SILVER SPRING, MD.—Choice Hotels International, Inc. announce its recent recognition as the 2009 Top Franchise for Excellence in Diversity, as selected by Oliver Tree Publishing, Inc., publishers of the Black EOE Journal, Hispanic Network Magazine and Professional Woman’s Magazine. The company’s Excellence in Diversity award comes as part of the publisher’s 2009 “Best of the Best” Annual Review Series, now in its eighteenth year. This annual evaluation sets the standard for identifying corporations that are providing the best career opportunities for minorities and serves as an evaluation of corporate America’s career advancement opportunities for minorities. Choice Hotels was selected...

ANN ARBOR, MICH.—NSF International, the developer of the only American National Standard for sustainable carpet, announced that InterfaceFLOR, a leading manufacturer of modular carpet, has received certification to NSF/ANSI 140: Sustainable Carpet for both their GlasBac and GlasBac RE products. InterfaceFLOR’s facility in Chonburi, Thailand, is the first manufacturing facility outside of North America to achieve this certification. The NSF Sustainable Carpet Standard was developed to help drive the carpet industry toward a more sustainable future by providing a national standard that can be used for developing environmentally-friendly carpet. NSF International certifies carpet to ensure it meets all of the...

VICTORIA, B.C.—Carmanah Technologies unveiled its newest design in solar LED lighting: the EverGEN 1710 solar-powered area light. Designed as a compact stand-alone lighting alternative for off-grid parking lots and other municipal, commercial or industrial areas, the new EverGEN 1710 light combines advanced motion-sensing capabilities with a range of energy saving operating profiles to ensure bright, reliable illumination. Featuring a dark-sky friendly LED fixture designed by lighting manufacturer BetaLED, the EverGEN 1710 solar light incorporates all of the elements of a complete solar power system in a compact, pole-mounted design developed by global innovation firm frog design. According to Ted Lattimore, Carmanah...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Plan A Public Relations & Marketing as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Plan A Public Relations & Marketing is a full-service advertising and public relations firm, specializing in suppliers of sustainable solutions for the hospitality industry. With more than 25 years experience, Plan A offers a full range of marketing services, including public relations, branding, creative and media strategies. Andrea Roland is the president of Plan A. Her team includes Diane Van Leunen, art director, Ryan Marks, public relations specialist, and Sheila Folk, traffic manager/office...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—Electrolux Professional introduces its air-o-speed combi oven—one of the first high speed combi ovens that combines convection, steam, combi (steam and convection) and “multi-wave” for a completely integrated cooking process. The patented “multi-wave” microwave technology combines with the other cooking modes to reduce cook time by 50 percent without sacrificing food quality, while also allowing for the use of metal pans, trays and grids. Cooking up to four times faster than conventional equipment, the air-o-speed can roast 24 frozen chickens in 30 minutes. With three simple cooking options: automatic, pre-programmed and manual, the air-o-speed can automatically cook up...

ROCKVILLE, MD.—Avendra, one of the hospitality industry’s leading procurement services companies, continues to collaborate with suppliers to bring new products, ideas and expertise to customers. The most recent program, the Fresh Produce Road Show, proved to be a unique educational experience and an opportunity for Avendra and local produce suppliers to foster relationships with culinary teams at customer locations. For the pilot road show, Avendra partnered with Coastal Sunbelt Produce and its corporate chef, Martin Saylor, to visit customers in the Washington, D.C. area. With dozens of specialty and local produce items on display in a modified delivery truck, the...

AUSTELL, GA.—YKK AP America, a leader in manufacturing high quality architectural products, announced that it has expanded its enerGfacade product line with the launch of the most energy-efficient aluminum window in its AW class, the YOW 350 XT. Designed to ensure high performance and operation, the architectural grade window offers thermal resistant properties and barriers to minimize energy loss, making it up to 30 percent more efficient than standard, thermally broken windows. When using industry standard Low-E glazing, the YOW 350 XT achieves an aggressive U-value of 0.34 in a fixed window configuration. With the same glass type, casement and...

NEW YORK—Humanscale, a leading manufacturer of high-performance ergonomic work tools, has formed a partnership with Artemide, a world leader in high-end residential and professional lighting. Under the partnership, Humanscale will have the exclusive rights to distribute the new LED version of Artemide’s Tolomeo task light to the U.S. contract market. Already available with halogen, fluorescent and incandescent fixtures, the Tolomeo’s highly efficient LED version will be ready to ship to the United States in January. “With Tolemeo Classic being the No. 1 seller in the world for Artemide, I look at the Tolomeo LED as a brand new extension in...

NEW YORK—Carnegie, a leading manufacturer and innovator of textiles and wallcoverings, announced that its product line, Surface IQ, has achieved SCS Indoor Air Gold Certification. Surface IQ is built from the polymer up: eliminating the hazardous use of vinyl, chlorine, plasticizers, heavy metals, formaldehyde and dioxin. Built on thermoplastic olefin technology (TPO), it delivers both performance and ecology simultaneously, and features the colors, patterns and textures that the Carnegie name has become synonymous with. SCS is a global leader in the independent certification of environmental, sustainability, food quality, and food purity claims. Products that qualify for Indoor Advantage...

EAST LONGMEADOW, MASS.—Excel Dryer, Inc. announced that it has released the findings of a peer reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for its high-speed energy efficient hand dryer, XLERATOR. The LCA study, conducted by Quantis, an international life cycle assessment research firm, determined that when compared to traditional electric hand dryers and paper towels (virgin and 100 percent recycled content), XLERATOR reduces the Climate Changing Score (carbon footprint) of hand drying by 50 percent to 75 percent. Each hand drying system was evaluated on 10 years of service, or drying 260,000 pairs of hands. The LCA measured the entire environmental...