INTERNATIONAL REPORT—Marriott International, EcoVadis and several leading global hospitality organizations—Accor, Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Hotel Group, and two global hospitality group purchasing organizations, Avendra and Entegra—last week announced the launch of the Hospitality Alliance for Responsible Procurement (HARP). Driven by members’ commitment to improve sustainability performance, the Alliance will work to accelerate sustainable practices by fostering close collaboration with trading partners to build transparency and scale positive impact across their value chains. “As companies seek to engage their value chain partners in their sustainability efforts, they realize the complex scope, as well as common challenges, in their own sector,”...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has introduced a draft of its LEED v5 Operations and Maintenance (O+M) rating system for existing buildings. LEED v5 is the newest version of LEED. It marks a transformative milestone in the built environment’s alignment with a low-carbon future and addresses critical imperatives such as equity, health, ecosystems, and resilience. The LEED rating system is the world’s preeminent green building certification system, with more than 100,000 projects certified globally. While the launch of LEED v5 begins with existing buildings, LEED v5 for Building Design and Construction (BD+C) will roll out in 2024. In conjunction with the...

SWORDS, IRELAND—Trane—by Trane Technologies, a global climate innovator, is introducing its latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud-based service offering—Trane Autonomous Control Powered by BrainBox AI—providing building owners and facility managers an additional tool to accelerate decarbonization and reduce energy consumption. Using AI to automatically identify and implement optimization actions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Trane Autonomous Control enhances existing connected Tracer SC+ building control systems—incorporating variables like predictive weather data and occupancy trends for improved building performance and sustainability. “With the heating and cooling of buildings representing about 15 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, the demand for more...

BERNE, SWITZERLAND—Neustark is the first company in the world to have developed and rolled out a solution that mineralizes CO₂ in demolition concrete. Thanks to this groundbreaking technology, the CO₂ is permanently stored and thus removed from the atmosphere. The Swiss climate-tech company has now joined forces with Berlin-based construction and recycling company Heim to open the first commercial site for permanent CO₂ storage in Germany—and thus in the EU. Located in Berlin, the site has the capacity to permanently store over 1,000 tons of CO₂ per year. The CO₂ is captured at biogas plants. And since the CO₂ stored is biogenic, the neustark...

WALTHAM, MASS.—Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) will host a four-part webinar series this month describing the impacts of embodied carbon on building projects and exploring how the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has responded to calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These complimentary learning sessions will feature SGH experts holding carbon-related discussions from varying angles, including overall sustainability concerns, building enclosure system design, structural material considerations, and fireproofing approaches. For decades, the industry has focused on lowering operational carbon in buildings by decreasing energy usage. However, experts now recognize the importance of reducing the embodied carbon in construction projects...

NATIONAL REPORT—Hotel operators and investors are increasingly collaborating to accomplish shared green goals, a sign of growing interest in meeting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. Take luxury resort group Six Senses and its parent company InterContinental Hotels Group. Each Six Senses property embeds sustainability commitments, such as the adoption of green building standards, the allocation of funds toward local community and environmental initiatives, and even the appointment of in-house sustainability professionals. “ESG is quickly gaining significance as an investment and performance metric for hotel owners and broader stakeholders to align on,” says YouRee Park, Senior Associate, Hotels Sustainability Lead, Asia...

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND—Real estate investor and developer Lamington Group is adding to its pioneering eco hometel brand with the opening of room2 Belfast, the fourth outpost, and first property outside England, set to open October 16. The new property will consist of 175 rooms across nine floors as well as a vibrant café, tearoom, meeting and event spaces, a gym, bar, restaurant and a spacious lounge available for both guests and locals alike looking for a vibrant eco-friendly space to work, relax or simply catch up with friends. Keeping in line with Lamington Group’s commitment to sustainability, the fully electric room2...

A few housekeeping items this week. I am sure they are just partial lists, but the number of properties now listed in the Renewable Energy All Stars section of Green Lodging News now stands at approximately 360. These include properties utilizing either hydro, geothermal, wind or solar technologies. By far solar has the longest list with about 300 properties, 208 of which are in the United States. If you currently have a property with electricity supplied by any of the above renewable technologies and it is not on my list, let me know and I will gladly add it. I...

A news item that I posted in our Vender News section caught my attention this morning. Spotnana, a Travel-as-a-Service platform modernizing the infrastructure of the travel industry, announced the release of Spotnana Carbon Removal, a new offering that enables corporations to remove carbon from the atmosphere through advanced technology that is fast, exact, and permanent. What technology? It is a system offered by Creturner Group, which uses a Bio Carbon Capture and Storage (Bio-CCS) process to convert wood-based waste products into coal that is deposited into old, end-of-life mining pits. This process ensures that a precise amount of carbon...

NEW YORK—Spotnana, the world’s first Travel-as-a-Service platform modernizing the infrastructure of the travel industry, announced the release of Spotnana Carbon Removal, a new offering that enables corporate travel programs to achieve their sustainability goals. Through Spotnana Carbon Removal corporations can remove carbon from the atmosphere through advanced technology that is fast, exact, and permanent. “Corporations need effective solutions for true carbon removal to ensure travel is sustainable for current and future generations,” said Johnny Thorsen, VP of Partnerships at Spotnana. “To achieve net zero impact, we believe it’s essential to provide access to carbon removal technology that is effective, accurate,...