EcoGreenHotel

EcoGreenHotel recognizes the importance of using products made from renewable resources in the effort to lessen the impact disposable products have on our environment.  By using products made from renewable resources such as corn, sugarcane, PLA, Plant Starch and post consumer fibers, carbon footprints can be significantly reduced.

Sugarcane

Eco-Products offers a 100 percent compostable alternative to conventional tree-based paper products. Known as Bagasse, these paper items are made from sugarcane fiber after the sugar ‘juice’ has been extracted. This renewable resource is grown and harvested every year and a half. Typically, sugarcane fiber is a discarded by-product from cane sugar manufacturing, but Eco-Products uses the material, creating an end-user product and completing the circle.

What is PLA?

PLA stands for polylactic acid, or Polylactide, a versatile polymer produced by NatureWorks LLC. PLA is made from lactic acid.  Ingeo™ biopolymer is the world’s first and only performance plastic made from 100% annually renewable resources. It offers the cost and performance necessary to compete with traditional petroleum-based materials in the packaging and serviceware markets. It’s clear and strong like petroleum-based plastic, but with the crucial benefit of being commercially compostable.

Plant Starch

Plant Starch is the material we use to make our high heat tolerance cutlery. This material is made from a variety of plant starches including corn, potatoes, and other vegetables. It has a heat tolerance of 220 degrees, which makes it optimal for hot foods.

What is PCF (Post Consumer Fiber)?
Post consumer recycled fiber (PCF) is one of the materials we use to make our new Evolution World hot cups. Post consumer waste is material discarded after someone uses it. Post consumer waste has served its intended purpose, passed through the hands of a final consumer, and has been discarded for disposal or recycling.

Our Evolution World hot cups are made with 24% post consumer recycled fiber. That means that 24% of the fiber used to make these cups has already served a purpose as something else (office paper most commonly), was sent through the recycling stream, and was repurposed into foodservice grade paperboard. The FDA for foodservice use certifies this paperboard.

Offering products with post consumer recycled fiber has the added benefit of helping stimulate demand for recycled paper, thus helping support the recycling markets here in the United States.

I received an email last week with the question, “Do you recommend any particular carbon offset company?” Great question and an even better topic to share since March 27 is all about climate change.

If you follow the news, chances are you’ve come across some sort of reference to carbon offsets. Its become all the rage as events like the winter Olympics and New York Fashion Week to people like Al Gore, Dixie Chicks and actors including George Clooney buy offsets in an effort to become “carbon neutral.” Not to mention, businesses around the world are taking a closer at their contributions to climate change, with an increasing number voluntarily reducing their “carbon footprint” too. What about you and your business?

Before you understand what’s involved, you need to know what it “is.”

Offsetting, in simple terms, is paying someone else to absorb or avoid the release of a ton of CO2 elsewhere so that the purchaser of a carbon offset (or credit) can aim to compensate for or, in concept, “offset” their own emissions.

Carbon offsets are a form of trade. When you buy an offset, you fund projects that reduce GHG emissions. Since GHG emissions circulate freely in the atmosphere and spread around the planet, the projects can be located anywhere in the world and still make an impact.

There are two types of carbon markets: compliance schemes and voluntary programs. Compliance markets are created and regulated by mandatory national, regional and international carbon reduction regimes like Kyoto Protocol (the largest). The voluntary carbon market functions outside of the compliance market. It enables businesses, NGOs and individuals to offset their emissions by purchasing offset independent of the Kyoto Protocol and local regulatory systems.

Why do businesses buy carbon offsets?

• Strengthen environmental image
• Position to meet upcoming government legislation on emission reductions
• Market differentiation by growing sales and brand awareness
• Communicate action on climate change to guests, employees, investors and other stakeholders
• Starting point of real emission reduction strategy

Hotel businesses buy carbon offsets to reduce their carbon footprint or build up their green image on a voluntary basis. Here’s what you need to know:

The voluntary market does not have a specific, well-defined regulatory apparatus, and is actually a mix of many different types of activities, providers and standards.

• There are numerous standards within the market from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Gold Standard, ISO 14064, VERplus to certification programs as the Green-e Climate Program.

• Each provider is different. The company’s operations and project vary tremendously from renewable energy, methane capture, energy efficiency to industrial gases and forest & agriculture.

Since there are endless options and the market certainly isn’t short of players, it can definitely get confusing. This is why you’ll need to keep a scorecard. There are many factors that need to be considered, as:

• Offsets should come from a real project that has actually been implemented or will be in the near future (guaranteed)
• It’s vital that the offset comes from a project that wouldn’t have happened otherwise (in “addition” to business-as-usual)
• Emission reduction from the offset project needs to be accurately quantified (establish baseline and monitoring plan)
• Offsets should be independently verified
• Provider should be registered with the government or be established as a contractor to avoid double counting (which has been a major issue)
• Offsets should be a permanent project making a permanent impact
• Offsets should not cause or contribute to adverse effects on human health or environment
• Offsets should provide development benefits (sustainability) to host country

These are areas I consider to be very important when evaluating a provider.

