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,...

Three years ago I wrote about showerheads that filter out chlorine and why they are important for guests—especially those guests with any kind of chemical sensitivity or compromised immune system. (Click here for that article.) In a hot shower, chlorine gas is released from the water and is easily breathed in. The human body also absorbs chlorine through the skin, mouth, and eyes. A paper recently released by two departments within the University of Colorado suggests that there may be another hazard from taking a shower—notably, Mycobacterium avium, which is a relative of the organism that causes tuberculosis (see...

The CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, Delos “Toby” Cosgrove, caused quite a stir recently when he suggested in a remark to “The New York Times” that he would not hire obese people if he lawfully could do so. He later apologized to Clinic staff and Cleveland area residents for comments that “were hurtful to our community.” In his comments related to health care reform, Cosgrove chose extreme words but I understand his concern about obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese—a rate that is double the...

The U.S. lodging industry has been waiting a while now for one of the numerous national green lodging certification programs to catch on in a big way. Green Seal has certainly gained momentum in the past year, with major commitments from the Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, as well as from hotels in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas. Green Globe International has also made some headway, as well as the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program. An announcement this week made by the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), however, could catapult its Green Key Eco-Rating Program far ahead...

I have written a couple of articles now about toilets and I have to say that I will never think about them the same way again. This past week I spoke with several experts about dual flush toilets. It was definitely a worthwhile endeavor. I strongly encourage anyone looking into purchasing dual flush toilets to talk to as many vendors as you can. The toilets, which offer the option of two different flush modes—one for solid waste and one for liquid—are becoming much more common here in the United States. In fact, almost every day I receive a press...