It is amazing what a rain storm and some innovative thinking can do. As detailed in my article this week about the Grand Hyatt Atlanta, Wes Shirley, the hotel’s director of engineering, was standing one day watching the rain fall on the third floor terrace of the 439-room hotel. He wondered how the hotel could best capture and recycle the rainwater falling on the terrace. He got together with a couple of friends—a plumber and another engineer—to figure out a plan. What the three came up with, with the assistance of some students at Southern Polytechnic University, is an...

This month Green Lodging News will celebrate its seven-year anniversary. I just might order a cake. My one-year-old (soon to be two) will love that.To all of those readers who faithfully follow my publication, thank you for doing so. I also have to thank all of you who have submitted content for publication over the years. Your contributions have helped build the Green Lodging News website into a database of almost 6,000 articles.Seven years ago, in Green Lodging News’ first month, there were fewer than 4,000 different visitors to the Green Lodging News website. Last month (June) there were...

This week the dual-branded Home2 Suites by Hilton/Hampton Inn & Suites will officially open in Huntsville, Ala. The property, which features 175 guestrooms (77 in Home2 Suites by Hilton and 98 in Hampton Inn & Suites), has been open for several months. I was invited by Hilton Worldwide to spend a night at each of the properties last week. My goal was to identify the efficiencies that come with a dual-branded property and check on the green attributes of each hotel. The hotel is owned by Apple Hospitality and managed by LBA Hospitality.There are now approximately 100 dual-branded properties...

One down and 49 more to go could soon turn into three down and 47 more to go. What I am referring to is efforts in the 50 states to create statewide recycling programs for used mattresses. As reported here on Green Lodging News, earlier this year Connecticut passed legislation to create the infrastructure for a mattress recycling program. Late last month, California’s State Senate approved SB 254, a bill which would create the same. Assembly hearings on that legislation, according to Ryan Trainer, president, International Sleep Products Assn. (ISPA), are expected to begin early next month. In Rhode...

Several weeks ago, while in Las Vegas just prior to HD Expo, I had an opportunity to tour around The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino. My guide was Jenny Yu, director, Global Sustainability for Las Vegas Sands Corp. I wrote about part of that tour in an entry on my blog. If you have never been to the complex that includes The Palazzo, The Venetian, and Sands Expo, I highly recommend it. The site features the largest hotel site solar thermal installation in the United States and other very unique green design and operational features.During a tour of one of the guestrooms...

Every now and then I get invited to join other journalists on a press trip sponsored by a hotel company or management company. I have had some memorable trips in my almost 20 years in lodging journalism. These types of trips include property tours, good food, trips to nearby attractions, and opportunities to do things one typically never would have a chance to do on one’s own—rafting down the Colorado River, zip lining, etc. On such trips, there is always an opportunity to chat with industry leaders who work either at the corporate office or individual property level. Putting...

There really is no such thing as a nonsmoking room in a hotel that allows smoking in some of its rooms. Hoteliers who promote guestrooms as nonsmoking rooms in hotels that allow smoking in some areas are deceiving their guests—whether intentionally or not—into thinking they are sleeping in healthy spaces. And, any green lodging or green building certification program that makes room for properties with smoking rooms need to stop, push the restart button, and no longer accept them. Strong words? Yes, but these are just some of the conclusions one can make if the results of a recent...

A towel cabinet with a discreetly placed sensor that lets your housekeepers know whether or not towels were touched by a guest—saving you from washing unused towels. Shower curtains and liners made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate. Amenity dispensers that can be imprinted with any photo or image you wish. Architectural hardware made with antimicrobial bronze. Bed frames made from recycled railroad t-rail. Automatic sensor-based faucets with the look of luxury. A mattress company with its own mattress and foundation recycling program. LED bulbs with a fluid inside to keep the bulbs cool. These are just some of the unique...

Let’s be honest: If you have a bar or multiple bars at your place of business, do you automatically give straws to patrons, knowing that they will drink more—and ultimately buy more—because they drink through a straw (instead of sipping away without one)? What about elsewhere in your foodservice establishment? Do you also automatically give straws to guests? What ultimately happens to those straws that are most likely made of plastic? I suspect the local landfill is their ultimate destination.I had not thought about straw waste until I learned about the efforts of Milo Cress, an 11-year-old from Boulder,...

In coming years, will folks look back on 2013 as the year that interest in sustainability exploded in our industry? I have to wonder. What signs lead me to speculate? I see it with my own publication website which from January to April jumped from a little more than 19,000 different visitors to almost 29,000. There has been a noticeable jump in the volume of press releases that hit my in-box in recent months. It is a challenge to sift through it all. There appears to be no letup in interest in green certification with Green Key Global recently...