LOS ANGELES—The 2009/2010 International Restaurant & Hotel Awards (IRHA) are now accepting submissions. In the 2007/2008 awards season, IRHA received submissions from more than 50 countries around the world. The jury reviewed submissions from properties ranging from bed and breakfasts and boutique hotels to six-star luxury resorts, as well as the world’s top restaurants. Top brands and hotel groups that participated in the 2007/2008 awards season include The Ritz-Carlton, Marriott International, Accor Hotels, The Peninsula Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Kor Hotel Group, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels and a host of others. The awards were presented at...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—Vail Resorts announced the renaming of its comprehensive efforts aimed at protecting the environment, social responsibility and community engagement as “Vail Resorts ECHO.” Vail Resorts ECHO will encompass three core efforts—charitable giving, volunteerism and environmental stewardship—and replaces the prior name for the program, “Vail Resorts 360.” “As part of our almost year-long process in putting together our recently announced Hayman Restoration Partnership, we learned more about the goals and ideals of our entire corporate responsibility efforts,” said Rob Katz, chairman and CEO for Vail Resorts. “We realized that these efforts are aimed at mitigating our ‘footprint’ on the environment...

ATLANTA—“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” is often used to explain the less-than-comfortable temperatures in Florida. With that in mind, there seems to be no better place to discuss ASHRAE’s winter’s conference theme: “Building Sustainability from the Inside Out.” Whenever the temperatures outside are too hot or humid to handle, ASHRAE ensures that indoor environments are comfortable and, most important, sustainable. ASHRAE’s 2010 Winter Conference will be held in Orlando from January 23 to 27 at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel. The International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Expo, held in conjunction with the Conference, will run January 25 to 27....

HORSHAM, PA.—The State of Indiana has announced it will adopt the Green Key Eco-Rating Program as its official statewide environmental initiative for the lodging industry. Indiana is the first state to make this designation following the launch of Green Key in the United States on September 17. The program will be managed via a partnership between the Indiana Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA) and Green Key Global, whereby the IHLA will promote the program to lodging properties within the state. This partnership will provide IHLA with a customized, branded version of the Green Key website, allowing IHLA to promote the...

SAN FRANCISCO—Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the largest boutique hotel company in the United States, announced a national partnership with The Nature Conservancy to support its ambitious Plant a Billion Trees campaign. Once completed, the campaign will remove 10 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, reducing the impact of climate change on biodiversity and human communities, and ensuring that 30 million acres of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest are restored or preserved by 2015. Kimpton will help grow a greener future and play a vital role in bringing life back to the most threatened tropical forest on Earth in the following ways: • “Giving...

ORLANDO, FLA.—It is official. As reported in Green Lodging News in July, in response to growing member interest in green hotels, AAA has launched a program to highlight AAA Approved lodgings that have been eco-certified through a well-established government or private program. A bright green “ECO” symbol makes it easy to identify eco-friendly lodgings in the new 2010 editions of the AAA TourBook guides and on AAA.com. Additionally, travelers will be able to customize their hotel searches on AAA.com to show green properties first in their search results. “The new ECO symbol serves as a notice to AAA members that a...

LONDON—Accor tops the first Tomorrow’s Value Rating of the world’s 10 largest hotel groups. Accor has not only recognized key sustainability challenges facing the hotels sector, says the new research, but has also designed a comprehensive approach to managing them. However, when it comes to other large hotel operators, the news is not quite so good. “I wouldn’t be surprised if campaigning groups started hanging ‘Please Clean Up Your Act’ signs on hotel room doors,” says Thomas Krick, global program manager of the Tomorrow’s Value Rating. Researched and produced by Two Tomorrows, the leading sustainability consultancy, the Tomorrow’s Value Rating assesses...

SAN FRANCISCO—Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the collection of nearly 50 boutique hotels and chef-driven restaurants throughout the country, has been honored as a 2009 “World Saver” by Condé Nast Traveler magazine. Announced in the September 2009 issue as part of the third annual “World Saver Awards,” Kimpton garnered the co-winner award of the Preservation category for its pioneering EarthCare commitment, which includes more than 70 brand-wide environmental practices in place at every Kimpton hotel and restaurant from coast to coast. “This international accolade marks a milestone in Kimpton’s history and our 28-year dedication to sustainability,” said Niki Leondakis, chief operating...

RENO, NEV.—The Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno, Nev., is tapping into clean, reliable, renewable geothermal energy. A total of $8.1 million was invested in the project. Like the industry they represent, the privately held resort took a gamble—drill a well that taps into the geothermal aquifer, betting on finding water at the correct temperature that could be captured and converted to energy through a closed loop system. It would then be returned to the earth via a reinjection well, which would heat the entire resort’s water and mechanical heat via geothermal energy. Peppermill president, Bill Paganetti, engaged world-renowned geothermal...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) and the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council (STSC) announced their official merger. The result will be a new initiative that will launch in 2010 called the Tourism Sustainability Council (TSC), a global membership council that will offer a common understanding of sustainable tourism and the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles and criteria. The TSC will bring together tourism businesses presently operating to various degrees of sustainability performance—governments, United Nations bodies, research and academic institutions, social and environmental NGOs, certification programs, and others from distinct regions of the world. ...