BENTON HARBOR, MICH.—Whirlpool Corporation announced the opening of its new flagship brand and product experience center in Chicago’s Reid Murdoch Center. With nearly 30,000 square feet, the “World of Whirlpool Corporation” facility will become a destination for designers, trade customers, sales associates, industry influencers and media. The new space is designed to create excitement around Whirlpool Corporation brands by creating a destination environment that attracts and engages trade customers, designers and influencers to experience the brands in interactive, state-of-the-art environments. The facility will be used for training and continuing education for trade customers, designers, key influencers and top sales associates....

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—For the second time in three years, Valley Forge Fabrics received Editors’ Choice distinction during the opening ceremony of the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show in New York City. The awards program recognizes products within the categories of design, equipment & supplies, guest amenities, linen, technology, as well as an eco-friendly equivalent to each of these categories. Valley Forge won in the Linens category for the Expand-A-Grip bedding product. Valley Forge Fabrics, A leader in sustainable textiles and the largest producer of decorative fabrics for hospitality, introduced the Expand-A-Grip product earlier this year. Featured on the Valley...

BOULDER, COLO.—The Responsible Travel Report, an online magazine focused on sustainable tourism, has gone live. Created by nonprofit Sustainable Travel International (STI), the Report provides travel and tourism professionals, travelers, and the travel media with comprehensive and up-to-date news and information on all aspects of the ever expanding sustainable tourism movement. The Report features breaking regional and trade news as well as original feature articles, profiles, interviews and guest commentary on emerging trends and best practices within the travel industry. The site also provides in-depth coverage on topics like sustainable tourism certification, voluntourism, traveler philanthropy, community development, climate change,...

NEW CASTLE, DELA.—Speakman Company has introduced its latest plumbing innovation, the SentinelPro T/P Shower Valve. The SentinelPro T/P is a dual element thermostatic and pressure balanced valve that is certified to meet ASSE 1016 at 1.5 gallons per minute. The SentinelPro T/P Shower Valve offers a variety of unique benefits when compared to other valves in the marketplace: • Dual element design allows the valve to protect against both scalding and thermal shock at flow rates as low as 1.5 gallons per minute.• SentinelPro T/P Valves offer T/P Valve protection at pressure balanced valve prices, creating the industry’s highest value ratio.• Ability to...

STATE COLLEGE, PA.—EnergyCAP announces the release of its new fully online energy management software. The software, called EnergyCAP Express, enables small to mid-size organizations such as colleges, local governments, and multi-site businesses to perform energy and greenhouse gas analysis, auditing, tracking, benchmarking, and reporting completely online. Thanks to convenient dashboards and embedded Help videos, users can get started quickly and easily without the need for in-house IT or engineering resources. Large organizations with more sophisticated energy information needs can use EnergyCAP Enterprise. A sample of EnergyCAP Express is available at www.EnergyCAP.com.

JACKSON, WYOMING—Spring Creek Ranch, a resort located in a wildlife refuge in Jackson, Wyo., is using biodegradable G-Oil made from beef tallow for its fleet of service vehicles. It is the first resort in the United States to use the 5W30 G-Oil. Stephen Price, general manager and co-owner of the resort, said, “It is the right thing to do as responsible citizens.” Eighteen resort vehicles used for transportation, shuttles, maintenance, housekeeping and room service plus personal cars are using the green oil. Spring Creek Ranch is a luxury destination resort near the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Guests of...

ST. JOSEPH, MICH.—Rounding out its Energy Advantage lineup, Maytag Commercial Laundry is introducing a newly designed Stack Washer/Dryer to the multi-housing, college and university, guest services markets and on-premises laundry (OPL). “Maytag(R) Commercial Laundry now has an energy-efficient solution to meet all commercial laundry needs,” said Craig Kirchner, global director of Maytag Commercial Laundry. “With the introduction of the latest stack washer/dryer, we are providing owners and customers with a dependable product that reduces utility expenses and offers exceptional cleaning ability.” With a focus on energy efficiency, the washer is Energy Star and CEE Tier III qualified. Its high-speed spin extractor...

TROY, OHIO—Product innovations from Hobart, Traulsen and Baxter are slated to be on display at the WHAT’S HOT! WHAT’S COOL! new product gallery during the 2011 North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) show. This is the second year the NAFEM show has included the gallery, a one-stop shop spotlighting innovative products that deliver tangible benefits such as energy and water efficiency, reduced lifecycle costs, improved food safety, labor saving, eco-friendly materials, and smaller footprints. Among the products featured in the 2011 gallery—products NAFEM chose via a vigorous selection process—are Hobart’s Advansys Ventless Door Type Warewasher, Baxter’s Hybrid Convection...

MOONACHIE, N.J.—Designed to be used with a multitude of new and existing lighting fixtures with GU24 sockets, Bulbrite has added a line of dimmable GU24 compact fluorescents to its family of energy efficient CFLs. “The GU24 socket system was designed to replace the Edison socket and base, transforming standard lighting into energy efficient fixtures,” says Bulbrite president Cathy Choi. “With the industry’s surge to become more environmentally friendly, an ever-growing number of suppliers, distributors and specifiers are using lighting fixtures that feature GU24 sockets. To meet this growing demand, we have launched dimmable GU24 CFLs that offer an energy...

MORROW, GA.—TOTO, a maker of sustainable plumbing products, announced that it is the first plumbing manufacturer to partner with ecoScorecard and incorporate this service into its product catalog. TOTO believes that this partnership will help its customers—such as building owners, architects, designers, and product specifiers—streamline the time needed to deliver the environmental documentation required to qualify for green building rating systems such as LEED, GGHC Labs 21, CHPS, and the NAHB Green Home Building Guidelines as well as other third-party product certification systems. These green building rating systems provide third-party verification that a building is designed and built using strategies...