full year of findings, the 2009 LightStay results show that the 1,300 Hilton Worldwide properties using the system conserved enough energy to power 5,700 homes for a year, saved enough water to fill more than 650 Olympic-size pools and reduced carbon output equivalent to taking 34,865 cars off the road. Reductions in water and energy use also translated into dollars saved for hotel owners, with estimated savings of more than $29 million in utility costs...

MINNEAPOLIS—When Governor Chris Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5543 on March 19, Washington became the first state to address the dangers of unsafe packaging and transportation of used fluorescent lamps and mercury containing devices. This new legislation is set to be the precursor of future state and federal legislation as awareness of mercury vapor dangers increases. Due to deficiencies of most current packaging configurations utilized for shipping used fluorescent lamps, the new law requires that lights and other mercury-containing devices are packaged and shipped in material that will minimize the release of mercury into the environment. The law also states...

SAN DIEGO—Barona Resort & Casino announced that it has achieved Gold certification as part of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) rating system. Barona is the first tribal resort in the nation to earn the internationally recognized certification for the design and operation of high performance green buildings. “The Barona Resort & Casino”s LEED for Existing Buildings Gold certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair, USGBC. “The most sustainable way to green the built environment is through retrofitting existing buildings. Barona can...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) annual Summer Summit, held at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., will offer attendees insight from industry insiders, networking with diverse groups of industry professionals, and the opportunity to shape future AH&LA initiatives via more than a dozen committees. In addition, the annual Stars of the Industry Awards ceremony will honor exemplary employees and programs, and attendees can book a one-on-one eco-appointment with AH&LA’s Green Guru, Pat Maher. As a precursor to the Summit, AH&LA’s Women in Lodging Connect will host a panel and reception with the newly-formed Arizona...

Waste management programs can be more challenging for hotels than other green initiatives because there are many kinds of waste to address, and it takes ongoing attention to achieve good results. Yet, successful programs are financially rewarding, and they are noticed by hotel customers more than any other green initiative. This article is intended to help hotels reduce waste and reap the associated benefits. Hotels reduce their operating costs when they manage their waste stream well. Waste management programs cut costs by making some purchases unnecessary, save staff time and reduce trash disposal bills. However, disposal costs vary markedly by region,...

CONCORD, N.H.—The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) and the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Assn. (NHLRA) announced that the Gale River Motel & Cottages (GRM&C), Franconia, N.H., is the first motel labeled as an Environmental Champion under a new program coordinated between the two organizations. In November, NHLRA kicked off its redesigned green certification program for restaurants and lodging facilities to make them more accountable for keeping up their green practices. NHLRA began offering a tool to educate hotels and restaurants on making their businesses more sustainable. Michelle Veasey of the NHLRA’s Sustainability Program and Tara Mae...

BRADENTON, FLA.—At a time when energy costs have reached an all time high, savvy hotel and condo owners are finding highly effective ways to conserve energy and save money. By installing constant airflow regulators in bathroom and kitchen exhaust vents, owners and operators are able to accurately and automatically control the amount of heated or conditioned air that is constantly blown out of their buildings. While having the airflow automatically regulated improves the indoor air quality and enables the use of smaller high-efficiency fans, the greatest savings comes from the reduced load on a facility’s heating and cooling systems. Constant...

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF.—After months of planning, the agenda for the West Coast Green Lodging Conference has been finalized. The event will be held at the Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe Hotel & Ski Resort, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., from August 22 to 25. The conference, directed toward hotel general managers, chief engineers, innkeepers and owners, will address the reasons for going green, how to do it, the financial impact (return on investment), the public relations and marketing benefits, and the ways in which the community benefits. The event will begin on Sunday, August 22 with a welcome reception. On Monday,...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) jointly announced changes to the Energy Star product certification process to ensure that only products meeting the program requirements can receive an Energy Star label. These changes accelerate steps DOE and EPA have initiated over the past several months to bolster the verification, testing and enforcement aspects of the Energy Star program. “The Energy Star program started out small and has grown quickly, and now the brand is immensely valuable to consumers and businesses,” said Gina McCarthy, EPA assistant administrator for Air and Radiation....