Going Carbon Neutral Game Plan

I recommend a three-step process to neutralize your hotel’s carbon emissions.

STEP 1: Conserve Resources

There are many strategies to conserve resources from reducing energy usage, water conservation to waste management. Your hotel can easily reduce energy use and save money by installing energy efficient lighting, water conserving fixtures and purchasing efficient electronics and appliances – to name a few. The team at EcoGreenHotel can help you implement an energy efficient strategy.

STEP 2: Buy Green

From clean, renewable energy to green, environmentally friendly products like cleaning supplies, you can find everything you need these days to operate your hotel sustainably. Many local utilities are beginning to generate their own sources of power through small-scale alternative energy projects. Products and services that have earned third-party certifications, contain recycled content, are recyclable and/or biodegradable and contain fewer or no toxins are now easy to find at www.EcoGreenHotelStore.com.

STEP 3: Offset Carbon Emissions

Take a look at the following helpful sites:

Carbon Offset Project List (www.carbonoffsetlist.org)

Carbon Catalog Project List (www.carboncatalog.org)

Clean Development Mechanism Approved Project List (http://cdm.unfccc.int)

EcoGreenHotel offers carbon market services to accurately quantify your hotel’s carbon footprint, help you offset your emissions by identify worldwide projects and monetize the credits to generate added income.

From a different angle, offsets do present a paradox. On one hand, they offer a cost-effective tool to reduce net emissions. However, as their popularity grows so does the criticism. Critics have likened corporate offsets to “bargaining with the devil” and putting “lipstick on a pig.” Despite the controversy, carbon offsets should not be ignored. Around the world, increasingly diverse companies of all sizes are finding offsetting to be an important component to their business model – from relationships with partners and customers to it being an option to address the pressures associated with climate change.

On Saturday, March 27th at 8:30 p.m. local time, the largest public demonstration for action on climate change will take place as lights are symbolically turned off for one hour. One billion citizens of the world joined in 2009 and this year won’t be any less than massive.

Since it’s inception three years ago, the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Earth Hour encourages everyone from homes, office buildings, iconic landmarks to universities, cities and municipalities to turn off their lights for an hour – saving some electric energy in the short term while encouraging all to ponder and act on environmental issues in the long term.

Some of the world’s recognized symbols of hope, peace, human endeavor and natural wonder will plunge into darkness including CN Tower in Toronto, Table Mountain in Cape Town, Grand Palace in Bangkok to the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Rushmore and the world’s second tallest building Taipei 101.

The Earth Hour 2010 video, provides a powerful message by the world’s most recognized landmarks contributing to the greatest display of civil action the world has ever witnessed.

Show your guests you care and play an active role in your community, the world, by inviting them to participate. Although you can’t turn off all the hotel lights since you operate 24/7, but you can ask your guests to turn the room lights off and join you in the lobby or restaurant to mingle over drinks – maybe even hand out tree or plant seeds at the end or educate them on what your hotel is doing to reduce it’s green house gases and become sustainable. I can just imagine all the creative ways you can get your guests to join in the fun!

With 25 days left, here at EcoGreenHotel, we’ll be planning our own electricity-free activities – and yes, we have signed up! You can find out if your state, city, town, business or organization has signed up to join Earth Hour by visiting www.earthhour.org and clicking on your state.

EcoGreenHotel’s Director of Sustainability, Jeff Kiec recently completed a series of green hotel case study presentations in Texas and Arkansas. Along with the local Convention and Visitor Bureaus of Bentonville, Arkansas and Plano, Texas and the SBDC for Enterprise Excellence, EcoGreenHotel spread the word about hospitality sustainability initiatives.

One of the most attention-grabbing topics addressed was the use of Eco-Labels and the growing importance of third party certification programs to determine the true extent of a green hotel’s sustainability initiatives. A consensus was reached that there is an immense need for the hospitality industry to determine a clearer definition of a truly “green” hotel. This would help to reward those hotels that implement and maintain robust sustainability programs and marginalize those that overstate or completely green-wash their efforts for short-term gain.  During the question and answer sessions, discussions developed on how to differentiate the hard work required to achieve various green hotel certifications and which of those programs garner the most credibility amongst the traveling public and sustainability professionals.

In addition, a common thread was uncovered, the willingness of the municipalities to support hotels in their efforts to operate in a sustainable manor. Christopher Day, Commercial Recycling Supervisor for the City of Plano, provides guidance and training for businesses to develop robust recycling programs of all sizes. Helping create recycling programs is viewed as a win-win situation for both the municipalities and the hotels. By reducing the amount garage sent to land fills, the City wins by reducing long-term re-occurring costs. The hotels win by reducing the number of weekly hauls, reducing total cost of hauling, creating a revenue stream with its recyclable products and creating a culture of environmental responsibility among its employees.

