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The Hotel Industry and its vendors are acknowledging and taking a keen revenue advantage, because their customers are supporting a green environment focus. This green economic revolution has impacted the $90 billion dollar Hotel industry. The article describes a hotel in Austin Texas profoundly in regards to their property having the "largest solar system in the continental U.S.". The hotel goes as far as creating their motto, which gear guest towards a green environment focus; their motto states "Environmental consciousness in action." The hotel grows its own food and vegetables, in which they serve the guest with, and they also give some of their produce to local food banks. The hotel guest often brag about how well they slept in the night, this might be caused by the toxic free chemical environment they are in. The lodging have refrained from using chemical pesticides 20 years ago, which may have added to the result of guest sleeping well; stated the general manager. The Ritz-Carlton program "Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ambassadors of the Environment program" was originally for the children that were staying on the Kapalua in Hawaii. The children enjoyed it so much, and their parents became very inquisitive; that the program emerged into the entire property focus. This program gives guest the opportunity to have involvement with the native forest; native nature walk and the hotel also harvest a native garden. This is almost the same idea as the hotel located in Austin Texas. There are many valid reasons for the reason why the Hotel Industry should be green conscious. The Green Hotels Association states that "Companies with proactive environmental strategies will make 4 percent higher investment, 9 higher sales growth and 17 percent higher operating income growth than companies with poor environmental practices.". If I was a general manager, this would be one of my main concerns and focus. Going green is cost effective, but the ending

nowadays, more and more hotels attending to join the green army. one of the most important reason is this kind of hotel will have a better market. because of the education level of the guests, their invironmental awareness become stongly. so the guests want to do more to make a contribution the the environment protection. on the other hand, the customers all knows that even the price of the green hotel is higher, but it is more health and safe. it will make them feel better and have a good experience in the hotel. as we know, a good experience is the final goal of hotel. so, the green hotel must have a bright future.

The green economic revolution is impacting the $90 billion U.S. hotel industry. There is an opportunity to increase revenue and market share by "going green". Habitat Suites in Austin, Texas is a leader in this area. The hotel's motto is "Environmental consciousness in action." Habitat Suites has an environment that is free of chemicals, has the largest hotel solar system, and uses their own organic fruit and vegetable garden for food in the hotel. Due to this environmental consciousness, the customers are reacting positively. Commenting on how great they slept, due to the ecologically fresh rooms. Many hotel chains are jumping on the green revolution bandwagon. At the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua in Hawaii, they started an environment program that was originally designed to provide fun for kids. But after positive feedback from the children, this has grown from just learning about local marine life to educational nature walks. These walks go through Maui's native forests and a garden that grows native foods and has community engagement in order to preserve their island's culture and environment. The food that is grown in the native garden is used in the hotel to provide guests with a healthy dining experience. Because of this, it has increased guests' reason to eat at the hotel and is 15 percent of the hotel guests' revenue stream. This environmentally friendly program increases the possibility of repeat business and attract new travelers who search for these types of experiences. A report published by the Green Hotels Association states, "Companies with proactive environmental strategies have a 4 percent higher return on investment, 9 percent higher sales growth and 17 percent higher operating income growth than companies with poor environmental track records." Even non-hotel-industry entrepreneurs are realizing business opportunities in the green vacation industry. Patricia Griffin, president of the Green Hotel Association, started the associatio

In this article it discussed the main green technologies used for hotel chains and independent hotel owners. In a bid to reduce carbon emissions ahead of possible future legislation, many hotels are adopting strategies to comply with stringent energy guidelines. Large hotel chais are making sure they go extra miles to ensure their green credentials are noticed. Green consultants and architects are employed and eco-friendly strategy for sustainable technologies are rolled out at the entire hotel groups.  Hotel architecture transform to more new green hotel developments which more fit in  with the local landscape as well as energy reducing technology apply for the roofing and building materials. Bio fuel heating replace for diesel and recycled water being used to irrigate hotel grounds. Some hotels are using ozone instead of chlorine in the pools. Other green energy management systems has become increasingly common. Green gadgets are proving a cost effective choice and can also reduce the impact of heavy guest usage on resources.Many Chins are minimizing waste by avoiding over-paced products and asking to deliver minimal wrapping.  Further cost effective measures can be applied to guest activities. They promote local restaurants and attractions within walking distance or only a short care journey away. Bicycles are offered for guests or endorse local tour firms which save on multiple car journeys.  Eco-friendly measures and green technology as part of hotel's general philosophy are well accepted. It also helps to ensure future goodwill and increase occupancy rates. It worth adopting a green technology policy to suit a hotel budget.

