Two states down and just 48 more to go. As reported here at Green Lodging News this past week, over the past five months two states—Michigan and Wisconsin—have totally banned smoking in lodging establishments. Yes, even in all guestrooms guests are not permitted to smoke. As editor of a green publication, I can only applaud the action of legislators in those two states to finally eliminate smoking in guestrooms. I spoke with the president and CEO of the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association and the president and CEO of the Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging Association this past week and they...

I am fortunate to be the first media person to have access to the results of the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2010 Lodging Survey, our industry’s most comprehensive survey and the one including the most participants. The survey is conducted every two years and is funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation and prepared by Smith Travel Research. A total of 48,954 hotels were polled. The response rate was 18 percent (more than 8,500 participants). Only properties with more than 15 rooms were surveyed. The survey touched on many green topics. My article on the survey...

This past week I had an opportunity to attend the inaugural West Coast Green Lodging Conference. It was held at the Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe—Hotel & Ski Resort. While attendance could have been greater—it was about 80 (not too bad for a first time event)—the quality of the speaker lineup was impressive. Kudos to the organizers at the Embassy Suites—David Hansen, chief engineer, and Bill Cottrill, director of sales and marketing, as well as yourmeetingpro.com’s Laura Bohannon and Diana Bolton, for planning such a successful event. David Hansen told me his team will be meeting this week to plan...

Let’s assume you have done everything possible to implement a comprehensive green program at your property. You are recycling, using green cleaning products, you have a guestroom energy management system in place, low-flow fixtures in your bathrooms, and are using compact fluorescents wherever possible. What do you do next? Do you do, as the TV pitch man says, “Set it and forget it?” Over the long term, a green hotel program will only work if there are processes in place to ensure employees are carrying out the program properly and to ensure other events do not disrupt the program—guests leaving...

This week I had an opportunity to chat with the CEO of a company who is about to target our industry with a new green lodging certification program. My advice to him was that he had better hurry up; a few of his competitors are really starting to pull away in the race to gain the attention of owners and operators here in the United States. The most recent evidence is this week’s announcement that Carlson Hotels has selected Green Key Global’s Green Key Eco-Rating Program as its preferred green lodging certification program. Just two months ago, Hyatt Hotels...

If you count yourself among those who believe that good design and green design cannot co-exist, there is a new book that will change your mind in a heart beat. “World’s LEED Hotels: Innovation, Renovation & Development” profiles 23 green hotel projects that all incorporate stunning design. (See related article.) Created by Ling Ling Chang, project manager for Atman Hospitality Group, the book was published by Wen-I Chang, founder and president of Atman Hospitality Group. The book includes essays written by owners, developers, managers and others who have had a role in creating some of the greenest hotels and resorts...

Our weekly e-newsletter is back after one week off. During the past week I have been asking all Green Lodging News subscribers to renew their free subscriptions to this newsletter and the weekly Green Supplier Spotlight. Thank you for signing up again and please be sure to tell your colleagues to do the same! It is important because those who do not renew their subscriptions will no longer receive the weekly publications. Periodically, trade publications go through this process; it helps to eliminate the addresses of those who move, change jobs, etc.  A lot of exciting things have been happening...

Periodically, print trade publications go through the process of asking their subscribers to renew their subscriptions (the reason no e-mail newsletter was delivered to subscribers this week). I suspect you have encountered this before. It is an important step for them to take. There are all kinds of reasons addresses change: businesses move offices, people change jobs, some people go to that great zip code in the sky. Green Lodging News just turned four years old. In the four years that I have been publishing Green Lodging News, I have not asked my readers to renew their subscriptions to the...

Anyone considering building a green hotel over the next five to 10 years should pay attention to the progress of the Oregon Sustainability Center. Even though this office building planned for downtown Portland, Ore., will not house a hotel, it will provide many lessons for our industry. The Oregon Sustainability Center is a collaborative effort of the Oregon University System in partnership with the City of Portland, the Portland Development Commission, Portland Sustainability Institute, and a group of leading environmental organizations led by the Oregon Environmental Council and Earth Advantage Institute. SERA Architects (The Nines Hotel, The Courtyard by...

Does your director of housekeeping dabble in honeybees on the side? Up on the roof of your hotel? I suspect not but that is exactly what Graeme Evans does. He is the director of housekeeping and the resident beekeeper at The Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver, B.C. Graeme manages five rooftop hives that will produce about 600 to 800 pounds of honey this year—up from 485 pounds in 2009. At least eight Fairmont Hotels & Resorts properties have beehives—either on rooftops or elsewhere on property. According to Fairmont, the focus on honeybees is their way to help reverse Colony Collapse...