The New Forest tourism office has devised its own Green Leaf accreditation system for hotels and B&Bs that are committed to using local food, recycling wastes such as cooking oil, increasing biodiversity.
The Laurelton Diamonds unit of Tiffany has already driven pilings for a modern, 95,000-square-foot factory across the street to polish small diamonds, and is seeking international "green building" accreditation for the project.
Next spring her college will offer a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program to builders and others seeking accreditation by the United States Green Building Council, she said.
At the individual operator level, perceived opportunities to diversify were often linked to stewardship practices, for instance eco-tourism, accreditation, and uptake of green technologies.
Peoples compares the likely impact of an ANSI standard to that of LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the professional standard for green construction for which the U.S. Green Building Council offers accreditation.
RBST accredited and awaiting organic accreditation.
But Tjolle cautions that, because TripAdvisor's green scheme does not include 100% third-party auditing or accreditation, it is "muddying the already muddy waters" of sustainable tourism.
USGBC's move to open up its certification process to outside certification bodies, and to focus on accreditation, is a very good sign that the green buildings program is going both to catch up on its backlog and to be credible, so that the public will know whether or not the claimed standards are actually met.
If the FSC is satisfied, it will then guarantee their claims.In this section Sleeping secrets From poachers to gamekeepers History writ small New chip on the block ReprintsAlthough other national and industry schemes also guarantee timber's green credentials, the FSC has the advantage of global standards for accreditation.
"I became so interested in green materials during the process, that I became LEED certified," she said, referring to the professional accreditation offered by the Green Building Certification Institute.
