SAN FRANCISCO—Starbucks Coffee Co. announced the “Starbucks Greener Stores” framework and a commitment to design, build and operate 10,000 “Greener Stores” globally by 2025. “Starbucks Greener Stores” framework will be built upon comprehensive performance criteria that help ensure the company’s approach to designing, building, and operating its company-owned stores sets a new standard for green retail. Over the next year, Starbucks will develop an accredited program to audit all existing company-operated stores in the United States and Canada against the framework criteria, culminating in 10,000 “Greener Stores” globally by 2025, encompassing existing stores, new builds and renovations. “Starbucks Greener...

ORLANDO, FLA.—More than 8,000 food industry professionals gathered at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando last week for the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show. Among the hundreds of exhibitors were companies introducing products to reduce energy and water consumption and material waste. The following is a quick rundown of those companies and the products they featured: PowerTrak Efficiency Systems, LLC—PowerTrak Efficiency Systems introduced its VX Series Energy Management Thermostat that includes an occupancy sensor that allows for energy saving when rooms are unoccupied. Fully configurable settings allow for temperature setback, temperature recovery, setback optimization, setback limits, and set point...

NATIONAL REPORT—When staying at hotels, travelers tend not to treat the guestroom like their own home. No surprise there. Assuming that is the case, why trust them to report something as simple as a leaking toilet? According to Joseph Benson, Vice President of Business Development at EcoSense Solutions, a warped flapper is the leading cause of a leaking toilet and can alone waste up to 200 gallons of water a day. Over a year’s time, an average leaking toilet will waste 75,000 gallons of water and cost an owner about $600 based on the national average water rate. Benson...

STOCKHOLM—The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) has released its Destination Water Risk Index as part of World Water Week in Stockholm. The Destination Water Risk Index (DWRI) report provides cutting-edge intelligence for the hotel sector and other businesses into the world’s highest risk tourism destinations for water scarcity and pricing premiums. The DWRI is the result of a collaboration between ITP (project lead), Ecolab (sponsor and data provider) and Greenview (data analysis) to overlay existing water risk and hotel industry databases. The Index seeks to help hotel developers, companies, their properties and wider tourism stakeholders to better understand and address their...

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.—Premier hotel development and management company, Hollander Hospitality, has completed an $18 million renovation of the former Holiday Inn Downtown Everett and announced the official grand opening of the 232-room Delta Hotels by Marriott Seattle Everett, in Everett, Wash. The former Holiday Inn was the most recent acquisition for Bellingham, Washington-based Hollander Hospitality, a local, privately-owned Northwest company, committed to investing in the region. This is Delta’s first branded hotel in the Pacific Northwest and signals the continued global expansion of the brand since its endorsement into the Marriott signature portfolio. This latest project by Hollander Hospitality is...

MCLEAN, VA.—Home2 Suites by Hilton, part of Hilton’s All Suites portfolio, announced that the brand will open its first hotel using modular construction in early 2019. Developed by Southern Hospitality Services, LLC., and constructed by Akshar Development Inc., brand executives gathered last week at the future site of the Home2 Suites by Hilton San Francisco Airport North for a staging ceremony where pre-fabricated elements of the hotel were put into position. The hotel represents the Bay Area’s first modular build hotel, and the first Home2 Suites by Hilton modular build. Global Head of Home2 Suites by Hilton, Adrian Kurre, joined...

NATIONAL REPORT—The Third Annual Green Lodging Trends Report Survey will close on August 17, 2018. You can participate in the survey by clicking here. There is no cost to participate. Tens of thousands of green lodging establishments around the planet are being encouraged to benchmark their sustainability practices by completing this survey which last year saw some 2,100 properties participating from 46 countries. The survey encompasses topics ranging from energy management to communication to Health & Wellness. The Green Lodging Trends Report Survey has the support of Green Lodging News, Green Key, Travelife, Green Key Global, Horwath HTL, Green Seal,...

NEW HUDSON, MICH.—Flushmate, a leading supplier to toilet manufacturers on three continents, has developed a Handle Replacement Kit to enhance durability and reliability, while ensuring smooth operation on its pressure-assisted toilet products. Tailor made for either Flushmate 503 or 504 Series Systems, the Flushmate Handle Replacement Kit is designed for ease of installation and consistent performance for hotel and apartment complexes of all types. It can replace either a left- or a right-handle flush—regardless of toilet manufacturer—simplifying both installation and selection by eliminating the guesswork in determining the correct kit for each toilet brand. Flushmate’s replacement kit provides hotels and apartment...

NEW YORK—With sustainability as a core value from its inception, a new Corporate Social Responsibility Report (CSR) Report from Humanscale underscores the company’s commitment to achieving a net positive impact and lays out a corporate sustainability roadmap raising the bar for the manufacturing industry. The new CSR report reveals several areas of focus, including material transparency, responsible manufacturing and hand printing, and highlights Humanscale’s progress as it works toward its own ambitious goals. Continuing a decade-long trend of reduction, in the past year alone, the company reduced normalized energy by 10 percent and reduced greenhouse gases by 12 percent...

ATLANTA—The 1,260-room Hyatt Regency Atlanta is investing in three major systems that will position it as one of the most efficient buildings in the United States—rain harvesting, solar thermal, and guestroom energy management. Wes Shirley, Director of Engineering at the 51-year-old hotel, is overseeing the improvements. On the rooftop above the Centennial Ballroom begins the rain harvesting system. Currently, the system covers one-half of the Ballroom’s rooftop—about 22,000 square feet. Shirley says the hotel may end up almost doubling that by using most of the roof’s remaining space. The water collected is stored in 16 tanks—60,000 gallons total—in the hotel’s...