Rosen Hotels & Resorts has just announced that its three Orlando convention properties - Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre, and Rosen Shingle Creek - are the first in Central Florida to achieve the Two Palm status in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Green Lodging Program.
The Two Palm status-bestowed upon only 11 properties in the state-certifies that the hotels have increased energy conservation and pollution prevention measures since their One Palm certification just a year ago.
"To us, green lodging is more than just another award or designation after our name. It's a real, everyday effort to continually reduce our footprint on the environment, " said Harris Rosen, president and C.O.O. of Rosen. "We plan to continue our efforts, meeting and exceeding the state's standards not for accolades or for sales, but simply because it is the right thing to do."
The three Rosen properties went above and beyond the state's requirements by providing recycling bags in individual guest rooms, using a programmable energy management system to control temperatures in rooms, purchasing paper and notepads that are made from recycled paper, placing water coolers in meeting rooms to alleviate use of plastic bottles, and through donating leftover convention materials to a local school serving an underprivileged area of Orlando.
Additionally, they have also introduced Rosen Green Meetings, an eco-friendly meetings Web site designed to assist planners interested in reducing the environmental burdens typically associated with large meetings and conventions.
The Florida Green Lodging Program launched in March 2004 establishing environmental guidelines for hotels and motels to conserve natural resources and prevent pollution. Facilities can achieve up to three levels of green within the Florida Green Lodging Program ranging from One Palm to Three Palm based on increased reductions in waste, water and energy consumption.
