MORROW, GA.—TOTO, the largest plumbing manufacturer in the world with $5.1 billion dollars in annual sales, announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with WinWholesale, Inc., to distribute the company’s high-performance, planet-friendly products across 37 states in the United States. WinWholesale is one of America’s largest distributors of construction and industrial materials. Starting today, select Win branded and Noland Co. locations will have available TOTO’s full line of residential and commercial fixtures and fittings in more than 285 local supply houses and 131 kitchen and bath showrooms.The new agreement between TOTO and WinWholesale builds on their successful...

NEW YORK—On World Water Day, March 22, WHOLE WORLD Water, a social enterprise that unites the hospitality and tourism industry to collectively address one of the world’s most pressing issues, access to clean and safe water, launched a global call to action: Give the #WholeWorldWater.One of the most prominent creative elements is a custom animation of the Yahoo logo to represent the ebb and flow of water, which ran on March 22.The Give the #WholeWorldWater campaign will focus on galvanizing consumers to get involved in simple yet powerful ways. To raise awareness of this new social enterprise and the...

FRANKLIN PARK, ILL.—Sloan introduces the Senso electronic hand washing faucet, which delivers a unique, illuminated rainfall pattern of water and provides intuitive controls for a highly tactile and visual experience.The faucet is intended for high-end commercial environments such as hotels, restaurants and corporate restrooms. A welcome light invites restroom visitors to begin washing. Visitors may set the water hotter or colder by adjusting the faucet’s feather-light touch sensors, which are lit with red or blue LEDs to indicate temperature. Senso’s distinctive rainfall water flow is also illuminated and shuts off automatically when hands move out of the sensor range.Choose...

CHICAGO—Green Seal, an independent nonprofit providing sustainability certification for products and services, launched a new sustainability standard for restaurants and food services in conjunction with The Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition and The Rosenthal Group.The standard, GS-55, covers retail restaurants and institutional food service operations through rigorous criteria that minimize environmental impact in several categories. These include food sourcing through use of foods produced in a sustainable manner; waste management, including food waste, compostable waste, recycling and water quality management; energy use; water consumption and the use of other environmentally-preferable products and services.GS-55 is the result of a pilot program...

DENVER—Zion Lodge, the only in-park lodging in Utah’s Zion National Park, has received “Top Product of the Year Award in the Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards” for developing a water-cooled system for walk-in refrigeration units in its Red Rock Grill kitchen. The system has resulted in approximately 1 million fewer gallons of water annually.“Congratulations to the staff at Zion Lodge for its innovative approach to conserving water,” said Catherine Greener, Vice President of Sustainability for lodge operator Xanterra Parks & Resorts. “While the water flowing right outside the lodge’s doors may seem inexhaustible, the actions we take have...

NATIONAL REPORT—A series of six webinars with topics ranging from water efficiency to green cleaning to window film will launch on March 26 and wrap up on May 21. In total, there will be 18 different presentations throughout the six webinars that are sponsored by the U.S. EPA. The free webinars are being organized by Dan Ruben of Boston Green Tourism and Peter Cooke of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. Those who attend all six sessions will be acknowledged with a Certificate of Completion.The following is the schedule for the webinars:Session 1: March 26, 1 p.m to  2:15...

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA—Do you think you could ever get to the point of being able to describe your hotel as the greenest on your continent? If you followed the lead of the innovators behind Hotel Verde in Cape Town, South Africa, you might be able to. The hotel was built with sustainability in mind from the ground up. It’s literally in the walls since the construction includes Cobiax void formers—recycled plastic balls placed strategically within the concrete slabs that are required for the various floors. They dramatically reduce the amount of concrete required, while maintaining the structural integrity.Andre...

LOS ANGELES—Eco Products Group (EPG), a startup environmental technology corporation, has invented and developed a hands-free device capable of reducing water use by 50 to 70 percent. The Ecofaucet allows consumers to control water flow hands free to use only the minimum amount of water needed for either bathroom or kitchen sinks.It is common knowledge that there is a global shortage of clean, fresh, potable water. The situation is rapidly becoming so dire that it can only be a matter of time before some face mandatory restrictions on the amount of water used on a daily basis for personal...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the WaterSense H2Otel Challenge as a way for agency partners and other organizations to encourage hotels to use best management practices that will save water and money, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.  “Hotels that reduce their water use will not only help their community save precious resources, but can gain a competitive edge in today’s green marketplace,” said Nancy Stoner, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “Since 2006, WaterSense has helped Americans save more than 487 billion gallons of water, and now we’re building...

ROCKVILLE, MD.—Econo Lodge is celebrating the one year mark of its Room to be Green program. A first of its kind initiative executed across the entire lodging portfolio, Room to be Green is designed to reduce environmental impact and waste, meet the changing expectations of today’s environmentally conscious guests and potentially lower operational expenses, (including energy and water costs) at the property level. The Econo Lodge brand, which is fully franchised by Choice Hotels International, Inc., one of the world’s largest hotel companies, is a leader among economy hotel brands for implementing mandatory green initiatives throughout all its properties....