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Hotel Chains Grapple With Meaning of Green

By Tamara Audi As director of Element, a brand of environmentally conscious hotels being developed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts World Wide Inc., Nicholas Lakas picks his way across a landscape of so-called green products each time he steps into his office. Among the items: salt and pepper shakers billed as 100% recyclable; piles of towels and sheets made with organically grown fibers; boxes of organic snacks; and a countertop slab made from recycled materials. “We get so many products, so many phone calls,” Mr. Lakas says. “I have nowhere to put it, and we are always looking at it and evaluating it.” He is shopping for environmentally friendly products — from plates and light bulbs to heating and air-conditioning systems — to be used in the first hotel in the planned chain of 90. Starwood announced the brand a year ago, pitching it as an environmentally and socially conscious hotel room at a reasonable price. The Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in Oregon meets the Green Seal standard; cards issued by the “Green” Hotels Association; a hotel chair by Furnature, billed as organic and chemical-free. As more hotels try to become more environmentally friendly, in part to satisfy customers […]

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Secondary Credit Market Crucial to the Ethanol Industry

As the ethanol industry continues to grow, so does the need for additional financing. However, there is a lack of underwriting expertise with community banks and a perceived long-term risk associated with ethanol loans. If the number of renewable energy companies is to continue to grow, federal action must be taken to educate the lending community and provide banks with the tools needed to service the debt financing needs of the new companies. Renewable energy financing has its roots in production agriculture and farmer cooperatives served by the Farm Credit System, which is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) created by Congress in 1916 to provide American agriculture with a dependable source of credit. However, more non-farmers are now involved in the development of renewable energy, and these entrepreneurs do not have access to the Farm Credit System member institutions. Instead, they rely on community bankers for financing. For the most part, “Main Street” lenders have yet to develop an understanding of the underwriting necessary for financing ethanol and biodiesel plants, anaerobic digester projects, wood pellets plants and other sources of renewable biomass energy. Little education has occurred to teach community bankers how to best determine the financial viability of a renewable […]

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