Lodging establishments around the world will participate in two global events in the next two months: Earth Hour and Earth Day. Earth Hour is a World Wildlife Fund initiative and will take place on March 27 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour to show their support for action on climate change. The event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. In 2008, more than 50 million people, including many hoteliers, participated. In 2009, hundreds of millions of people...

I just returned from the Sustainable Meetings Conference in Denver. It is an annual event organized by the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC). I had attended the conference two previous years. This year’s event was the most exciting of the three for several reasons. First of all, the turnout for this year’s event was strong for a GMIC event—approximately 250—and up significantly from last year when the event was held in Pittsburgh during the worst of the recession. Second, it is clear that GMIC has found a business plan that works—developing chapters to build membership. Over the last two...

In the current green hotel building world, the equivalent of an Academy Award (an Oscar) would have to be LEED Platinum—the top level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification offered by the U.S. Green Building Council for new and existing buildings. Until now, only one hotel in the United States had earned LEED Platinum—the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C. The Proximity was awarded its honor in October 2008. Phil Sherburne, owner of the Bardessono Hotel, Restaurant and Spa in Yountville, Calif., just announced that his property is the second in the United States to have earned...

I have always kind of wondered about the seriousness of the commitment of the leading online travel agencies (OTAs) in regard to promoting green lodging establishments. In the past when I have gone to their websites in an attempt to try to find the properties, I have been unsuccessful or at least had a difficult time in locating a link for more information. (Perhaps that is why the OTAs call their green sites “microsites”—so small nobody can find them.) To some degree the green hotel sections are still difficult to find, as I describe in the article written this...

In late November I wrote a column (click here) asking readers whether or not their properties’ AAA Diamond ratings had ever been affected negatively by their green initiatives. I received a number of responses—some said their green initiatives had not been impacted while others said their ratings had been affected. I was prompted to ask readers this question because I had heard a number of times from hoteliers, innkeepers and vendors that AAA inspectors sometimes had issues with what would be considered green products or programs. To clear up any confusion out there about what a property may or may...

Dryers are evil. Well, not quite, but they account for nearly 70 percent of all energy consumption in the laundry. You should do all you can to minimize the amount of time your towels and linens spend in them—not only to reduce energy consumption but to also prolong towel and linen life (and the life of duvets, robes, etc). Makers of washer-extractors agree. In conducting research for an article on washer-extractors (click here for article) I learned just how much suppliers have done to reduce required drying time—primarily through advanced controls technology and stronger mechanical spin power (G-force). Suppliers...

Happy new year! I hope that you had a relaxing holiday. I just returned from a week of vacation in Florida and it was great to see so many hotels doing so well. Here’s hoping that trend continues this year. The last couple of years certainly have not been easy for our industry, with an energy price spike followed by one of the worst recessions in U.S. history. For many the recession is far from over and that is why our industry’s experts are predicting only a modest recovery this year with better things to come in 2011 and...

If you are hesitant to purchase an environmentally advantageous product for all of your guestrooms, why not test it in just one guestroom? Better yet, place all of the green products you wish to test in that room and ask your guests what they think. That is what the Best Western Philadelphia Airport South at Widener University intends to do in January. Since the 60-room property opened a year ago, management, with student and staff support from Widener University, have been putting together what they call their Eco-Pro Room (short for Ecological Prototype). It includes items such as a shower...

When you shop at the grocery store, the products you buy include labels that detail ingredients and nutritional value. If you are building or renovating your lodging establishment, however, there is a good chance you will never know what chemicals are in the building materials that you buy. Why is it important to know? There is a long list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity and these are commonly found in building materials currently on the market. To make it easier for designers, architects and others to know which chemicals to avoid, Peter Syrett...

One way to reduce costs related to waste removal while keeping waste out of the local landfill is to give away items to those in need. In the lodging industry “waste” can include food, toiletries, partially used rolls of toilet paper, or even guestroom furnishings. Finding the right agency to donate items to can be a challenge. To save time and labor, it has got to be an organization willing to pick up the items. It has also got to be an organization that can be trusted—one that will actually deliver the items to those in need. What is...