Through the article, I found that more and more companies and customers concern about green technology and it has became a heated issue for hotel chains and independent hotel owners. Then why do we need green technology in hotel industry? The answers varies: the general one could be that we need a green world and we should reduce the burden of our environment; for customers, I think we should try to protect the place that provides us beautiful view and nice mood and to make it more comfortable to live in; for hoteliers, building and operating hotels means more saving on energy, more profit,and higher reputation. Even through we have different points of view, we can work on the same theme. Then the problem came in: how to build and operate a green hotel. The author of this article gave me some ideas and I am sure green technology can be everywhere. For instance, large hotel chains can employ green consultants and architect and even launch test sites where they can assess the effectiveness of their green strategy. Professional architects can customize their design to fit the local landscape. From the beginning we can have the green roofing and building materials which can benefit us a lot later. The facilities and operation system can be energy saving by focusing on every detail such as the recycled water and bio fuel heating.  Besides in room technology can be green too. Hoteliers can also try to plan some actives that are environmental friendly for their guests.  Green technology can be applied to every step of building and operating hotels.It is meaningful for hoteliers to focus on the green theme. 

Hotels going green is being appreaciated by the guests

go green is important not only for the industry but also for the whole earth, because pollution is one of the biggest issue for every countries' government. in this article, it also talk about the major concerns in hotel industry, AC system and water conservation. go green not only save hotels' money, but also increase profit margin. Go green is a important step for hotel to go, and it have to go green for the future step for hotels.

I realy like this article because it talks about hotels that are trying to go green and customers like it and contribute to this cause. The hotels are trying to reduce the use of water, energy and waste, and they give the option to the customer to do it or not. For example to "reuse your towel" or turn off the A/C when you are not in the room. This helps the hotels to save money and increased their profit margin. Some hotels beleive this is costly for them, but in the long-run it will help. People are more conscious now and like that hotels are more environmentally responsible.

With sustainability at the forefront of hotel operators and investors hotels are becoming conscious of the guests needs as more and more travelers are requiring and are staying at properties that are serious about environmental conservation. The article highlighted the fact hotels are big consumers of energy, therefore have construction that are LEED certified will not only benefit the environment but also the bottom line of investors.

Travel Weekly takes a look at hotels taking real initiatives to their commitment to going green, especially in Sin City. Hotel groups are looking not to save money through transparent initiatives asking guests to simply reuse their towels, rather the article looks at "hotel owner-developers to invest in systems that cut energy usage, save water, and reduce waste". It seems in addition to other environmentally conscious west coast cities, Vegas has set a standard by setting goals for increased recycling, decreased energy consumption, switching over to LED bulbs, composting food waste, reducing overall carbon footprint and emissions. In light of continuing green development, Sabre Holdings has launched an Eco-Certified Hotel Program taking the lead out of the other four major GDS's to tip their hat to eco-friendly hotels. As travelers, GDS's, hotels, travel websites, and developers alike place greater emphasis on the preference for environmentally conscious lodgings, the more likely the industry is going to continue adopting these measures.

Hotels are becoming more green world wide. MGM hotels is on board with a green initiative. Hotels electricity and water add up because they have to cool a building , clean and maintain the hotel. IT costs about 800 per room annually in electricity and water costs. MGM hotels reduced the electrivity they use which can help power 12, 000 houses. HOtels are also trying to reduce its carbon emissions. Although as the article states " its very difficult fot hotels to be trully green by their nature" every little bit helps.

This article takes a look at 3 to 5 star hotels in Zimbabwe and South Africa and their environmentally friendly practices. Research shows that the hotel industry has a huge impact on the environment and the use of natural resources. The hotel industry has been negatively impacting the environment by consuming large amount of energy and water, and by producing large amounts of waste. The government has been demanding that hotels implement green practices, these are methods and products that do not negatively impact the environment. The results from the data collected from these two countries showed that none of the hotels had a written green management policy. Even though some of the hotels insisted that there is a green management policy in effect, it was not written down. It is important for policies like this to be written so there is a clear understanding of what is expected.

