CHANHASSEN, M INN.—The national hotel chain, AmericInn, announces the environmental recognition of its AmericInn property located in Sarasota, Fla. This hotel location has been honored with a Green Lodging Certificate from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for taking important steps to ensure its hotel environment is eco-friendly for guests. The hotel has also introduced a limited quantity of PURE Allergy-Friendly Rooms, in which every surface, fabric, and air and water are treated for maximum comfort. The Sarasota-located AmericInn has been given this designation for meeting energy efficiency, waste and water reduction and indoor air quality benchmarks set by the FDEP.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced that its flagship Element hotel—Element Lexington—is the first Starwood hotel to earn Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program and the first hotel in Massachusetts to achieve this prestigious rating.

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Green Lodging News welcomes MTS Seating as a Green Product & Service Directory Partner. MTS Seating’s company-wide commitment to sustainability is reflected in its SynerGreen philosophy. MTS strives to make continuous environmental improvements in its processes and products.

ATLANTA—Kimberly-Clark Filtration has introduced a new filtration media that delivers MERV 13 performance for LEED Certified buildings. The media was developed in response to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) standards for ASHRAE 52.2, MERV 13 filtration performance in LEED new construction and major renovation projects.

Good IAQ is important because people spend roughly 90 percent of their time indoors. With indoor air being two to five times more polluted than outside air (and as much as 100 times higher in new construction), poor IAQ can have a significant impact on building occupants’ health and comfort, whether they realize it or not.

YOUNTVILLE, CALIF.—The Napa Valley community of Yountville, Calif., with a population of a little more than 3,000 people, is now home to one of the greenest lodging establishments in the United States—the 62-room luxury Bardessono hotel, restaurant and spa. Set to open the first week of February, the development should earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification later in 2009. If it does reach that goal, it will be only the second hotel in the United States to do so. The Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C., is the other. The owner and developer of the property is Seattle-based Phil Sherburne. His previous lodging developments include the 86-room Willows Lodge located just outside Seattle in Woodinville, Wash., and the 23-room luxury Inn of the Spanish Garden in Santa Barbara, Calif.

PORTLAND, ORE.—With the approach of New Year’s Eve, Shilo Inns’ owner, Mark Hemstreet, announced that Shilo Inns would usher in the New Year by making all Shilo Inn hotels and restaurants 100 percent smoke free. “We care about our customers as well as our employees’ health and comfort,” Hemstreet said. “We consistently get more and more requests from our guests for smoke-free rooms and since we have already had 95 percent of our rooms and suites nonsmoking for many years, we felt it was the best decision to finally turn the entire hotel and restaurant environment to “smoke free.”

BOSTON—The Seaport Hotel announced the implementation of an innovative, chlorine-reducing water treatment system to its indoor pool, making Seaport the first hotel in the United States to utilize this green technology.

DAVIE, FLA.—With both the environment and the economy weighing heavily on most hotel owner/operators today, the timing is ideal for the introduction of a new air-conditioning process that not only eliminates wasted energy usage but also results in better indoor air quality. This treatment process is being introduced by ChemTron.

HIGHLAND PARK, ILL.—Hotels and spas looking for low maintenance, high performance and high design air purifiers have not had much of choice until now, according to Steve Tilkin, principal at T2 Site Amenities. Winner of many design awards, the air purifier by LightAir removes practically all airborne impurities including viruses, bacteria, dust, allergens, pet dander, pollen, and mold.