WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Global Sustainable Tourism Council announced the launch of two initiatives this week that reflect the organization’s efforts of the past two years: The GSTC Process and Destination Level Criteria Development.The GSTC Process for recognizing and rewarding genuine practitioners of sustainable tourism is defined in three stages: GSTC-Recognized, GSTC-Approved and GSTC-Accredited. In the initial stage, sustainable tourism standards apply to become GSTC-Recognized. Once recognized, these standards are considered equivalent to the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria are the worldwide minimum requirements for tourism businesses of all size to approach sustainability.In stage 2, certification programs...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The first annual NEWH Sustainable Design and Development Conference and Tradeshow will be held on December 9 at the Capitol Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. This tradeshow will bring together innovative, sustainable leaders, ideas, products, design and tangible business results. NEWH invites all members of the design and development community, hospitality industry, event professionals and sustainable partners who are looking to gain further insight and to promote and build strong business relationships to attend this new industry show. The trade show and conference will be a one-day event and will conclude with a cocktail reception on the show floor....

ITHACA, N.Y.—Thirty industry leaders in sustainability and a smaller group of Cornell University students met last week in Ithaca, N.Y. for Cornell University’s annual Sustainability Roundtable. The event featured six sessions covering different aspects of sustainability. Eric Ricaurte, principal, Greenview, moderated the day-long event. David Jerome, senior vice president Corporate Responsibility for InterContinental Hotels Group, led off the Roundtable by moderating a session entitled, “Managing Sustainability Across a Global Platform.” “Sustainability is new and people are going to make a lot of mistakes,” Jerome said. “Owners don’t live in this space every day. A lot of our general managers have not...

NEW YORK—The Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Consortium (HSPC) announced that American Standard Brands has joined the Consortium as a Founding Member. A leader in creating high quality bathroom products for the hospitality industry, American Standard’s membership furthers the Consortium’s goals of establishing the Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Index (HSP Index) as the de facto performance measurement solution for the industry.   With more than 4.5 million hotel rooms in the United States, the products that American Standard produces—including faucets, shower systems, furniture, vitreous china fixtures, kitchen sinks, bath tubs, and other plumbing products and accessories—are major investments for all hotels, brands...

TORONTO—Hunter Douglas Contract's GreenScreen Revive fabric received Cradle to Cradle Certification at the Silver level from MBDC. The high-performance roller shade fabric is made with PVC-free polyester using 89 percent recycled Repreve fibers. Each yard of GreenScreen Revive fabric uses 11 post-consumer bottles. To earn Cradle to Cradle certification, GreenScreen Revive had to possess the followingcharacteristics: • Material health: safe and healthy for humans and environment.• Material reutilization: material contains recycled and recyclable content.• Renewable energy use: commitment to use solar, wind, geothermal, or other renewablesources of energy during the manufacturing process.• Water stewardship: ensure clean water leaves the factory after...

TORONTO—In an effort to advance far-reaching strategies for energy efficiency and fossil fuel independence in new and operational buildings, the International Living Future Institute unveiled the Net Zero Energy Building Certification program. The program is linked to the Living Building Challenge, widely considered to be the world’s most stringent and progressive green building program. As with the Living Building Challenge, certification is based on actual performance rather than modeled outcomes. Buildings must be operational for at least 12 consecutive months prior to evaluation. “In the next two decades, we are looking at the disappearance of cheap oil, a scarcity of...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol has published two standards to help businesses measure, manage and report GHG emissions beyond their own operations, including the finalized version of long-awaited scope 3 guidance. The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) and Product Life Cycle standards were developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). According to WRI, the standards will allow companies to measure and manage the full scope of emissions in their value chain and products for the first time, while helping to move businesses and reporting programs to one harmonized global reporting...

BAA ATOLL, MALDIVES—One of the travel and tourism industry’s most exclusive and prestigious events last weekend drew Hollywood A-listers, top business CEOs, a head of state and senior environmental campaigners together in the Maldives to discuss how to make tourism a benefit rather than a threat to the planet’s environment. The event—the SLOWLIFE Symposium, organized by the luxury resort company Six Senses—drew actors Daryl Hannah and Edward Norton, business leader and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, the heads of two solar power companies and green thinkers Jonathon Porritt and Tim Smit to Soneva Fushi resort in Baa Atoll, Maldives. They were joined...

ROSWELL, GA.—Kimberly-Clark Professional announced a major step forward in the company’s sustainability efforts through the expanded independent, third-party certification of Kimberly-Clark Professional products by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and EcoLogo. FSC chain-of-custody certification has been expanded to the broad majority of Kimberly-Clark Professional tissue and towel products. FSC is an international, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests through third-party forest certification and product labeling, which ensures that forest products come from sources that are managed with consideration for people, wildlife and the environment. “We are very pleased to be expanding FSC’s reach with Kimberly-Clark Professional,...

NATIONAL REPORT—While a majority of CFOs are aware that sustainability will profoundly affect their “mainstream” duties, almost one third of them—31 percent—say they are either rarely involved or not involved in sustainability strategy and governance at their companies. This is among the key findings of Sustainable Finance: The risks and opportunities that (some) CFOs are overlooking, a global survey launched by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL). The survey was conducted among 208 CFOs of large companies in 10 countries during the first half of 2011. “The findings of the survey suggest that CFOs can and should take a more energetic role...