It seems the main motivation to implement more eco-friendly practices would be legislation/regulation but I wonder how that would be received? Outside the hotel industry,. I wonder how much focus is generally given to environmental concerns? Interesting research.

This is a three year old survey on Green Intiatives by American Hotel & Lodging Association. It talks about : (a) Challenges or barriers faced by hoteliers. (b) The biggest motivation for implementing green lodging practices. (C) The top ten things hotels are doing well relating to green initiative. (d) Top ten green things hotels can improve on.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association's Green Assessment Survey results reveal the top 10 green initiatives hotels are enacting, the top 10 motivations for implementing green lodging practices, the top 10 green things hotels are doing well and top 10 green things hotels can improve on. In the challenges and barriers part, the biggest one facing in implementing green lodging practices is having enough capital to invest; in addition the whole world is in financial crisis now. Money is a big problem. As we know, before implement green practices, hotels need large amount money to buy equipment and need a lot of time to train employees to use it. In high season, they are busy to serve guests, to earn money. In low season, they may have time but no money. In the motivation part, environmental benefits and building guest loyalty rates to first place. But I think most hotels deciding to implement green practices are because financial savings. In addition, implement green practices can preempt government regulations and improve hotel reputation. It is also a good way to advertise. To do and not to do lists, hotels should keep and improve their recycling and reuse program and pay more attention to the power save program.

This is a great article that collected all top 10 related to GREEN. It makes me realize what we are doing well and what we need to improve in the future. And also it lists the top 10 challenge that we are facing. I agree with you that implement green practices can preempt government regulations and improve hotel reputation.

In the United States, hotels represent more than 5 billion square feet of space, nealry 5 million guest rooms and approxiamtely $4 billion in annual energy use. As of January 2010, there were only 40 hotels that were LEED certified. The acronym LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED is a voluntary, third party green building certification program that awards points to buildings depending on their sustainable practice being implemented which includes building improvements, environemntal footprint and water and energy use. LEED was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization. Its main purpose is to provide building owners and operators with a basic framework for developing and implementing sustainable practices. The first hotel to ever be certified according to LEED criteria was the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, NC. This hote received Platnium status for being able to recycle 87% of its construction debris, purchasing 40% of the building materials and 90% of its furniture locally. Installation of 100 solar panels, use of geothermal energy for the restaurant's refrigeration equipment and instllation of a Regenerative Drive model for its elevators made the Proximity Hotel a benchmark hotel. There are several practices that can make a hotel conserve energy and make it sustainable such as using flourescent lightbulbs, offering linen and towel reuse programs, paving parkig lots with highly reflective materials or open grid pavers, installing high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, landscaping with native plants and using local materials and goods. These will not necessarily lead to LEED certification but will definitely earn points towards obtaining that accredidation. The use of sustainable practices not only helps conserve the environment but also saves money in the long run. Through water conservation techniques, recycling and linen and towel reuse programs, the hospitality industry wins two-fold,

This article is all about hotels going green and trying to get LEED certified. The one Boston hotel is doing things like having dual flush toilets, low flow showers, shampoo and conditioner in bulk dispensers, and a roofing material that reflects the sun to save energy costs. Another thing involved with getting LEED certified is getting energy from abouther source, this particular hotel is using the wind. It is expensive to do and doesnt appeal to everyone, hotel managers must figure out whats in the best interest for them and getting people in and out of their hotel.

To add onto Marilyns comment, not only are hotels doing the basics to go green, but a lot of hotels in california are taking the extra step, such as The Kimpton Hotels, and The orchard. They have changed the carpets and wallpaper for lower emission. They added recycle bins in every room in all 40 of their hotels across the country. Lastly, and one of the the additions I find most beneficial is their implementation of key card energy control, where a room key will be needed to activate the electricity in each room, and also shutting all electricity off when they leave.

This article is about how starwood hotels are trying to become fullscale eco-friendly but some are hotels are only greenwashing. This article is stating that it is not enough to use one green practice and call yourself an eco-friendly hotel.

