ATLANTA—The Partnership for a Sustainable Georgia has recognized Milliken & Company’s Live Oak Complex and Hillside Plant of LaGrange as Mentors of the Year. The Partnership presents this award annually to an organization for making strides toward a more sustainable Georgia by helping other companies understand the benefits of continual environmental improvement. “Milliken & Company’s Live Oak Complex and Hillside Plant worked together to mentor local medical facilities, municipalities, businesses, and organizations on the importance of pollution reduction,” said Suzanne Burnes, Assistant Director of P²AD and Manager of the Partnership for a Sustainable Georgia. “We look to see other...

PORTLAND, ORE.—Meeting Strategies Worldwide announces the launch of its latest website tool, “Best Places to MeetGreen.” The website provides two innovative resources: the Best Places to MeetGreen Scorecard and Calculator. The two were created to help meeting and event planners select the best green destination for their group. The site is free to use and is located at www.bestplacestomeetgreen.com. The Scorecard feature ranks cities according to the green programs implemented by the destination’s convention and visitor’s bureau, convention center and hotels in the city’s conference package. The practices are third-party verified by Meeting Strategies Worldwide and entered into a scoring...

LAS VEGAS—The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced that JohnsonDiversey, one of the world’s largest providers of commercial cleaning products and services, has joined the WWF Climate Savers program, pledging to significantly reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions from their operations. The company announced it will invest $19 million over the next five years to achieve these commitments, but anticipates operational savings of $31 million over the same period, which demonstrates, say company officials, that sustainability is the right approach for both the environment and the bottom line. WWF president and CEO Carter Roberts said the actions being taken by JohnsonDiversey...

TORONTO—EnviroTower, a clean technology leader providing proven clean cooling tower water treatment solutions, has won the prestigious Deloitte Technology Green 15 Award. The award was created last year to showcase 15 North American companies that are leading the way to create major breakthroughs in the field of green technology. This marks the second consecutive year EnviroTower has been named to the Technology Green 15, solidifying the company as a leader in sustainable technology innovation. In addition to Green 15 honors, John Coburn, a water technology industry veteran and EnviroTower’s CEO, participated in an exclusive CEO panel discussion at...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Two leading nonprofit organizations—the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Island Press—have teamed up to launch GreenWorks, a book club that will offer the newest and best books on green building at discounted prices. GreenWorks, created expressly for USGBC members, will offer a selection of featured reads each month, while also connecting readers to a vast selection of the latest green building industry books and noteworthy authors. “This book club is about starting a conversation,” said Peter Templeton, senior vice president, U.S. Green Building Council. “USGBC members are full of ideas and solutions. The book club will...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Naturally Iowa West as an advertising partner. Naturally Iowa West is pioneering the bioplastics industry with its earth friendly biodegradable plastic packaging for premium bottled water, organic milk products and other beverages made from polylactic acid. Naturally Iowa West is committed to protecting the environment and developing recovery systems for a new generation of bioplastics. Plant-based plastics are much more environmentally friendly than traditional plastics because they have the potential to reduce annual landfill waste by thousands of tons and release far less carbon dioxide in the...

GOLDEN, COLO.—The new Andaluz, formerly the La Posada de Albuquerque Hotel, will reopen later this year in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico with a 73-panel solar thermal system from Novan Solar Inc. of Golden, Colorado, that will provide domestic hot water for the hotel. The Novan system is part of the hotel’s redevelopment by Albuquerque developer Gary Goodman, representing one of the first historic remodels in the United States to conform to the energy efficiency and sustainability standards of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. Goodman’s firm, Historic Hotels, will have spent more than...

TARRYTOWN, N.Y.—The Sheraton Tarrytown and its management company, New Castle Hotels & Resorts, have decided to implement the PURE allergen purification process in 10 percent of the property’s hotel rooms, including one on its club level. The process removes up to 98 percent of bacteria, viruses and other airborne particles from the average hotel room. Specially trained hotel staff use PURE Solutions purification techniques to comprehensively treat rooms to remove allergens and irritants from all surfaces, fabrics and air flow. Rooms are cleaned before and after each guest, and PURE fully re-sanitizes rooms every 90 days. Guests have welcomed the...

TOLEDO, OHIO—MTS Seating, a leading manufacturer of hospitality and banquet furniture, announced that its entire line of stack, banquet and restaurant seating has received Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certification for being low-emitting, a characteristic which minimizes levels of indoor pollutants. According to MTS, it is the first to pursue and receive this designation in the hospitality seating industry. “This certification shows that when we say we’re working toward making continual environmental improvements in our manufacturing processes, we mean it,” said MTS president Phil Swy. “For us, product innovation is a means to not only provide our customers with the stylish...

EAST FREETOWN, MASS.—Heat Transfer Products has unveiled a new 30-tube solar collector panel that will deliver up to 39,000 Btu per panel per day, depending on available sunlight. The collectors are engineered to maximize energy efficiency even at high Delta T temperatures, making them ideal for colder regions or applications demanding higher outlet temperatures. Each panel assembly consists of 30 twin-glass, evacuated tubes to absorb solar energy for heating water. They are shipped with a ready-to-assemble 439 stainless-steel frame for easy rooftop mounting. Rather than wrestling with a cumbersome, prefabricated collector panel on a rooftop, the technician builds the collector...