September 9, 2014
Dear Boston Green Tourism Members,  
                                                  

Our next meeting will be Thursday September 18, from 2:30 to 4:00 at Cityscapes, floor 9. Cityscapes is located in Copley Square: 197 Clarendon Street, Boston.

 

Following the meeting, we're invited to join Cityscapes' Holiday Decor Open House, with wine and other refreshments. Hoteliers and other Cityscapes customers will mingle and get ideas for their holiday plant decorations. 

 

Thank you to our host: Janice Goodman. 

 

I hope to see you at the meeting and open house!

 

Dan Ruben 

 

SPEAKERS
Peter Cooke, Program Manager, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences            

Mr. Cooke will discuss the benefits of reducing toxic or hazardous chemicals in hotels, and strategies for achieving them. The benefits range from reducing potential legal liabilities, protecting workers and customers from exposure, improving Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and lowering insurance liability. By reducing hazardous chemicals on site, hotels can attract sensitive and conscientious customers and employees. 

 

I have seen this presentation, and I highly recommend it.


Anamarija Frankic, Director, Green Harbors Project, University of Massachusetts 

Boston
Dr. Frankic will discuss an initiative to restore Boston Harbor's oyster beds 
(www.umb.edu/ghp), that is improving the harbor's water quality, increasing biodiversity and providing a buffer for the city from storm surges. She will describe how hotel restaurants can participate, while reducing their waste stream and garnering good publicity.

Richard TurgeonGlobal Sales Director, Novothermic Technologies Inc.                        

Hotels pay a considerable sum for the hot water they use in their dishwashers. Some also pay for additional water that's necessary to temper the hot dishwasher effluent before it goes down the drain. Novothermic's Dishwasher Heat Exchanger saves restaurants money by recovering the high-temperature drained water from their dishwashers, and using it to warm up the units' incoming water for their next load of dishes.  

 

Janice Goodman, President, Cityscapes, Inc.  

Ms. Goodman will show us how Boston hotels use distinctive "plantscapes"  to make their facilities more attractive, comfortable, healthier, happier and quieter.
 

IDEAS

Green Certifications Earned by Boston Area Hotels

The chart below lists the certifications for Boston area hotels, as of August 11. 


 
My observations: 

  • Boston hotels have jumped on the green certification bandwagon! 51 Boston area hotels have at least one green certification, up from 35 a year ago. 21 hotels have two certifications and 5 facilities have three.
  • The most popular certifications are TripAdvisor (33), Energy Star (20) and Green Key (18). Last summer, there were only 14 TripAdvisor GreenLeader hotels. 

 

HOTEL

Energy Star

TripAdvisor

Green Key

LEED

Green Seal

Green Restaurant Association

Boston - Logan Airport Embassy Suites

 

 

 

 

 

Boston - Marriott Burlington

Silver

 

 

 

 

Boston -  Marriott Cambridge

 

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Boston Norwood Courtyard

 

 

 

 

 

Boston - Marriott Peabody

 

 

 

 

 

Boston Quincy     Marriott

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Boston Woburn Courtyard

 

 

 

 

 

The Boxer

 

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Colonnade Hotel

 

Gold

 

 

 

2 stars

Comfort Inn & Suites Boston Logan Airport

Silver

4

 

 

 

Comfort Inn, Boston

 

Silver

 

 

 

 

Courtyard by Marriott Boston Copley Square

 

Gold

 

 

 

 

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton, Boston Cambridge

 

 

 

 

 

Doubletree Hotel Boston Downtown

 

 

 

 

 

Element Lexington

 

 

 

Gold

 

 

The Eliot Hotel

 

 

2

 

 

 

Embassy Suites Waltham Boston

 

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Fairmont Copley Plaza

 

Silver

4

 

 

 

Fairmont Battery Wharf

 

Bronze

4

 

 

 

Hampton Inn Boston Norwood

Bronze

4

 

 

 

Hilton Garden Inn Burlington

 

Silver

 

 

 

 

Hilton Garden Inn Boston/Waltham

 

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Holiday Inn Select Boston

 

 

 

 

 

Hostelling International Boston

 

 

 

Silver

 

 

Hotel Marlowe      

 

Gold

4

 

 

 

Hyatt Boston Harbor

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Hyatt Regency Boston

Gold

 