Green Initiative by Hilton Hotel Hotels as well as other service industries are looking for new ways to run more efficiently and looking to nature to give them some ideas. The latest in green technology is allowing hotels to push the eco-envelope and create energy efficient roof systems that also help the environment, and provide a visually beautiful space for their guests to enjoy. Hilton Hotel chain recently constructed Hilton Baltimore to break records with their proactive "green" policy, by creating garden to cover the entire roof, which Hilton looks upon as a commitment to the community and environment- a top level priority which stems from the top at the corporate level and is implemented down to the property level. This kind of innovation benefits all the major stakeholders…….it helps the environment by reducing rain water run-off, creates habitants for birds to thrive, helps to keep the hotel cool thereby reducing utility expense, it also provides a conducive atmosphere for the guest to enjoy and above all it generates good will for Hilton Hotels. This is not just happening in the U.S. Hotels around the globe are choosing to guide their business towards efficiency utilizing green roof technology. Besides recycling, and purchasing 'Green Sustainable Energy Credits' for 50% of the energy it utilizes annually, InterContinental Chicago hotel initiated "waste minimization" with a program that donates table scraps and leftover foods to local farms or composting sites. They have also introduced 'Green Weddings' and 'Green Meetings' options for event planners, bicycle rentals, organic wines and foods, and distribute seeds to employees to encourage giving back to the environment.

This article discusses the various ways that hotels are increasingly going green and the certification process hotels can go to in order to get this green recognition. It is clear that going green nowadays is not a matter of choice, but of business necessity due to the various demands from guests and other consumers. Sustainability for hotels isn't just about recycling and choosing more energy efficient lights, its looking at sustainability holistically. This means looking at conversation from the start of a hotel project all the way through to the time the hotel first opens and continues to operate. While the upfront costs to be green may be costly, what may end up being more costly is the companies who choose not to go green at all.

Motel.com has now launched an initiative to allow customers to search for green hotels. Before this plan was put into action, customers who possessed that green thumb were unable to decipher which properties would meet their sustainable criteria. With a new "green feature" search, Motel.com lists all of the Hotels and Motels that are considered Eco Friendly or friends of the environment which efforts such as conserving water, electricity and natural gas. These properties listed as Eco Friendly are certified by the Greenkey Eco-Rating System by Green Key Global. "The Green Key Eco-Rating Program and Green Key Meetings Program are graduated rating systems designed to recognize green hotels, motels and resorts that are committed to improving their environmental and fiscal performance." With Americans becoming increasingly environmentally conscious, stay in an Eco Friendly Motel or Hotel has become a priority. Indeed, when I travel, I like to stay at a hotel that is better than my home. With these new initiatives in the back of my mind, staying at a certified Eco Friendly hotel would definitely meet my criteria. 

With the demand for sustainability initiatives by consumers, hotel are having to make major changes in order to oblige. Sustainability has become a major concern for many consumers and businesses have taken notice. As a result, major hotel chains across country have begun to put in order plans to make changes to their daily operations. As noted in the article by L.A. Times, changes have been made to features such as water usage, machinery operations and even landscaping design . These changes and updates are in the hopes to attract a wider consumer market which now includes Eco-friendly travelers.

The LA Times article, "More hotels are going green, and not just to save water or money" highlights how an "earth-friendly image" is important to many corporate travel managers. Research suggests that having an environmentally friendly hotel not only aids in decreasing operational cost and avoiding city or county fines but may also be a way to differentiate a firm's brand and compete more effectively in the market. With travelers specifically seeking out eco-friendly choices and demonstrating a willingness to pay extra to accommodate a hotels ability to provide these services; going green could be a strategic solution implemented in a manner that allows for increasing market share while reducing operational cost.

Good Afternoon, It good to see hotels are being proactive about being environmentally friendly. It also great they mentioned that corporate travelers are looking for Eco-friendly hotels. I know a lot of companies require corporate travelers to seek out hotels that meet certain green levels and along with there corporate rates. Hotels are demonstrating that they are willing to invest in green technology not only for money but because it the right thing to.

