COLUMBIA, S.C.—Shaw Industries Group, Inc. has completed the construction of a cogeneration Combined Heat & Power (CHP) plant at its Columbia, S.C. fiber production facility. The CHP, which began operating in May 2018, will reduce the plant’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 26,000 metric tons; that’s an impact equal to removing almost 5,500 passenger vehicles from the road each year. This is the latest in ongoing investments Shaw is making to minimize its environmental footprint. The company recently announced it has achieved carbon neutrality in its commercial carpet manufacturing operations. Companywide, Shaw has made significant investments to help reduce...

SEATTLE—Surveys of housekeepers around the nation show that housekeepers are sexually assaulted at over twice the rate of workers in other industries. Safety mandates for housekeepers are becoming prevalent, such as in Seattle, New York, Chicago and Sacramento County. These mandates include sophisticated panic button requirements that preclude basic safety tools such as sirens or whistles. Technology that can immediately notify a hotel of a worker’s location within a building are necessary and increasingly expected by employees, unions, and governments. Indoor location services are the next frontier of in-hotel guest experiences. Using Bluetooth beacon technology, hotels can prompt guests on their...

POMPANO BEACH, FLA.—Serge Ferrari, a market leader in flexible composite materials, has launched its newly redesigned website, www.sergeferrari.com, featuring new product branding for a more intuitive product selection experience. Streamlining the names of the company’s 125+ products, and improving brand communication, is an important and necessary step in the company’s strategic plan for growth. To enable rapid understanding of what the company’s products do and how they are different, Serge Ferrari has renamed many of its products to include a Range Name, a Product Differentiator, and a Product Number: Range Name: Each product is now grouped and renamed by its market. For...

ORLANDO, FLA.—Guests staying at the LuMINN Hotel Minneapolis, an Ascent Hotel Collection Member, are controlling their room environments and engaging with the property in new ways. Since adding Intelity ICEbedside tablets to each guestroom—which are interfaced to the INNCOM by Honeywell Integrated Room Automation Systems (IRAS)—guests are controlling room temperature, lighting, drapes and alarm clock directly from in-room tablets. Guests can also access the hotel’s mobile app, powered by Intelity, which provides a direct link to hotel information, services, concierge, transportation, maps, directions and more. “Adding ICEbedside tablets to each room brings another element to the guest experience,” said LuMINN...

ST. PAUL, MINN.—Changing food preferences and increasing costs are driving restaurateurs to reexamine every aspect of their operations. As a result, operators want their warewashing to deliver more than sparkling place settings; they also want to reduce labor, water and energy costs to help boost profit margins. To effectively meet these needs, Ecolab developed the SMARTPOWER Program. SMARTPOWER is a complete warewashing program that includes Ecolab’s full line of products, digital monitoring of warewashing performance and Ecolab’s expert service. This complete program helps give restaurant operators peace of mind, knowing their operations are running smoothly while generating the best warewashing...

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF.—ICERA affirms its commitment to water-saving technology with the release of its newly redesigned Palermo II 1.0 GPF toilet. This toilet uses just one gallon of water per flush, thereby earning its designation as an ultra high-efficiency toilet (UHET). The Palermo has been recently updated with a new contemporary look, creating a sleek exterior style that compliments the smart plumbing technology on the inside. This two-piece Palermo toilet is ADA-compliant with a chair-height bowl that is compact and elongated bowl for maximum comfort. This model includes thoughtful touches as a Silent-Close quick-release seat and cover and has been...

NEW YORK—Mohawk Group’s new flagship location in the Fashion District of New York City expresses the company’s commitment not only to stylish and innovative floor coverings but also to sustainable and wellness design. Designed by Gensler, the 13,000-square-foot showroom in Manhattan features an open layout that integrates distinctive company branding, inviting workspaces and meeting spaces, and new display techniques to uniquely and effectively showcase a revolving lineup of featured commercial flooring products based on Mohawk Group’s latest collections. Clean lines, biophilic design, ample natural lighting and a modern, yet comfortable aesthetic pay tribute to the showroom’s setting in the heart...

ODESSA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Odessa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Ambient Bamboo Flooring as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Since 2005, Ambient Bamboo Flooring has been providing high quality, eco-friendly bamboo hardwood floors across the globe. Ambient specializes in strand woven bamboo flooring, which is the hardest wood flooring in the market. The company offers more than 30 colors and styles of bamboo flooring, which is an extremely tough hardwood floor sought by homeowners and business owners everywhere. Ambient is known as the world’s best-reviewed bamboo flooring brand and is specified by the world’s leading...

CINCINNATI—Standard Textile Co., Inc., a global leader in the hospitality and healthcare textiles industries, announced the launch of its Made in USA collection of terry and sheeting products engineered for hotels and hospitality properties. As a pioneer of the American textile industry, Standard Textile’s new collection supports American innovation, domestic growth and smaller carbon footprints. In 2014, Standard Textile had a vision to create a model for textile manufacturing in the United States. The company launched its Manufacturing 4.0 initiative in 2015 and invested more than $65 million dollars in its facilities in Thomaston, Ga. and Union, S.C. to bring...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—Valley Forge Fabrics was named the winner of a Gold Stevie Award in the Company of the Year category in The 16th Annual American Business Awards on May 1, 2018. The American Business Awards are the United States’ premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the United States are eligible to submit nominations—public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, large and small. Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Monday, June 11. Tickets are now on sale. More...