SAN JOSE PLANTS ITS ROOTS IN GREEN MEETINGS AND TRAVEL

SAN JOSE, CA – San Jose, voted in 2009 as the greenest of 12 cities by Green Tech Media, is grounding itself in the wide world of responsible travel and meetings. Going beyond the standard programs, initiatives all throughout San Jose are forcefully changing the way business is done. From hotels, to the Convention Center, to City organizations and Mineta International Airport -- all are making strides to ensure that San Jose puts its best carbon footprint forward. The vision is to make this kind of environmental responsibility the standard so visitors can “stay to play!” for years to come. Initiatives include:

Green Hotels

One of the few hotels in Northern California to utilize an Ozone Laundry Plan, Hotel Valencia on Santana Row debuted this program in February to save water, gas and electricity, as the cycles run a shorter time and use cold water to conserve. Also unique to Hotel Valencia is a Heatsvr, a liquid pool blanket technology that reduces temperature and expected to save 15-40 percent of natural gas usage for the pool and spa. Low flow toilets and shower heads along with biodegradable key cards, no use of Styrofoam products and electronic mailings all contribute to keeping one of the most popular hotels in San Jose seeing green. Calculated by energystar.com, as of May 23, 2008 the hotel has reduced its carbon footprint by 47,739.57 pounds.

The “Green Team” at Dolce Hayes Mansion monitors environmental practices and maintaining new standards sustainability. The ‘Green Team’ also researches and coordinates property and staff involvement in local environmental projects or programs. In addition, Hayes Mansion provides biodegradable food to-go containers, uses local and sustainable food and beverage products and energy efficient appliances and lights bulbs.

The San Jose City Council recently recognized the Hilton San Jose has a Green Business. The staff uses energy saving printers, faxes etc, sensored lighting and offers a linen re-use program to each guest. Cups, lids and straws are made from 100 percent U.S. grown corn, also known as PLA plastic. Use of PLA plastic saves 10 gallons of gasoline for every case of 20 oz cups.

The Clarion Hotel in San Jose saves approximately $15,000 a year with a PG&E initiative that provides air conditioning motion sensors to save energy and water conservation systems for their sprinklers, showers and faucets. They use a paperless reporting program and a guest linen program, where guests can reuse their own towels and sheets.

The DoubleTree Hotel partners with many green organizations, including the Arbor Day Foundation, to plant new trees in the area. They are proud members of the California Green Lodging Program and the Green Meeting Industry Council. The hotel is a member of the Earthcare program, which allows a 100-guestroom hotel to save 72,000 gallons of water through linen and towel reuse. Eco-friendly materials are used for renovations and remodels, and energy efficient appliances are purchased. Staff also focuses on avoiding printing brochures and correspondence whenever possible.

The San Jose Marriott stands out by offering a “Green Meeting Planner Package” that includes environmentally friendly meeting room writing pads. For every 4 pads consumed, the equivalent of one mature tree is saved, 733 gallons of water are saved, 144 pounds of air emissions and 29 pounds of solid waste is reduced. Marriott San Jose also uses ‘Green Works’ cleaners, Brita filters, corn starch drinking cups that are 100 percent recyclable and is building toward linen-less tables in all meeting spaces for 2009. The hotel also recently launched a beta test partnership with the Clorox Company utilizing their environmentally friendly “Green Works” product line for cleaning guest rooms.

Initiated by Fairmont San Jose and adopted by all the Fairmont hotels across the state, this San Jose hotel offers complimentary parking to the overnight guests who drive Hybrid cars. The Fairmont San Jose also implements several green programs pioneered by Fairmont headquarters, such as the Green Partnership Program— a comprehensive commitment to minimizing hotels’ impact on the planet, accompanied by a guidebook on sustainable best practices in the lodging industry. The program emphasizes sustainable and responsible practices such as recycling, kitchen-waste diversion, retrofitting energy-efficient lighting, conducting community-outreach programs and buying green power. The Fairmont’s Eco-Meet program helps meeting planners by providing a meeting structure that encourages maximum waste diversion and environmental awareness for conference delegates.