This article emphasizes the positive and negative aspects of the hospitality industry adopting to sustainable practices. It recognizes that this industry is in the business of making money, while appoints the importance of doing so conscientiously, respecting the environment. It shows the steps that the organizations should take on its journey to action. I believe that sustainability should be a business imperative and not a lifestyle choice, as the sustained interest among consumers in tourism products and services are continuously increasing. That should be beneficial for the organization, positively affecting the operating revenue.

The article discusses the many ways the IT world is finding new ways to be sustainable in the hospitality industry. Changing the way a hotel runs by introducing e-mails to guest and other companies to reduce the paper flow or allowing guest to do mobile check-ins can reduce a lot of paper waste. Also, having guest use their phones as key cards for their rooms can aid in avoiding wasting and needing to create key cards. By hotels having an energy saving system, they reduce electrical waste by having computers on low power consumption mode. One main thing the article mentioned that I personally see a lot of hotels doing is digital advertising. Instead of relying on paper advertisement, hotels rely heavily on ads on social medias, facebook, google, and third party vendors.

This article discusses the IT green movement that has been in action since the rise of technology and ways on how IT can go green. Some opportunities in the green IT movement include the following: - Using IT responsibly and effectively to reduce water, energy, and paper consumption. This gives IT teams to take advantage of a few technical enhancements within their hotels to provide key cards available on smart phones, email to reduce paper, and digital signage. - Deploying effective technology practices such as Energy Star compliance to shut down computers automatically after periods of inactivity and server virtualization. This would mean for everything to be on one common server, and companies can save money on computer hardware and power consumption. - Tackling e-waste and deploying recycling technologies to reduce environmental waste and impacts. This could be implementing by introducing a safe recycling system for used hardware. - Digital marketing practices. This could be like using digital media to save money or using social media to encourage guests about the green practices that the hotel is implementing. - Marketing strategies to report and promote green practices. This could be having the business properly use marketing strategies to target these environmentally conscious market and find ways to promote green practices to this market segment. These are all very effective ways for IT teams to go green within their hospitality businesses. These green IT projects will need approval from top management and investment in time and resources.

In today's society, being green is very important to many consumers but not all. The green conscious consumers have come to expect that the companies they do business with have the same beliefs. A companies green initiatives could be the deciding factor for some whether or not they frequent a business. Hospitality businesses must be aware of these green expectations from their consumers. They also must know how to communicate specifically to their green consumers explaining their specific green practices.. The article supports this when it states: "Green consumers are reasonably distinct in terms of identifiable characteristics and behavior patterns. Targeting specific marketing strategies to potential green consumers is likely to be more effective than directing these strategies to the entire population by assuming that all members of the population are potential green consumers," Unfortunately, it sometimes can be rather difficult to target green guests. It is much harder to identify these types of guests in comparison to non-green conscious guests. Also about 75% of green conscious guests aren't willing to really impact the comfort level of their stay to save the environment. Green guests may be green conscious but studies have shown they aren't really willing to give up the comforts such as daily housekeeping, high-pressure showers and fresh linens instead of reusing sheets during an extended visit. The article supports this when it states: "Although industry research has shown that a significant percentage of hotel guests would prefer to stay in a hotel that cares about the environment, guests are not always that predictable. Barber noted that a study by a major national hotel operation opposite findings: 75 percent of their guest respondents said they would not give up daily hotel room service activities." This is why green initiatives specifically targeted at green consumers are essential. The green consumer even though they may no

It is hard by nature for hotels to be green. Between the constant washing of linens, chemicals being used to clean and the amount of products and waste they throw out it is hard for hotels to keep up. But good news is here as hotels step up their "green game". Hotels are starting to put more money into green savings and hoping to get more travelers in return. Green hotels bring in a much higher occupancy rate on travel websites than hotels who are not. These guests are looking for green hotels not only for what they believe in but for the experience the hotel is providing. Hotels that are going green with new cutting edge technology is something more other hotels are trying to jump on board with.