Due to the interest and success of this series of presentations, EcoGreenHotel will be hosting another round of presentations in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio in the coming months.  The future case study presentations with cover the role of social media in reputation management, expanded detail on Eco-labels, third party certifications, and additional real world cost savings case studies.

EcoGreenHotel would like to pay special thanks to Wendy Bader of the Bentonville Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mark Thompson of the Plano Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Tom Pryor of the Small Business Development Center of Enterprise Excellence.  We appreciate your efforts and help!

You can learn more about their organizations at:

http://www.sbdcexcellence.org

http://www.bentonvilleusa.org

http://www.planocvb.com/main/index.php

As we look towards better days in 2010 I am reminded of a presentation, I attend at the ALIS conference few years back, by a noted futurist, discussing the business, economic and social trends that we could expect to see in the next 10, 20 even 50 years.

It was an eye-opener, very thought provoking and certainly relevant to a room full of room full of hoteliers. I recently thought about that when I came across the book the EXTREME FUTURE by James Canton. In it, you will be glad to know that the author predicts a move toward green sustainability, as well as great business opportunities for those involved in eco-friendly products and services. We are EcoGreenHotel hope he is right!
The book itself is a visual trip forward, taking the reader to tomorrowland, but also explaining in detail the trends that will shape our world in the 21st century. This has been a life’s work for Mr. Canton, who heads up the Institute for Global Futures, a San Francisco think tank that forecasts trends for government and corporate clients. He was once a student of Alvin Toffler, who wrote Future Shock way back in 1970 and was a pioneer in the field of FUTURISM.

Forecasting is a key business component for all companies, and to many of us it is a vital part of our jobs. From his book, here are the top 10 trends that James Canton sees for the future:

The Top 10 Trends of The Extreme Future:

1. Fueling the Future – The energy crisis, the post-oil future, and the future of energy alternatives like hydrogen. The critical role that energy will play in every aspect of our lives in the 21st century.

2. The Innovation Economy – The transformation of the global economy based on the convergence of free trade, technology and democracy, driving new jobs, new markets, globalization, competition, peace and security. The Four Power Tools of the Innovation Economy are Nano-Bio-IT-Neuro.

3. The Next Workforce – How the workforce of the U.S. is becoming more multicultural, more female and more Hispanic. Why the future workforce must embrace innovation to become globally competitive.

4. Longevity Medicine – The key forces that will radically alter medicine such as nanotech, neurotech, and genomics, leading to longer and healthier lives.

5. Weird Science – How science will transform every aspect of our lives, culture and economy—from teleportation to nanobiology to multiple universes.

6. Securing the Future – The top threats to our freedom and our lives, from hackers to terrorists to mind control. Defining the risk landscape of the 21st century.

7. The Future of Globalization – The new realities of global trade and competition; the rise of China and India; the clash of cultures and ideologies; and the cultural-economic battle for the future.

8. The Future of Climate Change – How the environment is changing and how we need to prepare for increased global warming, pollution, and threats to biodiversity.

9. The Future of the Individual – The risks and challenges from institutions, governments, and ideologies in the struggle for human rights and the freedom of the individual in the 21st century.

10. The Future of America – The power of America and its destiny to champion global democracy, innovation, human rights and free markets. Copyright © 2007 Dr. James Canton & IGF

And, while no one can truly predict the future, having access to knowledge and trending information is critical to anyone who has a stake in where we are all headed.
EXTREME FUTURE also recognizes that the convergence of many of these single trends also have implications and impacts on each other. Fascinating reading, both from a business and personal perspective, the book is now available in paperback. Let us know what you think, and if you have a book that you highly recommend let us know that as well and we will pass the word.

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EcoGreenHotel recognizes Caroma as a leader in smart technology for water conservation in the hospitality industry. If you are in the midst of planning ahospitality development or in preparation stage of a renovation you must consider Caroma dual flush toilets and high efficiency urinals to bring easy maintenance and easy water savings to your project.

With Caroma’s high efficiency (HET) dual flush toilets, you don’t need to trade flushing performance for water savings. Caroma’s toilets are designed to work together as a complete flushing system that takes into consideration waste removal as well as proper drainline carry out.

Using gravity forced “washdown”, this system delivers more energy from less water and pushes (rather than siphons) waste out of the bowl, quite simply making the water work harder and more efficiently.

All Caroma floor-mount toilets are WaterSense labeled, meaning they use at least 20% less water than the current federal standard while still providing equal or superior performance. It’s a simple two button flushing system. The reduced flush button releases 0.8 gallons per flush (gpf) for liquid and paper waste. The full flush button releases 1.28-1.6 gpf for solid waste. This can save up to 44% more water than the standard 1.6 gpf single flush toilet and up to 74% more water than a 3.5 gpf single flush toilet.

