NATIONAL REPORT—Hotels around the country are getting greener and more sustainable. For the most part, their emphasis has been on such things as reducing energy consumption, using less gas and electricity and using it more efficiently, along with transferring to cleaning solutions that have a reduced impact on the environment. But most recently, their big focus is on water…or, shall we say, the lack thereof. From dry California and several other areas of the United States to parts of the country that are what we could call “water rich,” hotel properties are looking into a number of ways to reduce...

NORTH OLMSTED, OHIO—Moen Commercial has introduced new modern product styles to its popular, heavy-duty M•Dura and medium-duty M•Bition lines.“Before developing our new products, Moen takes the time to listen and learn from key decision makers within the marketplace,” said Sarah Lindegarde, Senior Product Manager, Moen Commercial. “We heard from facility owners that they’re looking to make commercial spaces look and feel less institutional. And instead, create attractive spaces for residents that remind them of home, while still providing the reliability their facilities require. We’re excited to add new, modern designs to two of our most popular collections to meet...

NEW YORK—To mark its centennial anniversary, the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS) is unveiling a new brand and mission to better capture the dynamic innovation of the hospitality industry. HX: The Hotel Experience—Rooms to Restaurants (HX), will debut November 8 to 10, 2015 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York City and represents a bold new strategic direction.This multimillion-dollar investment aimed at revitalizing the largest hospitality trade event in North America is founded on the belief that true hospitality is anticipating a guest’s needs to create a memorable and unique experience. To achieve that, HX...

FRANKLIN PARK, ILL.—New 1.1 gpf toilet systems, which combine a vitreous china toilet fixture with either a manual or sensor-operated high-efficiency 1.1 gpf flushometer, are now available from Sloan Valve Co. for use in hotels, motels and other hospitality facilities. The new combinations provide consistent, reliable performance designed to help architects, engineers, contractors and building owners achieve their goals of lowering water usage while maintaining performance expectations in new or retrofit construction.These new toilet systems represent Sloan’s most water efficient products, using 14 percent less water than the company’s current lowest combinations at 1.28 gpf, and 31 percent less...

BROOME, AUSTRALIA—Wyndham Hotel Group has announced the signing of a franchise agreement for the 55-key Ramada Resort Eco Beach Broome, an eco-friendly property in Australia that adds to the company’s growing Ramada brand portfolio in the South Pacific. The four-and-a-half-star resort, located just over an hour’s drive south of Broome in Australia’s Kimberley region, provides guests with a beachfront location boasting outstanding views of the Indian Ocean.With a strong focus on conservation, Ramada Resort Eco Beach Broome practices sustainable energy and water use throughout the property, including the use of solar power, fluorescent lighting and recycled water to maintain...

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.—Victoria + Albert has introduced two new additions to its modern and traditional faucet collections—Tubo and Staffordshire. The first is a wall mounted faucet in the Tubo collection, ideal for creating a clean, minimalist look and the second is a traditional three hole deck mounted Staffordshire faucet.The Staffordshire 9 is a traditional three hole deck mounted faucet and waste kit, designed for use with Victoria + Albert’s new Lario and Mandello vanity units. The Staffordshire 9 features easy to use handles and a rod-operated pop up plunger waste. It is available in polished Chrome, Polished Nickel and...

ITHACA, N.Y.—The hotel industry will be able to compare ranges of energy and water use, as well as carbon footprint, using a new tool from the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR). Developed by researchers Howard Chong and Eric Ricaurte, the “Hotel Sustainability Tool 2015” is available from the CHR at no charge. Chong is an assistant professor at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, and Ricaurte is the founder of Greenview and an adjunct instructor at New York University's Tisch Center.Chong and Ricaurte developed the benchmark ranges using aggregate input for 4,725 hotel properties from 11 international hotel...

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.—iTouchFaucets recently introduced the Smart Faucet that uses Smartphone Touch Technology to help residents and commercial business owners reduce water consumption.“iTouchFaucets is an innovative approach that consumers are excited to adopt,” says Joanna Boey, National Vice President of iTouchFaucets. “Our state-of-the-art system uses an electronic touchpad that looks like a smartphone to replace faucet handles. It can be a retrofit and attached to most faucet designs for showers, bathtubs, kitchen and bathroom sinks. This touchpad can be placed anywhere convenient to the end users especially for the physically challenged and handicapped and is therefore ADA compliant. It...

STAMFORD, CONN.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced it has reduced energy use by 12.08 percent, carbon emissions by 16.07 percent and water use by 17.26 percent across all owned, managed and franchised properties from 2008 through 2014. The reductions stem from Starwood’s 30/20 by 20 environmental goals, launched in 2009, to cut energy use by 30 percent and water use by 20 percent by 2020 globally. In 2013, Starwood added a goal to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent during the same timeframe.“We’re pleased with the progress and are encouraged by the reductions we made while maintaining an...

TAMPA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Tampa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, has added a ConservCo case study to its website. The case study details how ConservCo was able to help a 196-room Caribbean resort dramatically reduce its water consumption by 27 million gallons annually. ConservCo performed an audit of the resort, its golf course, and landscape irrigation system.Using proprietary protocols and procedures based on standards and benchmarks derived from the US EPA, the US Green Building Council, and the Irrigation Association, work performed by ConservCo technicians included inventorying fixtures and appliances, taking flow rate and static pressure measurements, checking...