Green Key Global to Present at West Coast Green Lodging Conference: Conference Presentation to Highlight the ROI of Green Hotel Certification

HORSHAM, PA, August 12, 2011 (Press-News.org) Green Key Global, the operators of the Green Key Eco-Rating Program, has been invited to address the 2nd Annual West Coast Green Lodging Conference (WCGLC) later this month. The conference, which will be held in South Lake Tahoe, CA from August 21-24, is designed to help hotel owners, general managers and engineers build a culture of sustainability, reduce their property environmental footprint, and benefit financially from their efforts. The Green Key session, titled "Third-Party Green Certification - What's the Return," will be presented on Monday, August 22nd at 3:30 PM at the Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe Hotel & Ski Resort.

Roxanna Lopez, Operations Manager in the U.S. for Green Key, will lead the presentation. Lopez, a LEED Green Associate, will outline how a comprehensive green certification program will benefit a participating property on several levels - Environmental, Financial, Marketing, Cultural - making it something that everyone on property can get behind. Using Green Key as the basis, Roxanna will present the nuts and bolts of third-party certification for the lodging industry, with a focus on how it serves the day-to-day operational needs of properties at various stages of their particular "green" journey.

"I'm always amazed by how our membership is using Green Key in creative ways to run more eco-friendly properties and grow their bottom line," said Lopez, whose team is in the midst of site visits to Green Key member hotels. "I'm looking forward to sharing what we've learned to help the attendees attach some tangible benefits to green certification."

Green Key Global, the leading green hotel certification program in the world, with more than 2,700 hotel members, presented a similar topic earlier this summer at the AH&LA Summer Summit in Atlanta. A highlight of that panel presentation was a case study from the MGM Detroit, which revealed it was saving $2,110 each year just in water usage via adoption of a "best practice" in food-thawing recommended by Green Key.

Laura Bohannon, WCGLC Manager said, "we look forward to Ms. Lopez's presentation at the conference later this month. Our program will be a small, elite group of hotel executives mixed with companies, like Green Key Global, that are working to build and improve sustainable systems in the hospitality industry."

In addition to Lopez, the WCGLC will feature presentations from representatives of Marriott International, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and W Hotels; for those wishing to attend, there is still time to register online or by calling the WCGLC at +1.775.265.8815. For more information on Green Key, visit http://www.greenkeyglobal.com, call +1.888.752.7061 or email info@greenkeyglobal.com.

The Green Key Eco-Rating Program is the first of its kind to rank, certify and inspect hotels and resorts in North America based on their commitment to sustainable "green" operations. The program was originally developed for the Hotel Association of Canada by a leading environmental engineering firm. Designed specifically for hotel operations, the Green Key Eco-Rating Program is a comprehensive environmental audit that will allow each participating property to benefit on several fronts - cost savings, increased bookings from environmentally conscious consumers and meeting planners and responsible corporate citizenry. In the United States Green Key is a joint partnership between the Hotel Association of Canada and LRA Worldwide, Inc.; for more information, visit http://www.GreenKeyGlobal.com.