LAS VEGAS—Affirming its commitment to bring a new level of environmental consciousness to the Las Vegas Strip, CityCenter has earned its fifth and sixth LEED Gold ratings from the U.S. Green Building Council with the certification of Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas and Veer Towers. The accomplishment completes the certification process for all CityCenter components opening this December, and marks the highest LEED achievement by any hotel, retail district or residential development in Las Vegas. The 18-million-square-foot metropolis is one of the world’s largest sustainable communities. “From its inception to design, development and construction, we had one single goal in mind...

DENVER—The 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference has opened registration with a new theme, keynote speaker Annie Leonard, a wide-ranging program, and the ambitious goal of drawing 500 participants to Denver from February 9 to 11, 2010. The conference theme, “Scaling it Up,” underscores the growing importance of sustainability in meetings and events, as well as surging interest in the Green Meeting Industry Council’s (GMIC) premier annual event (formerly the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference). “This conference is the opportunity for meeting organizers and hosts to address the sustainability issues that are redefining the industry,” said GMIC president Amy Spatrisano, CMP. “GMIC...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—High in the Colorado Rockies a life-saving necessity is making its way to the island nation of Haiti and abroad. By partnering with Orlando, Fla.-based Clean the World, Inc., RockResorts is collecting barely-used soap and shampoo from its collection of eight hotels and enabling the charity to provide the much-needed supplies to needy people in homeless shelters and impoverished countries around the world. Recently Clean the World delivered a shipment of 45,000 bars of soap to Cap Haitien, Haiti. Another 100,000 bars just arrived in Haiti, the poorest country of the western hemisphere, to be distributed in the...

LONDON—This year has seen the worst recession since the 1930s, with global GDP contracting by an estimated 1.3 percent. While there are tentative signs that the economic cycle is now turning, driven by unprecedented policy stimuli, reviving credit markets and recovering asset prices, recovery is expected to be gradual—and a second dip into recession early next year cannot yet be ruled out. “As a result, the travel and tourism economy GDP is now forecast to decline by 5.5 percent in 2009,” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), announcing WTTC’s latest forecasts at...

TAMPA, FLA.—The Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport Westshore is completing a multimillion-dollar renovation project for which it has devoted significant resources to improving environmental efficiencies across the board. As part of its eco-initiative, hotel management has launched the “Make a Green Choice” (MAGC) program. Through this project, the Sheraton aims to improve housekeeping sustainability and productivity. Participating guests can decline housekeeping service for a day, and in exchange for helping the Sheraton conserve natural resources, they receive a $5 gift card for use at the hotel restaurant or 500 Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Points. “The new management team, Davidson Hotel Company,...

LAS VEGAS—The Forest Stewardship Council-US (FSC-US) has honored CityCenter as the best commercial project of 2009 in the fifth annual Designing & Building with FSC Awards. The awards recognize entities that are committed to using sustainably harvested wood and creating a marketplace that promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management. CityCenter’s dedication to the use of FSC-certified wood products is unprecedented in scale and resulted in a significant market transformation. “We are honored to be recognized as this year’s top commercial project,” said Cindy Ortega, senior vice president of MGM MIRAGE’s Energy and Environmental...

COLUMBUS, OHIO—Red Roof will give $5 cash back to every guest making a minimum $1 donation to Feeding America during the week of Thanksgiving, Sunday November 22 through Sunday, November 29. Donations must be made at the property and guests will receive the rebate upon checkout; the $5 back is per stay, not per night. According to Red Roof, it is their way of giving back and showing their thanks by teaming up with Feeding America and country music artist and Red Roof brand ambassador, Phil Vassar, to help put food on America’s tables over the holidays. Country Music star...

NEW YORK—The total number of exhibitors may have been less than previous years due to the economy and other factors but the number of vendors offering green products and services was stronger than ever at this year’s International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS). The event was held November 8 to 10 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Visitors to the show found exhibitors featuring amenity bottles that biodegrade much faster than traditional plastic bottles; dispensers that eliminate amenity bottles altogether; a nonprofit that matches up hotels with other nonprofits to help eliminate food, toiletry...

PHOENIX—Despite a challenging economic outlook, green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy—including $396 billion in wages—over the next four years (2009 to 2013), according to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Booz Allen Hamilton. The study also determined that green construction spending currently supports more than 2 million American jobs and generates more than $100 billion in gross domestic product and wages. The economic impact of the total green construction market from 2000 to 2008, the study found, contributed $178 billion to U.S. gross domestic...

BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International, Inc. announced that it will expand its green hotel portfolio ten-fold over the next five years by introducing a green hotel prototype that will be pre-certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), an internationally recognized green building certification system designed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The green hotel prototype, which will be available in April 2010, will save owners approximately $100,000 and six months in design time, and reduce a hotel’s energy and water consumption by up to 25 percent, based on national averages. These savings, combined with incentives offered in many jurisdictions,...