Caroma is also a major supplier of high efficiency urinals. The H2Zero waterless urinal utilizes breakthrough technology to use zero water for optimum performance and water conservation. The H2Zero’s unique patented cartridge technology does not use an oil-based seal, as traditionally used in waterless urinals. The Bio Seal™ allows urine to pass through the seal freely, eliminating unnecessary waste build-up within the cartridge and acts as a one-way airtight valve to seal the cartridge from the drainage system.

The Cube3 Ultra urinal is the first liquid-sensing automatic flushing mechanism that detects usage rather than motion to activate the electronic flush valve, eliminating accidental flushing. The smart controller automatically reduces flushing frequency during periods of high use.
Businesses and households enjoy other features of Caroma toilets. For example, the trap size is nearly double the North American standard, enabling the system to eliminate clogging and double flushing. Additionally, Caroma 270 toilets come with an adjustable offset connector for 10”-12” rough-ins that accommodate rough-in variations and make the toilet ideal for retrofits and renovations. The unique style and clean lines also provide for easy cleaning.

The Hilton Palacio del Rio hotel in San Antonio installed 470 Caroma Sydney 305 elongated toilets in 2007. During the first eight months after the toilet installation, the Hilton Palacio had saved nearly six million gallons of water compared to the same months one year earlier. Guest complaints about toilet problems have dropped more than 90%.
More information is available at www.caromausa.com or (800) 605-4218.

Do you know about an environmentally-friendly product that deserves to be the subject of an EcoFeature? Tell us about it in an email to info@EcoGreenHotel.com and we may spotlight it on our website or blog, or in our newsletter!

About EcoGreenHotel
EcoGreenHotel conducts sustainability and energy efficiency analysis of hotels. EGH specializes infinding local, state and government programs that offer credits and rebates available to owners, developers and operators of hotels. Additionally, EGHhosts on-site workshops, case study seminars,staff training, and guides facilities through the LEED, Green Seal and Energy Star certification process.

www.EcoGreenHotel.com offers a marketplace for green hotel products and services and provides a one- stop venue for green hospitality industry news, basic environmental overviews and other tools like green hotel checklists, project ideas, book lists, and valuable links designed to promote a more sustainable hospitality industry.
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The Bentonville Convention & Visitors Bureau and EcoGreenHotel have teamed up to bring the local hotel community an educational look inside the Green Hospitality movement. EcoGreenHotel’s Jeff Kiec LEED AP will be presenting real world case studies. Bentonville is the worldwide headquarters of Wal-Mart a global corporate leader in the sustainability movement.  Jeff Kiec is the Corporate Director of Sustainability and will present examples of hotel energy efficiency, innovative technologies and green marketing. All case studies are based on real results from around the country. These proven solutions help general managers and building engineers increase their occupancy while lowering their overall costs.

Learn how hotels can quickly and economically stay competitive with leaders in the hospitality industry that are gaining the attention of the green traveler.  The case studies will cover:

• “Eco labels” for hotels
• Swimming pool energy  and chemical use reductions
• Occupancy Based Energy Management Systems
• Guest room and back of the house recycling programs
• Operational cost savings
• Web-based marketing strategies
• And much more…..

There will be no charge for the event and will include a great lunch sponsored by US Energy Solutions. In addition, EcoGreenHotel will provide a free EnergyStar benchmark evaluation to a local hotel as a door prize.

Who should attend? – Hotel Owners, Management Companies, General Managers, Building Engineers, Sales & Marketing Directors

Thursday  February 11^th 11:30am -1:00pm

DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel

301 Southeast Walton Boulevard
Bentonville, AR 72712

Event Limited to 40 participants

Please RSVP to Wendy@bentonville.org

If you cannot make the Bentonville Event you can join us in Arlington TX on Tuesday February 16^th 2010 or Plano TX Thursday February 18^th 2010. Email JKiec@EcoGreenHotel.com for more information. Also contact us if you would like to hold a similar event in your area.

About Jeff Kiec

Jeff Kiec, LEED-AP

Corporate Director of Sustainability-EcoGreenHotel

Mr. Kiec is a veteran in the environmental service industry. His experience includes engineering building assessments, building and operational sustainability audits, and environmental site assessments. As the volunteer Sustainability Director for Deep Ellum, a historic arts and entertainment neighborhood in Dallas, Mr. Kiec is responsible for educating and working with neighborhood businesses and property owners to incorporate sustainable building technologies.

EcoGreenHotel is a valuable resource for hotels dedicated to supporting hospitality sustainability. You can visit www.EcoGreenHotel.com or www.EcoGreenHotelStore.com for more information.