DENVER—Atmosphere Hospitality Management, which introduced its full service, 180-suite Adoba Eco Hotel & Suites prototype earlier this year, has added a 112-room select service option for developers called Adoba Eco Inn. Every Adoba Eco Inn, like each Adoba Eco Hotel & Suites, will be required to achieve Gold or Platinum certification through the U.S. Green Business Council’s LEED certification process for new construction. The Adoba Eco Inn prototype features the brand’s green “DNA”—Distinctively New Attributes—such as Adoba Smart Solar Roofing, A-Gemini Alternative Wind Energy Solution, the A-Gemini Total Technology Property Management System, and the Journey Rewards program. “The development and...

WILMINGTON, DEL.—American Hometec, Inc., a pioneer and leader of Coilless Technology for tankless water heaters, announced the expansion of its sales team to meet escalating demand for its tankless water heaters. The company has added three new regional sales managers and two marketing associates to its staff, adding more than 40 years of industry experience to the growing company. “The tankless water heater industry is booming,” said Dave Millilo, American Hometec’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Our patented Coilless Technology presents an efficient and practical solution for commercial and residential tankless water heaters, and the interest level in our...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that former Secretary of State and retired Gen. Colin L. Powell will give the keynote address at USGBC’s annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo being held November 17 to 19, 2010, in Chicago.  “General Powell has made another career of sharing his lessons of leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of USGBC. “His keen insights and global perspective are especially relevant to our movement in these times of great challenge and change. He exemplifies that leadership is about more than a title: It’s about taking charge during times...

BETHESDA, MD.—Since 2007, Marriott International has reduced its energy consumption by 11 percent, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 10.7 percent, and is on track to meet its aggressive goal of a 25 percent decrease in energy and water consumption per available room by 2017. These results are among those reported to shareholders, customers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), associates and other stakeholders in the company’s first official Sustainability Report using the guidelines set forth by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). “We are committed to being a corporate social responsibility leader, benchmarking with like-minded companies, and providing the information and transparency that our...

MINNEAPOLIS—For the eighth time in recent history, Carlson, a privately held, global hospitality and travel company, has been recognized as one of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” by Working Mother magazine. Carlson repeated the honor—noted for its commitment to the advancement of women; a strong, values-based culture; flexible work schedules; parental leave; adoption assistance, and on-campus child care. The top companies were selected based on an extensive application. This year’s “100 Best” evaluation gave particular weight to benefits, flexibility and parental leave. “We are pleased to be recognized again as one of the ‘100 Best,’” said Hubert Joly, Carlson...

The most recent information from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has 73 lodging properties and convention centers having achieved LEED certification, with 1,031 lodging projects and convention centers registered and working towards certification. Twenty-four hotels were certified in 2009 and this year 32 hotels already have completed certification. Marriott is the first in the industry to launch a LEED certified hotel prototype (for its Courtyard brand). It has been preapproved by USGBC as part of its LEED volume program; also Marriott has set a goal to have 300 LEED certified hotels in its system by 2015. Starwood’s Element is...

PLYMOUTH, MINN.—Advance now offers vacuums that meet the requirements for sustainable cleaning equipment specified by the Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance Rating System (LEED-EBOM). Advance vacuums that can contribute points to LEED certification include Adgility XP backpack vacuums and Spectrum upright vacuums. The Adgility XP and Spectrum vacuums have been awarded the Carpet and Rug Institute’s (CRI) Seal of Approval and operate with a sound level of less than 70 dBA, both of which are requirements for vacuums under the LEED-EBOM program. The purchase of green cleaning equipment is a prerequisite to Indoor...

Periodically, print trade publications go through the process of asking their subscribers to renew their subscriptions (the reason no e-mail newsletter was delivered to subscribers this week). This is a very common practice. It is an important step for publications to take. There are all kinds of reasons addresses change: businesses move offices, people change jobs, some people go to that great zip code in the sky. Green Lodging News just turned four years old. In the four years that Hasek Communications has been publishing Green Lodging News, it has not asked its readers to renew their subscriptions to the...

SINGAPORE—Carlson Hotels, one of the world’s leading hotel companies, and EC3 Global, a certifier of sustainable travel and tourism operators, announced a partnership through which Carlson Hotels will establish EarthCheck Program certification for the majority of Carlson hotels in Asia Pacific this year. “Environmental sustainability is part of our corporate commitment to responsible business,” said Jean-Marc Busato, managing director, Asia Pacific, for Carlson Hotels. “While some of our hotels have already embarked on the EarthCheck Program, plans are well underway to ensure that nearly all our hotels become third-party certified by the end of this year, and that as...

I need your help for a future column. I am curious to know if your property or restaurant has ever had its rating affected negatively in any way by a AAA or Mobil inspector because of one of your energy-, water-, or waste-saving initiatives. The purpose of my query is not to accumulate ammunition to shoot at AAA, or Forbes (which publishes the guides in which hotels are Mobil rated) but to come up with a list of suggestions for improvement if such a list is needed. I have become aware of instances where green initiatives have come into...