WEST CHICAGO, ILL.—Tornado Industries, a leading manufacturer of professional cleaning equipment, has prepared a special bed bug newsletter and white paper to be distributed this month. The newsletter and white paper are designed to help clarify why the bed bug problem has resurfaced in the United States after being dormant for so many years.   More important, the white paper addresses ways cleaning professionals can help eradicate bed bugs, employing ways that have less impact on the environment. It was written by Michael Schaffer, a senior executive with Tacony’s commercial floor care division and president of Tornado Industries. “This is an...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—To address the challenges of green design in the hospitality industry, RTKL recently completed participation in a year-long working committee facilitated by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The committee, formally known as the Hospitality Adaptations Working Group, was charged with developing sustainable design guidelines specifically tailored for lodging, food and beverage, and conferencing facilities. RTKL principal Laura Galbreath AIA, LEED AP, the sole architect to serve on the committee, is optimistic that the new guidelines will encourage more hotel developers and operators to enhance their sustainability goals in accordance with USGBC standards. “While most clients are interested in sustainable...

PLYMOUTH, MINN.—Advance now offers battery and electric burnishers that meet 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 burnishers that meet requirements for contributing points to LEED-EBOM certification include the Advance Advolution 20BT battery burnisher and the Advance Advolution 20XP electric burnisher. The Advolution 20BT and Advolution 20XP burnishers are both available with active dust control and operate at sound levels of less than 70 dBA, which are requirements under the LEED-EBOM program. Burnishers with active dust control include a shroud and vacuum system...

WOODRIDGE, ILL.—With its North Point Pint urinals, utilizing a pint (0.125 gallons) of water per flush (gpf), Gerber Plumbing Fixtures LLC has added its lowest water consuming high efficiency urinal (HEU) collection. Serving as the latest product addition to the North Point line, the new HEU features all of the performance and function of traditional urinals but with minimal water; thereby saving considerable amounts of resources with each flush. “By using only a pint of water, the North Point Pint urinals perform much better than waterless urinals due to the execution of the flush allowing the least amount of water...

LOS ANGELES—Diversey, Inc., a global provider of commercial cleaning, sanitation, and hygiene solutions, and Green Globe Certification, a worldwide certification label for sustainable management of the travel and tourism industry, announced a new global alliance to expand the availability of sustainability assessments and certifications under the Green Globe Certification seal. Under terms of the alliance, Diversey will assist its customers in the lodging industry to prepare for the Green Globe audit process and provide consulting on sustainable business operations to help them achieve the Green Globe seal. Green Globe Certification will promote use of Diversey’s sustainable products and provide consulting...

MILWAUKEE, WIS.—Telkonet, Inc., a leader in occupancy-based energy management technology, just announced the introduction of its next generation line of energy management products, the EcoSmart Product Suite. With the EcoSmart flagship product, the EcoInsight Programmable Controllable Thermostat (PCT), Telkonet has evolved beyond its successful SmartEnergy product line and built upon its patented Recovery Time Technology. The EcoSmart suite of products introduces several new developments including a fully wireless thermostat, EcoWave, and a plug load controller branded the EcoGuard. The EcoSmart Product Suite development process included extensive input from customers, maintenance engineers, and Energy Service Companies to ensure that the product...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Kartri Sales Company, Inc. as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Kartri’s Environmentally Gracious line of fabric shower curtains are made from all natural cotton in combination with post consumer polyester. The fabric is VOC (volatile organic compound) free and prepared with vegetable dyes and finishes. The curtains are available in different colors and patterns and can be custom made to meet a customer’s preferences. In addition to shower curtains, Kartri also offers bed coverlets, bed scarfs, bed skirts, and pillow shams made from the same all...

MIAMI—MTech has extended support for the mobile version of its popular HotSOS solution, H2GO, to Android, the new mobile operating system powered by Google. H2GO responds, creates and maintains work orders efficiently and accurately via any Android mobile device. “As the Android platform continues to grow in popularity, we acted quickly to provide options to its user base,” said Luis Segredo, MTech founder and president. “Today, HotSOS has gone mobile and it’s spicing up service across the globe via the most popular wireless platforms.” HotSOS (pronounced Hot Sauce), MTech’s Hotel Service Optimization System, enables lodging and gaming operations to reduce...

COLUMBIA, MD.—New Energy Technologies, Inc. announced that researchers have successfully developed a first-generation 12" x 12" working prototype of the company’s SolarWindow technology, capable of generating electricity on see-thru glass. Compared with its 4" x 4" predecessor, unveiled in September 2010, the debut marks a significant achievement for the company as it continues to work towards producing a commercially marketable product. The new prototype marks a 300 percent increase in size over its predecessor, and is the first-ever working SolarWindow of its dimension. Researchers fabricated this prototype using New Energy’s patent-pending process for “spraying” the company’s electricity-generating coatings directly onto glass,...

NORTHBROOK, ILL.—UL Environment, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories), an independent product safety certification organization, announced that it has reached an agreement with Air Quality Sciences, Inc. (AQS) to acquire AQS and its certifying body, the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute. AQS and GREENGUARD are market leaders in North America for product emissions testing and third-party indoor air quality certification. AQS helps manufacturers identify the chemicals being emitted from their products using state-of-the-art equipment and testing laboratories. GREENGUARD Certification helps manufacturers communicate their sustainability message to the marketplace by providing assurance that their products have been independently evaluated for low chemical...