WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the quarterly addenda to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system, which includes a new pilot Alternative Compliance Path (ACP) credit that is designed to further advance environmentally responsible forest management and help rid buildings of illegal wood by promoting the use of wood that is verified to be legal. The pilot ACP builds on the robust infrastructure that has been built around responsible wood sourcing and chain of custody to test an approach to prerequisite requirements, which could serve as a model for other building...

LAHAINA, HAWAII—After becoming Hawaii’s first LEED EBOM Silver resort in 2014 following significant sustainability upgrades, Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa has installed one of the largest rooftop photovoltaic systems in Hawaii. This system of solar panels produces more than 6 percent of the resort’s annual electricity needs, which is equal to supplying grid electricity to 158 homes. Additionally, by lessening their reliance on grid electricity, they are reducing their overall carbon footprint. The use of solar power reduces CO2 emissions by offsetting diesel generation, one of the dirtiest methods of electricity. The amount of CO2 emissions that has...

LAS VEGAS—MGM Resorts International is one of “America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises,” according to the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), a national leader in women’s business development and certification. The Top Corporations list is the only national award program honoring corporations for leading supplier diversity initiatives that reduce barriers and drive growth for women-owned businesses.“We are so proud of WBENC’s Top Corporations, including MGM Resorts International, for choosing to set the standard for access and increase opportunities to women suppliers in new markets—both domestically and internationally,” said Pamela Prince-Eason, President and CEO of WBENC, a leader...

MEMPHIS, TENN.—FedEx Corp. announced the online release of its 2016 Global Citizenship Report (GCR), which details the company’s commitment to connect the world in responsible and resourceful ways. The report includes annual updates on the company’s environmental, community and economic development initiatives.Among the highlights of this report, FedEx Express announced that it has surpassed its goal to boost vehicle fuel efficiency by 30 percent—some five years early. The company achieved the goal through its “Reduce, Replace, Revolutionize” strategy: •    Reduce overall mileage by optimizing routes;•    Replace vehicles with more efficient models; and•    Revolutionize the vehicle fleet with alternative fuel vehicles. In...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, and Equality NC, the state organization working to secure equal rights and justice for LGBT North Carolinians, announced that executives from Starbucks, Citibank, TD Bank, Hilton, Starwood Hotels, Choice Hotels, eBay, Accenture, Kellogg Company, Reddit, Barnes & Noble, Atlassian, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Ingersoll-Rand, Wasserman and the Wasserman Foundation, and CA Technologies have signed onto an open letter that now includes more than 100 leading CEOs and business leaders calling on Governor Pat McCrory and the North Carolina General Assembly to repeal the...

PARIS—Next spring, 14 years after being conceived by Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs and Euro Disney, Villages Nature Paris will open 20 miles east of Paris. The resort will be a showcase for green design, geothermal technology and will be based on harmony between man and nature. Villages Nature Paris will open with 916 dwellings, more than two-thirds of which will be cottages and one-third family suites. The dwellings will be owned by individual and other investors and managed by Villages Nature Paris. According to Dominique Cocquet, CEO of Villages Nature Paris, within five years the development is expected...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM—The Rezidor Hotel Group has published its Responsible Business Report. Included since 2010 in Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies List, Rezidor is committed to being an innovative and responsible hotel company with leading sustainable hotel brands such as Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson.Last year marked another impressive year for Responsible Business at Rezidor with successes in all three core areas of the company’s Responsible Business program. Highlights include energy savings of 22 percent, water consumption reduced by 29 percent, 272 eco-labelled hotels, and Meetings Minus Carbon offsets of 32,000 tons of carbon.Also last year, 65 Rezidor...

BOCAS DEL TORO, PANAMA—Red Frog Beach Island Resort announced the installation and operation of a 193kW centralized solar power system in Bocasdel Toro, Panama. This system will provide over 332,000 kWh’s per year of sustainable, clean energy to Bocas Del Toro’s most upscale resort. Installed on the roofs of service buildings, these solar panels will provide over 22 percent of the resort’s current power needs and will be expanded as demand increases. Wiebke Krüge, a solar energy expert from SMA Sunbelt Energy GmbH, said, “It was a privilege to implement a centralized solar source at Red Frog Beach in such...

AMSTERDAM—GRI has launched a new membership and engagement program, the GRI GOLD Community, building on its collaborative, global multi-stakeholder network. The GRI GOLD Community consists of diverse companies and organizations from across civil society, business, mediating institutions, labor and intergovernmental agencies, united in the belief that greater transparency is a catalyst for change towards a more sustainable economy and world. More than 550 organizations from 69 countries are part of the GOLD Community, representing more than 35 sectors of the world’s economy.“The GOLD Community is made up of leading organizations that are helping GRI shape the future of sustainability,”...

NATIONAL REPORT—Hotels around the planet are lining up activities for Earth Hour. The annual event will take place on Saturday, March 19 at 8:30 p.m. local time. The Earth Hour global initiative, now in its 10th year, aims to raise awareness about climate change and the need to find solutions to the world’s environmental problems. Las Vegas Sands, IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide are a few of the companies with properties participating this year.Sands ECO360°, the global corporate sustainability program of Las Vegas Sands (LVS), is launching its fourth annual “I Will If You...