 

 

 

Hyatt Regency Cambridge

 

Silver

 

 

 

 

Inn at Harvard

 

 

 

 

 

InterContinental Boston

 

Silver

4

 

 

3 stars

Irving House, Cambridge

Platinum

 

 

 

 

Le Meridien

 

Silver

 

 

 

 

Lenox Hotel

Platinum

4

 

 

 

Liberty Hotel

 

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Loew's Boston

 

Silver

 

 

 

 

Motel 6 Braintree

 

 

4

 

 

 

Nine Zero Hotel

 

Silver

4

 

 

 

Omni Parker House

 

 

3

 

 

 

Onyx Hotel

 

Silver

5

 

 

 

Ramada Boston

 

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Residence Inn Back Bay Boston

 

Silver

 

 

 

 

Residence Inn Boston Downtown Seaport

 

Bronze

 

 

 

 

Residence Inn Boston Logan Airport/Chelsea

 

Bronze

 

Gold

 

 

Residence Inn Boston Needham

 

 

 

Gold

 

 

Ritz-Carlton,  Boston Common

 

 

4

 

 

 

Royal Sonesta, Cambridge

 

 

 

 

 

Seaport Hotel

 

 

4

 

 

3 stars

Sheraton Boston Hotel

Silver

4

 

 

 

W Boston

 

Platinum

4

 

 

 

The Westin       Boston Waterfront

 

 

4

 

 

 

Westin Copley Place

 

4

 

 

Westin Waltham           

silver

 

 

 

 

 

If you want free advice about achieving green certification, please contact me.


 

InterContinental Boston Switches to Reusable Water Bottles  

IC Boston's new Vivreau North America bottler enables them to reduce the purchase of bottled water and the cost of disposing single-use plastic bottles. The hotel will use their new glass bottles for serving sparkling and still water to guests who come for meetings and events.

 

Hotels that bottle their own water will have an advantage if Ballot Question 2, the Massachusetts Expansion of Bottle Deposits Initiative, passes on November 4. They won't have to pay the deposit on bottled water, or take the empties back for redemption.

OPPORTUNITIES

Two Saunders Hotel Group Properties to Unveil EV Charging Stations

The Hampton Inn Boston / Norwood and the Comfort Inn & Suites Boston Logan Airport will unveil their new charging stations on September 23 and  24 respectively.  

 

As mentioned in the June 11 newsletter, U-Go Stations, is installing these stations for free. The company wants to install new stations in high-traffic Boston-area locations, including hotels. They put the stations in, and then share the revenue from "fill-ups" with the property owners. 

 

I encourage you to attend one of these events if you want to see the units, talk to SHG and U-Go Station managers and determine whether the new charging stations make sense for your facility. 

 

Sustainable Technology Connection Forum

A Better City and the New England Clean Energy Council (NECEC) are hosting the ABC Challenge for Sustainability Technology Connection Forum on Friday from 8:30 to 10:00 at Foley Hoag (155 Seaport Boulevard). 


 
This event provides an opportunity for businesses that want  to incorporate cutting-edge green strategies to learn about new technologies, and become acquainted with companies that deliver solutions.

 

EPA WaterSense Green H20tel Webinars Available

The six terrific webinars from this series are available here.


 
Building Operators Certification Courses and Webinars 

National Grid is sponsoring the following courses for commercial building operators:

ARTICLES
Curbing Demand Charges: The ˜Other" Part of Your Electric Bill
John Carrington, Green Lodging News, August 4.

The author discusses how energy storage and data analytics can reduce peak energy usage--and the "demand charges" that comprise a sizable portion of hotel energy bills. It's a good article, but I think that the author shortchanges other strategies. The next document describes other ways that businesses reduce peak energy use, and it's specific to Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance and Technology


Commercial buildings in Boston are required to report their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions to the City by September 15. This article provides, "three important details to remember about entering your data followed by a list of the best places to find help if you get stuck."

This document answers the following questions about this ordinance, which takes effect October 1: which businesses are covered, which materials are covered and how to comply with the ban. 

UPCOMING MEETINGS   

The following BGT meetings will be 2:30 to 4:00. Please mark them in your calendars!

 

September 18: Cityscapes

October 23: TBD

December 4:  Langham Boston                  

 

See you September 18 at Cityscapes!