PORTLAND, ORE.—GMIC in partnership with Twirl Management is launching the Certificate in Sustainable Event Planning as a 360-degree learning environment to create a new class of sustainable event practitioners. The students will be working towards the mission of creating, guiding and implementing the sustainability goals and performance outcomes of the 2014 Sustainable Meeting Conference. Through their participation the students will be responsible for the successful implementation of the sustainable event initiatives. Calls with the GMIC Sustainable Event Conference planning, marketing and client teams, communication with vendors, potential site visits and pre-conference attendance will be part of the curriculum.Adult learners...

OTTAWA, ONT.—The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) is now accepting entries for the 2013 Hall of Fame Awards of Excellence. In its tenth year the Hall of Fame Awards program continues the Association’s tradition of acknowledging the strong standards and values of those involved in and with the lodging industry.  The awards program recognizes those individuals, companies or properties that have demonstrated significant accomplishments, exemplary leadership and tireless commitment to the industry in the following divisions:The Energy & Environment Award—Recognizes lodging properties that have developed a culture towards integrating environmental management practices that improve everyday operations and the bottom...

NEW YORK—Fifty percent of global consumers surveyed are willing to pay more for goods and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society, an increase of five points (45 percent) from 2011, according to a new study from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. Willingness to spend more with socially responsible companies increased in 74 percent of the countries Nielsen measured.The Nielsen Global Survey on Corporate Social Responsibility surveyed more than 29,000 Internet respondents* in 58 countries. The percentage of consumers willing to pay more increased...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown will hold its fourth annual Sustainability Fair (formerly Green Fair) on Friday, August 16h from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the hotel’s Colonnade Room. The event will showcases the eco, health and safety efforts of many D.C.-based organizations as well as the hotel’s own sustainability program.The following organizations will be represented: Balance Gym, Better bodies by Bethany, CarsToGo, ChemSearch, Dietztogo, District of Columbia Department of the Environment, District of Columbia Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU), Eco-Artware, Fairmont Pittsburgh (LEED Gold Certified), Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown’s Beekeepers, KEYS for the Homeless, KARMA by Erwin...

OTTAWA, ONT.—The Green Key Global Eco-Rating Program, with its 3,052 rated properties, has long been a leader—especially by property quantity—among green lodging certification programs. According to Steve Ball, director of business development for Green Key Global, the program has 1,231 rated properties in Canada and 1,621 in the United States. In addition to Canada and the United States, there are 20 countries with rated properties. The Eco-Rating Program, which was launched by the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) and run in the United States by HAC with LRA Worldwide, has garnered strong support in recent years from the American...

SEATTLE—The DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport and the Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center have earned Green Seal Silver certification. The hotels are the seventh and eighth properties in Washington State to earn a Green Seal certification.“We are proud to announce that the DoubleTree and Hilton Seattle Airport hotels have achieved Green Seal Silver certifications,” said Dr. Arthur Weissman, president and CEO of Green Seal. “This achievement illustrates these hotels’ commitment to their guests, staff, and community through environmental leadership.”Green Seal is one of the premier independent eco-labels in the United States and the Green Seal Standard for Hotels...

TROY, N.Y.—The nonprofit Audubon International, with its emphasis on environmental education and sustainable resource management, is positioning itself to become a stronger national player in green lodging designation thanks to its strategy to work in select markets—primarily Florida and New York. Audubon International, through its Green Lodging Program, has approximately 150 properties at one stage or another of designation (44 Marriott Vacation Club properties), and more than 3,000 golf courses participating in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf. Four years ago, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation launched a new initiative—a two-year pilot program—to certify lodging...

AMSTERDAM—BookDifferent.com has increased the choice of green hotels in the United States, Canada and Britain to more than 3,500. BookDifferent lists two new eco-labels on their site: Green Tourism and Green Key Global, the largest eco-label for hotels worldwide.“We want to make booking sustainable hotels easy,” says Bastiaan Fronik, chairman of BookDifferent. “Partnering with these two organizations is a big step in the right direction. By the end of this year we plan double the number of hotels with an eco-label that we offer.” More than 1,900 hotels, primarily in Canada and The United States, have the Green Key...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Green Seal, the nation’s oldest nonprofit environmental certification organization and the original “Green Seal of Approval,” announces the beginning of the Green Seal Blog. The blog is posted on the organization’s website at www.greenseal-blog.com.According to Brie Welzer, the blog is specifically designed “to share lessons learned and helpful habits developed over Green Seal’s more than 20 years of eco-labeling and environmental work.”Postings from various Green Seal team members will be added to the blog on an ongoing basis. Some of the first posts are from Green Seal CEO Arthur Weissman (whose postings are called “CEO Corner”). There is...

AUBURN, N.H.—Aquawing Ozone Injection Systems (AWOIS) LLC, Auburn, N.H., unveiled its new logo and branding scheme during “Clean 2013” in New Orleans. The new logo and brand better represent what makes Aquawing Ozone Laundry Systems unique in the marketplace. “The original logo was designed in the 1990s,” said vice president Brett Daniels. “It doesn’t accurately reflect the support and service we provide, or our level of product development and testing.” The new logo highlights a trio of water droplets and the brand—Aquawing Ozone Laundry Systems. The three droplets are arranged in the same triatomic manner as an ozone...