Going Green

AAHA Phoenix 2009 Has Gone Green!
From the paper the registration program is printed on to the location we’ve chosen for the conference this year, AAHA is making every effort to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Offset your carbon footprint!
This year, AAHA will offset our carbon emissions by donating to the Carbonfund, a leading carbon offset provider. Our donation will counteract the staff, leadership and speakers that will be travelling to AAHA Phoenix 2009. Attendees have the opportunity do the same. Click here to access Carbonfunds' flight calculator to determine your offset donation based on your travel to Phoenix.

A carbon offset is a financial instrument used to represent a reduction in pollution. One carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent in other pollution. The Carbonfund supports three types of carbon offset projects, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation.

The Carbonfund is certified by the Environmental Resources Trust (ERT), Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS), Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It holds a Gold Standard certification, as well as a Green-e Energy certification, the largest certification standard for renewable energy in the United States. Click here to learn more about Carbon Offsets and the Carbonfund.

Phoenix Convention Center
The West Building of the Phoenix Convention Center was awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council in June 2008 — the highest distinction for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy–efficient and high–performing buildings. This means that the Phoenix Convention Center:

• Has a recycling program
• Has an energy efficiency program
• Uses bulk dispensers or reusable containers for food, beverage and condiments, as well as reusable, recycled or biodegradable serving utensils, napkins and tablecloths
• Has a water conservation system
• Sources its food from local companies
• Uses locally produced seasonal and organic food when possible (including fair trade, shade-grown coffee) and serves environmentally friendly seafood and vegetarian meal selections
• Donates left-over food to a local food bank or soup kitchen when possible
• Provides training to employees on these green initiatives

Hotel Green Policies
Hyatt Regency Phoenix
In 2007 the Hyatt Regency recycled 9,515 lbs of paper (4.7575 tons), broken down as follows:

• Colored paper = 1,850 lbs
• Mixed paper = 1,945 lbs
• Paper in bags = 4,165 lbs
• Telephone directories = 1,555 lbs

Hyatt Regency’s Culinary/Stewarding/Housekeeping/Engineering Teams started recycling cardboard in November of 2007, recycling 4,200 lbs of cardboard by the end of the year 2007. In 2007 Engineering recycled:

• Flourescent lights = 671 lbs  (that's a lot of lights my friends)
• Ballasts = 332 lbs
• Batteries = 140 lbs

In 2007, Engineering disposed of 495.8 lbs of solvents and nasty chemicals with Safety Kleen, making sure that none of these toxic chemicals went down the drain and into our children's water systems. The Hyatt also uses the paint supplier Sherwin Williams, who produces Eco-Friendly paint, “Pro-Green” line of paints, which is now being used throughout the hotel.

Sheraton Phoenix Downtown
The Sheraton Phoenix is also doing their part to help the environment. They are partnering with many companies to make the hotel a success, including Starbucks.  They are partnering with many companies to make the hotel a success.  We are partnering with Starbucks to provide coffee to our guests.  As the largest coffee company in the world, Starbucks has many green initiatives underway:

• Organic: Coffee that is organic is made complete without pesticides. It is certified organic and Starbucks has multiple blends.
• Fair Trade: Coffee that is bought from smaller farmers but are given fair prices for their product. Again they have multiple blends.
• Conservation Coffee: This is coffee that is certified from Conservation International. It is coffee that is grown in a sustainable way that is environmentally friendly. Shade Grown coffee is a conservation coffee. Essentially the coffee is grown in the shade of trees. The trees provide a root system that keeps soil in place disallowing erosion.
• Uses a 10% post consumer product in their cups and up to 60% post consumer product in sleeves. This drastically reduces the amount of trees taken down yearly, and all of their cups are compostable. 

Another key partner in making the environment safe is the hotel’s audio visual staff, PSAV.  Here is a list of what PSAV is doing to help the environment:

• Converting the majority of rental computer fleet from desktops to laptops. Laptops use 10 percent less energy on average.
• Converting display screens to LCD from CRT monitors.
• Using multi-purpose equipment, which saves energy versus individual components.
• Promoting the use of electronic displays and communication wherever possible instead of paper, printing and written promotional material.
• Increasing the use of LED lights, which use less power than traditional incandescent lights
• Prioritizing and promoting the use of recycled goods
• Initiated a “Green Team” at their executive level to develop a comprehensive statement and plan on how they can become a truly green company. 
• Through the purchase of recycled items over the last year, PSAV has;
• Saved 69,726.48 gallons of water
• Spared 191 trees this year and 47,812 lbs of wood resources
• Conserved enough energy to heat and power 3.4 houses
• Saved nearly 1,000 gallons of oil

Other projects to help the environment include:

• Use of the Phoenix “Northwind” chilled water system, which shares cooling from the Northwind plant at Chase Field.  This eliminated the requirement for a central plant in the hotel, which is saving utility usage and costs.
• Recycling of office printer toner cartridges reduces the amount of waste from the hotel.
•  As the hotel comes closer to opening day more and more green initiatives will be implemented to ensure they are doing all they can to sustain our environment.

Wyndham Phoenix Downtown
Green in Rooms

• We change sheets every three days, at check out and only change towels at the guest’s request. This helps to preserve natural resources by tremendously reducing the amount of water, energy and detergents we use daily.
• All discarded linens are recycled for other uses such as cleaning purposes, and sheets are donated to local shelters.
• Guest room lighting has been changed to 13 watt compact florescent bulbs replacing 100 watt incandescent bulbs.
• Guest rooms have reusable glassware and coffee mugs.
• All cardboard and paper is broken down for recycling.
• Use Eco-Friendly cleaning products that are fresh, clean, biodegradable, yet effective.

Green in Meetings

• Banquets love recycling! Recycled items include glass, plastic, paper and aluminum after each meeting.
• Recyclable items are utilized for all "TO GO" containers...cups are paper, boxes are "biopaks", and trash bags are made from corn products.
• Beverage napkins are offered to guests only as requested for bar service.
• Use Source-Four lighting instruments, which use 575watts to produce the same amount of light as a traditional 1000-watt instrument and don't heat up the room as much either.
• Installed energy efficient Chillers.
• Energy management systems allows the hotel to review the status of different spaces...have saved 10's of thousands of Kwh per months.
• All banquet lighting systems are on turned on/off by motion sensors.
• HVAC systems are computer controlled based on the hotel schedule of use & turned on/off to maximize efficiency.

Green in Food & Beverage

• All vegetable scraps are used to make stocks and soups.
• If there is a suitable quantity, work with local shelters for donation.
• Recycle all grease products through bio diesel.
• Frying oils are sent to a recycler.
• Worked with companies in bringing less recyclable cardboard through a bin system.
• All trash is broken down and separated for recycle.
• In the process of purchasing all eco friendly items for service i.e. lunch boxes, trash liner, etc.