SPOKANE, WASH.—Prestyl USA is launching a line of far-infrared Radiant Artwork heating panels—panels of customizable thin-film artworks that provide heat to any room in a residential or commercial setting. Prestyl’s heating panel products are based on a highly efficient and reliable French thin-film technology that has been used in aircraft, ships, trains, homes and public buildings overseas for nearly 16 years. But now Prestyl has successfully incorporated this film into ultra-thin panels, printed artworks and decorative ceiling modules. The Prestyl far-infrared technology does not heat the air; the energy is reflected by some surfaces and absorbed by others, thus creating...

LOUISVILLE, KY.—SCHOTT HomeTech announced that SCHOTT CERAN, its glass-ceramic for cooktop applications, has been validated arsenic- and antimony-free through UL Environment’s Environmental Claims Validation program.  SCHOTT CERAN glass-ceramic is the first cooktop glass-ceramic on the market made without the use of arsenic or antimony. These two harmful substances are commonly used to smooth and reduce bubbles during the conventional manufacturing process of glass-ceramic panels. By refining its manufacturing process, SCHOTT is now the only glass manufacturer to eliminate the need for either metal in glass-ceramic manufacturing. The innovations in SCHOTT’s manufacturing process have eliminated more than 180 tons of...

ORLANDO, FLA.—BedBug Chasers and Avtron LoadBank have commenced their nationwide rental program of bed bug heaters starting with the North Carolina to Boston corridor. The program utilizes equipment rental companies who, in turn, assemble complete trailer packages, which contain all of the equipment needed to remediate an infested area. While the packages are available to rent exclusively through Bedbug Chasers, the complete trailers will be stored at strategic rental company depots throughout the United States. Avtron LoadBank will be supplying its patent pending, 100 percent green and chemical-free, high-temperature electric thermal remediation heaters known as the BedBug Chaser. The participating...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Kimberly-Clark and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced the expansion of Kimberly-Clark’s membership in the Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN), a WWF initiative to eliminate illegal logging and conserve the world’s most valuable and threatened forests. Kimberly-Clark will now include its worldwide operations in the initiative, building on its existing GFTN membership in select countries. The participation scope now includes all wood fibers sourced for all of the company’s products sold globally in the Personal Care, Consumer Tissue and Kimberly-Clark Professional businesses. The announcement was made at the GFTN’s 20th Anniversary Reception at the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) General...

ORLANDO, FLA.—Marietta Corp., a leading hotel amenities provider to the hospitality industry worldwide, has partnered with Clean the World Global LLC to help recycle hotel soaps and bottled amenities and stop the spread of preventable diseases worldwide. The partnership broadens Marietta’s corporate social responsibility initiatives among its extensive list of hotel partners in North America and extends its eco-friendly portfolio of amenity services, which already include “green” product offerings, such as Aveda, Naturals, PAYA Organics, ProTerra, Sonoma Soap Co., Earth’s Accents, Dispensers and Eco Gallons. Orlando, Fla.-based Clean the World is the largest global recycler of hotel amenities and offers sustainable,...

BOSTON—The Westin Copley Place general manager Michael Jorgensen announced that The Westin Copley Place is the first Starwood Hotel in the United States and the first hotel in Boston to join Green Hotels Global, an environmental program that requires hotels to disclose their carbon footprint, energy consumption, water usage and waste generation associated with room-night usage and event bookings. “We are proud to carry the torch for the Green Hotels Global program for Starwood in the United States,” said Jorgensen. “We have made great strides in reducing the hotel’s overall carbon footprint over the past four years. We are committed,...

PORTLAND, ORE.—Saving Green by Going Green, a new book from MeetGreen, focuses on the business case for green meetings and then digs into the step by step process to put a sustainability framework into action. The term “green meetings” is a common one to most event planners these days. Even if they don’t actually implement green practices, they’ve heard about it, along with the misconception that they cost more to produce. Most books, seminars and webinars on the topic focus on the “why” of sustainable events and then a few go into the basic “how.” Very few have dug deeply...

DALLAS—VingCard Elsafe, part of the ASSA ABLOY Group, has launched a new combined corporate website. The newly designed site is meant to replace the current individual sites for the company’s brands, which include VingCard, Elsafe, Orion and Polarbar. VingCard Elsafe is a leader in developing locking systems and electronic in-room safes for the hospitality industry, offering security systems that meet the operational needs of hotels and resorts. Additional product lines include Orion energy management systems and Polarbar minibar systems, which are offered in selected regions of the world. This newly launched VingCard Elsafe website unifies the company’s comprehensive hospitality product range...

SAINT CHARLES, MO.—Pineapple Hospitality introduces the new TruDim CFL from TCP, Inc. The TruDim CFL performs like a traditional incandescent bulb—with dimming capability all the way down to 2 percent of lighting capacity—with all the environmental benefits of CFL technology. “In the past, dimmable CFL bulbs would flicker when they got to the lower end of their lighting range,” says David Geraci, CFL product manager for TCP. “This is because typical dimmer switches are built for incandescent bulbs, not CFLs. This flicker creates not only a bad visual experience, but it can actually cause early failures for the bulbs. The...

HUATULCO, MEXICO—Huatulco, in southern Mexico, recently became the first destination in the Americas to receive EarthCheck’s Gold certification. Huatulco received the certification for meeting the sustainable tourism requirements of EarthCheck across a range of aspects such as environmental legislation, energy usage, water conservation, wastewater management, biodiversity, and waste reduction. Speaking at the EarthCheck Sustainable Tourism Forum, also held this year in Huatulco, Adriana Perez Quesnel, director of the Fondo Nacional del Fomento al Turismo (FONATUR), said, “We are immensely proud to receive this certification and even more so to be the first destination in the Americas to do so. This...