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...

The opening of CityCenter in Las Vegas and a soon-to-be released study that will appear in The American Journal of Industrial Medicine highlight the importance of safety in the workplace. As reported in the Las Vegas Sun, during the construction of CityCenter, which just saw its first three buildings open, six construction workers were killed. And, according to The American Journal of Industrial Medicine study, women—especially Hispanic women who work as housekeepers—were 50 percent more likely to be injured on the job than men and had an injury rate two-thirds higher than their white female counterparts. Throughout...

How far would you go to tell your company or property’s green story? Would you write and publish a book? That is exactly what Six Senses Resorts & Spas has done with its new “SLOW LIFE” book authored by Kate O’Brien. The book was officially introduced at an event earlier this month in New York City. I highly recommend checking out this new book that is printed on 100 percent recycled paper using soy-based inks. The words “SLOW” and “LIFE” are acronyms for “Sustainable-Local-Organic-Wholesome” and “Learning-Inspiring-Fun-Experiences.” The book is packed with valuable information about the state of our planet...

Last week was one of the biggest weeks of the year for our industry with the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS) in New York City. That event was followed by Greenbuild in Phoenix. I attended IH/M&RS but had to miss Greenbuild this year after attending in 2007 and 2008 in Chicago and Boston. As it turned out, I missed the biggest news announcement of the week: Marriott International announcing at Greenbuild that it will expand its green hotel portfolio by ten-fold over the next five years. (See article.) How will the company do that? It is rolling out...

In case you did not notice the recent articles appearing in Green Lodging News, you should know that in just the last six weeks, five states and one city have launched green lodging certification programs. I know there are those out there who are not happy about the addition of more green lodging certification programs to our industry, but I am excited for New York, Oklahoma, Indiana, South Carolina, Maryland, and Buffalo, N.Y. Congratulations to those who have worked so hard to put together these programs. According to my count, there are now 23 states and three cities that...

I will be attending the upcoming International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS) and, as always, am looking forward to it. The event will be held at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center November 7 to 10. The Hospitality Leadership Forum—a full day conference for senior level hospitality executives—will be held on Saturday, November 7, followed by the annual trade show from Sunday, November 8 through Tuesday, November 10. I spoke to one vendor recently who believes trade shows are a dying breed—set to be replaced by smaller events that pair up vendors by appointment with potential buyers (BITAC...

Before developing a LEED property or any kind of resource-efficient lodging structure—whether new or renovation—I strongly recommend visiting several successful existing “green” buildings first. I encourage this no matter what size structure you are pursuing—a mega-hotel or B&B. It is critical that you learn the money-saving lessons that others have learned. In most cases, architects, designers, sales staff and general managers are more than happy to provide a tour (try to always have the architect or designer along). They are proud of their projects and passionate about minimizing environmental impact. I recently returned from Portland, Ore., certainly a hub for...

To verify green operations in existing buildings, numerous certification programs are available to owners of lodging establishments. I have written about most of them over the past few years. For new construction, however, the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system has quickly become the gold standard. According to USGBC, LEED provides third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and...

Accor had a very good week this past week. First, it was ranked the top hotel company in the world based on its commitment to sustainability and other best practices by Tomorrow’s Value Rating (see article). Second, it opened its greenest Motel 6 yet in Northlake, Texas (click here for article). Accor topped the first Tomorrow’s Value Rating of the world’s 10 largest hotel groups, placing ahead of companies such as the InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott and Hyatt—other companies with strong commitments to operating sustainably. The Tomorrow’s Value Rating examines companies’ performance in five key areas: strategy, governance, engagement,...