This article Danny King, discusses how hotel operators are increasing choosing green options for their hotels. While some companies chose to invest on cutting energy, water and waste; some brands are being created with environmental sustainability as part of their core values. It is estimated that the 5 million hotels rooms in the U.S. racked up almost $4 billion in energy bills in 2011. Hotels contain an estimated 30% - 70% of public spaces that need to be heated, cooled and cleaned daily which consumes chemicals and energy. Most guests, would guess that hotels leading the green initiative are in areas such as Portland or Seattle; but surprisingly, Las Vegas is leading the trend! Las Vegas is home to the two largest LEED-certified hotels in the world, Sands' Venetian and Palazzo. CityCenter hotels, the Aria Hotel Tower, Mandarin Oriental and Vdara, have been able to recycle 50% of their waste in 2011. Most brands now have green options for their guests. Starwood, for example, has a Make a Green Choice option where guest opt out of housekeeping services and receive 500 points towards their SPG account or in some areas $5 credit towards Food & Beverage. Element Hotels has about 90 hotels, most of which are LEED-certified and although most of their guests do choice their hotels because they are green, they continue to return for that reason.

A recent study by the top-ranked School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University has found that certification by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, also known as LEED certification, actually provides a boost in revenue for hotels. The Council takes various factors into account prior to certifying a hotel, including "water efficiency, energy use, and indoor environmental quality. When compared to 514 non-certified hotels, the 93 hotels afforded LEED certification excelled in their gross income based on the average daily rate (ADR) standard. Over a time of two years, the LEED-certified hotels outperformed their non-certified competitors. In fact, LEED-certified hotels were able to match the levels of occupancy of non-certified hotels in a single year. Since LEED certification in the hospitality industry is fairly new, there is little empirical evidence to further back the conclusions of this particular study. Though LEED certification of hotels has actually declined since 2010, I believe that the more hotel controllers start to understand its benefits, the quicker we will see it adopted as an industry standard. It is worth noting that this study specifically focused on 93 upscale and luxury properties, but compared them to nearly five times as many hotels without certification. I think a more accurate study will divide up hotels based on their pricing category (budget, midscale, upscale, luxury, extended stay, etc.) and compare the benefits of LEED certification with that in mind. Lastly, it is unclear if the study found any higher level of consumer preference for LEED certified hotels. Instead, the benefits seem to come with the standards that LEED certified hotels must meet, in turn resulting in lower expenditures. Perhaps more sophisticated customers at luxury properties are more keen to environmental protection and stewardship, and thus take LEED certification into account. However, I believe that most of

This article talks about the DaVinci Hotel in Johannesburg South Africa. It was constructed to 'make use of solar panel power.' This makes the DaVinci a green hotel and gives them a solar powered water heating system. 'The solar powered water system, which has the capacity to warm up 30,000 liters of water, will result in a 60% reduced energy bill for the hotel..."  Saving on operating costs should be enough incentive for new hotels to be built green. Also it appeals to many guests who look to reduce their carbon footprint and however small, the percentage of the population who want to go green is growing. A hotel is a home away from home and homes how are being built green. It is in a new hotel's best interest to follow the trends that will have a major affect on how business and life is run. The article says that the 'DaVinci has set the tone for the hospitality industry' and I believe the actions should be followed. Newly constructed hotels shouldn't be the only eco-friendly hotels in business. Hotels that are currently in business have regular maintenance and upgrades to do. They can add in green items like LED lights, water saving shower heads, and implementing eco-friendly cleaning products and kitchen appliances.

While we all know now it's the technology era, customers would like prefer new hotel technology which would enhance their experience. When we are geeky enough to love new hotel technology, however, we have got our green side too. For example, in hospitality industry, some hotels control what gets switched on and off using the system that tells them when a guest comes and goes; some also talked about putting solar panels on hotel roofs with government subsidies. Applying new technology in hospitality industry also will have some negative side as everything has two sides. it is just a kind of balance thing. We just need to find the most suitable ones for our hotels and customers.

The article talks about how hotel are getting into more green technology. In New Orleans they had a conference for hotel own and GM that want to get greener with their hotel technology. The new green tech development is focused on reducing energy use. For example the new developed energy efficient system will remember how light are set and if the fireplace is on and will shut down 20 minutes after the guest leave and come back to the same setting. It will be a big saving for the hotel especially when the power bills comes in they will notice a different

The focus on sustainability or "going green" is quickly becoming a major trend. This article introduce 25 ways that hotels can use to develop sustainable economic. Supporting sustainable initiatives is important to the lodging industry as a whole. hotels need to continue to innovate and the future of technology in hospitality has to be green, or those brands that do not adopt to these emerging standards face being left behind.