PHILIPSBURG, ST MAARTEN—The Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa, St. Maarten made its mark as a game-changer in the hospitality industry by completing a landmark solar installation earlier this year that allows the resort to produce six to eight hours of its own power during peak times. The resort has harnessed the power of the Caribbean sun for more than a year and reached an environmental milestone by generating one gigawatt hour of solar power, or one billion watt-hours. The resort also just installed a completely oil-free Smardt Chiller to further conserve energy; the Chiller is used in the...

TORONTO—The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) announced it has received two coveted distinctions for its sustainability commitment, showing green leadership at both national and provincial levels. MTCC earned the LEED Gold certification by the Canada Green Building Council, the certifying body in Canada for the international rating system, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This certification, achieved by the MTCC’s south building in the Existing Building: Operations & Maintenance version of the rating system, makes MTCC one of the first Canadian convention centers to earn a gold rating.In the same week, the Tourism Industry Association of...

CLINTON, MD.—The TownePlace Suites is located across Old Alexander Ferry Road from Joint Base Andrews. A large segment of the hotel’s guest base is military personnel on temporary duty at Joint Base Andrews. The hotel prides itself on providing a “home away from home” and an inviting atmosphere to support troops. Both as part of participating in the military’s mission expanding the use of renewable energy, and as a way to cut costs and maintain affordable rates, the hotel started looking into a solar photovoltaic energy system last year.“We thought that solar would enhance our ability to offer a...

CHEVY CHASE, MD.—The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. has become the first Founding Partner of IMPACT 2030: The Global Initiative for the Advancement of Corporate Volunteering. IMPACT 2030 was introduced at the United Nations on Friday, December 5, 2014 on “International Volunteer Day” where The Ritz-Carlton and the fellow Founding Partner companies showcased the meaningful difference their employees are making locally, nationally and internationally through corporate volunteering.IMPACT 2030 is a global private sector led collaboration created to mobilize corporate volunteers to contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Initiative’s partner companies recognize that a commitment to corporate volunteering—when...

LONDON—To mark Human Rights Day 2014, the International Tourism Partnership (ITP) has released its latest Know How Guide on Human Rights and the Hotel Industry. The guide is a high-level introduction to human rights for the hotel industry—what human rights are, what they are in the context of the hotel industry, steps to implement the UN Guiding Principles and resources for further reading. Hotels touch every corner of the globe and employ and offer hospitality to millions of people very year. The hotel industry therefore has an important role to play when it comes to human rights and it...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—Koncept Events recently took an inspired cue from their mega client Nutra Blend, and took to the streets of South Florida to extend Nutra Blend’s “Drive to Feed Kids” program to their hotel brand partners in an effort to drive away hunger in South Florida.With seven hotels and more than 116 participants, 215 bagged meals were created and an additional 35 pounds of food was donated to the South Florida chapter of Feeding America. Hotels that participated in this event included the Bonaventure Resort & Spa, W Fort Lauderdale, Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach, The Westin Beach Resort...

ANN ARBOR, MICH.—NSF Sustainability, a division of global independent public health organization NSF International, has certified TexaStone Quarries to the sustainability assessment standard for stone—ANSI/NSC 373 Sustainable Production of Natural Dimension Stone.Certification to ANSI/NSC 373 is based on point totals to achieve Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum level certification. TexaStone’s quarry earned Gold level certification and its processing facility earned Silver level certification to the standard, which includes criteria for the environmental aspects of stone production including water, transportation, site management, land reclamation and adaptive reuse, and management of excess process materials and waste. Monitoring and periodic re-evaluation is...

NEW YORK—Six patterns of Carnegie’s proprietary high performance Xorel have earned the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label which verifies that the product’s amount of renewable biobased ingredients meets or exceeds levels set by USDA. Biobased products are finished or intermediate materials composed in whole or in significant part of agricultural, forestry or marine ingredients.The following biobased Xorel patterns qualify as USDA Certified Biobased Products with between 68 to 89 percent of the polyethylene content being derived from rapidly renewable sugarcane: Dash, 68 percent biobased content; Nexus: 89 percent biobased content; Strie, 89 percent biobased content; Abacus Embroider, 85 percent...

CROSSVILLE, TENN.—Executives with Crossville, Inc., a domestic manufacturer of porcelain tile collections, have announced the unveiling of the company’s 2014 Sustainability Report. The report was compiled with input from Crossville’s stakeholders as gleaned through a formal survey and follow-up discussions conducted by a third party sustainability consulting firm and is based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting and ISO 26001 frameworks. Additionally, it meets the requirements of LEED V.4 MRc3 Credit. This is the first such sustainability report in the company’s 28-year history, and it is also the first GRI-based document released by a tile-only manufacturer, denoting...

LAGRANGE, GA.—Interface has drawn on the natural beauty found in salvaged matter and materials for the design of its new Reclaim carpet tiles. The 25cm x 1m skinny plank series echoes the look of worn, weathered wood, lending interiors a feeling that’s both warm and inviting yet completely modern. Constructed of 100 percent recycled content fiber that combines reclaimed carpet fiber with salvaged fishing nets, Reclaim remains true to its name and at the same time is in lockstep with the company’s Mission Zero promise to eliminate any negative impact is has on the environment by the year 2020....