MILLINOCKET, MAINE—New England Outdoor Center (NEOC) recently opened six new luxury guest houses built to meet the Gold level for LEED, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Three additional units in the Coveside Guest Houses project will be built this fall. Each guest house features three private bedrooms, two private baths, a living room, modern kitchen, patio and sunroom. Located on the shores of Millinocket Lake, the guest houses offer modern, luxury accommodation with easy access to rafting, hiking, paddling, fishing, wildlife viewing and other outdoor adventure activities. “This is...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced former Vice President Al Gore as the opening keynote speaker for USGBC’s annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo being held November 11 to 13 in Phoenix. “Al Gore’s impressive career and bipartisan outreach have helped elevate global climate change to the main street public consciousness,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The role buildings play in our lives, our health, the economy and the global environment—including being responsible for 39 percent of the carbon emitted in the United States—means the built environment is a tremendous opportunity...

KENT, WASH.—The City of Kent, Washington now boasts one of the greenest event centers in the country. The ShoWare Center—a 154,000-square-foot multipurpose arena that is home to the Seattle Thunderbirds hockey team as well as a regional venue for sports, entertainment, concerts and trade shows—was recently awarded LEED Gold-NC (new construction) certification. Designed by Seattle-based LMN, the ShoWare Center is the first newly constructed event center in North America to achieve the LEED Gold rating. “It was exciting to be given the opportunity to help advance sustainable approaches in a new market sector,” says LMN design partner Mark Reddington. “Event...

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—The Convention Industry Council (CIC)’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) Panel on Green Meeting and Event Practices recently released the final draft standards for green meetings and events for review and comment by the meetings industry and to ASTM International for review. The process of developing green standards has been a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) and APEX to answer the need in the meeting and event industry for a uniform measurement of environmental performance. By submitting the standards to ASTM for approval, the standards developed will be accredited standards. The...

LONDON—The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is inviting tourism companies and organizations from around the world that can demonstrate best practices in sustainable tourism development to submit their applications for the 2010 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The deadline for applications is December 2, 2009. To quote Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president and CEO of WTTC, “The awards, now in their sixth year under WTTC’s stewardship, exemplify the Council’s multi-stakeholder vision set out in the Blueprint for New Tourism that looks beyond short-term considerations and focuses on benefits not only for the people who travel, but also for people in the communities...

NATIONAL REPORT—Many full-service hotels use escalators to move high volumes of guests to and from the lobby and meeting rooms during functions. Considering that these types of vertical transportation needs only occur during certain times of the day, escalator operation could be significantly scaled back, while having a minimal, if any, negative impact on a guest’s overall experience. In fact, with proper messaging, reduced escalator operation could actually be a net positive component of a guest’s experience. Hoteliers should analyze escalator usage patterns and simply shut down escalators during periods of minimal use. Encourage guests to either walk up...

ISLA VERDE, PUERTO RICO—Naya, the leatherback sea turtle adopted by the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, is representing the hotel chain and Puerto Rico in the annual Tour de Turtles Migration Marathon, organized by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation. Earlier this month, 11 sea turtles using satellite-tracking technology began competing in a three-month ocean race to become the first turtle to reach a 1,628-mile distance. Similar to human marathons, each turtle is swimming to raise awareness for a particular “cause” or threat to their survival. This secondary competition, known as Causes Challenge, is designed to see which turtle can...

NEWBERG, ORE.—The Allison Inn & Spa will open September 26 in Newberg in the heart of Oregon’s wine country. Set on 35 acres, the 85-room (with 20 suites) property was designed by GGLO, Seattle, and is owned by Newberg-based Springbook Properties, Inc. The owners expect to earn a LEED Gold designation from the U.S. Green Building Council for the project. The Allison Inn & Spa is a four-level structure consisting of 154,000 square feet of building space. The east wing is dedicated to guestrooms. The west wing is home to the conference and event space. The inn’s lobby, restaurant...

ORLANDO—U.S. travelers are more familiar with sustainable travel terminology than they were two years ago but remain unwilling to pay more for eco-friendly travel options according to the July travelhorizons, the quarterly consumer survey co-authored by the U.S. Travel Association and Ypartnership. The percentage of American travelers who consider themselves “environmentally conscious” has not changed since 2007 (78 percent); however, there has been a remarkable increase in the percentage who report familiarity with the term “carbon footprint” (from 12 percent in July 2007 to 54 percent in July 2009). Awareness of the term “green travel” also improved from...

ORLANDO—Marriott Vacation Club, the premiere timeshare brand of Marriott International, is not allowing a single key card to go to waste. Resorts have begun replacing the 1.2 million plastic key cards purchased annually with those made of 50 percent recycled material, saving approximately four tons of plastic from being dumped in landfills. The new key card is just one of many advances the brand has made to help reduce its global environmental footprint. More than 800,000 guest arrival pieces, which are printed annually in the United States and distributed to owners and guests upon check-in, are now printed on Forest...