Timeshare Information

Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, again demonstrated its ongoing leadership in global sustainability best practices, achieving an 8 percent reduction in energy use in the first full year of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge.

The government program, launched in 2011 by President Obama, calls on commercial businesses and industrial facilities to reduce their energy intensity by 20 percent by 2020.

This program aligns with the Company’s goals to reduce carbon emissions by 16 percent by 2017 and by 20 percent by 2020.

Additionally as of 2012, Wyndham Worldwide has reduced its global footprint in over 40 countries of its owned, managed and leased assets by 11.7 percent based on carbon per square footage.

“We are continuously developing eco-friendly efforts across our hospitality portfolio, and this latest achievement of meaningfully reducing our energy use further demonstrates our commitment to advancing environmental sustainability best practices, which is a pillar of our strategic priorities,” said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and CEO of Wyndham Worldwide.

 “Through our Wyndham Green program, we are committed to exploring and adopting innovative environmental practices, as it reduces costs, fosters the efficient use of resources, and ultimately supports both near- and long-term profitability," Holmes said.

Wyndham Worldwide reduced its energy through:

• the Wyndham Green Toolbox, a proprietary state-of-the-art eco-software program that tracks and measures environmental impact 
• an environmental certification program for the Company’s participating 190 timeshare properties, a first for the hospitality industry 
• the implementation of sustainability best practices across the 10 million square feet of Wyndham Worldwide-controlled assets participating in the U.S. DOE Better Buildings Challenge. 

“Our work in sustainability is a tremendous collaboration across all key stakeholders — shareholders, employees, customers, franchisees, suppliers and community partners — who not only develop ideas with incredible potential, but also transform them into tangible results and drive leadership in the industry,” said Faith Taylor, senior vice president sustainability and innovation, Wyndham Worldwide.

Following are highlights of the Company’s featured projects in the Better Buildings Challenge: WVO Green Certification Program, one of the first for the industry. The certification tracks 27 requirements in categories such as energy use, water use, waste reduction, indoor air quality, and education.

• Updating their rooms and building insulation systems with eco-friendly materials. 
• Using green cleaning supplies. 
• Switching to ENERGY STAR appliances and using CFLs for all interior lighting. 
• Changing all building exterior lights to high-efficiency bulbs.  

For more information on Wyndham Worldwide’s showcase initiatives, please visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge website.

RCI, the global leader in vacation exchange and part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands, today announced that visitors can simultaneously help the environment and support local charities through a new creative green initiative introduced by RCI.

The RCI program, branded Green Fingers, encourages visiting guests to deposit unwanted, non-perishable food upon departure for donation to local charities.

RCI has teamed up with Mariner Shores Resort and Nepean Country Club and Day Spa to pilot this food recycling program.

The two-pronged project aims at encouraging guests to have minimal impact on the local environment while directly benefiting charities such as The Salvation Army, Second Bite and St. Vincent de Paul.

“Our research indicates that holiday makers, particularly those staying in self-contained resorts, have a tendency to overbuy food, which leads to wastage at the end of their break,” said Gary Fog, business development manager, RCI Pacific.

“Therefore, our pilot program is about working with existing industry partners highlighting our commitment to the environment and the greater community,” Fog said.

Green Fingers is complete with promotional posters, an information letter about the program placed in each resort’s compendium and a number of large ‘Green Fingers’ donation bins located at various collection points at the participating resorts.

“As leaders in the holiday exchange industry, RCI and its affiliate resort partners play a pivotal role in sustaining our environment. This program inspires our resort guests to have a positive impact on the environment while assisting charities,” Fog continued.

Brent Schafer, general manager for Mariner Shores, a participating resort, has been very happy with the response so far: “Many of our guests have enjoyed being able to donate and have praised us on this initiative,” said Schafer.

 “People are much more aware of their green footprint these days and they like to make an overall difference. We get all sorts of donations from packets of chips, biscuits and canned food, through to diapers and baby wipes – basically anything that is unopened and non-perishable is accepted,” explained Schafer.

The RCI Green Fingers initiative encompasses the overall RCI Go Green program with plans to introduce the program globally. For more information regarding RCI Green Fingers or RCI Go Green program contact Gary Fog at gary.fog@rci.com.

For the second consecutive year, Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, is ranked number one by Newsweek magazine in its annual Greenest Companies survey.

The rankings evaluate the environmental performance of the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. and around the world. Ranked among the top 100 greenest companies in the U.S., Wyndham Worldwide was evaluated on a number of criteria including its environmental footprint and management, environmental policies, programs and initiatives.

The survey also considered the Company’s reporting and disclosure practices, including the Carbon Disclosure Project and its 2011 Sustainability Report, which align with the Global Reporting Initiative.

“We are proud to be recognized once again for our work in sustainability, which is the result of tremendous collaboration and innovation by our associates, franchisees, suppliers, business and community partners,” says Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and chief executive officer, Wyndham Worldwide.

“As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, these collaborative efforts work to leverage the versatility of our unique hospitality portfolio of vacation ownership club resorts to drive sustainable, profitable growth.”

One of the initiatives credited in the Company’s ranking is its Wyndham Green Toolbox, a proprietary designed, state-of-the-art eco-software program that allows both owned and managed properties, as well as independently owned and franchised properties within the Wyndham Worldwide portfolio to track and measure their environmental footprint.

The Toolbox provides users with resources and tools to reduce energy use, and advance the Company’s global sustainability efforts.

Earlier this year, the Company reported a five percent reduction in its carbon footprint of its owned, managed and leased properties over 2010 based on energy per square foot measured by the custom Toolbox.

Wyndham Worldwide sustainable practices are created and driven by the Company’s Wyndham Green program, which is in its sixth year, remains one of the top five strategic priorities at Wyndham Worldwide. 

The program, which is focused on education and innovation, is a way of living and working based on the Company’s vision and core values, enhancing customers’ lives by improving the environment, supporting global and local communities, and developing sustainable programs that deliver economic benefits.

Take a look at Wyndham timeshare rentals and resales available now.

Developer Orange Lake Resorts, operator of seven Holiday Inn Club Vacations® resort destinations, has announced that they are taking steps toward minimizing the impact of the company’s carbon footprint by introducing a new $1.4 million PulseFlow tunnel system by Pellerin Milnor Corporation that will save them 15 million gallons of water per year at their flagship Orlando resort.

For nearly 30 years, Orange Lake Resorts has used equipment that processes 1,800 pounds of laundry per hour with 3 gallons of water used per pound, and completing the day’s work of 28,800 pounds of laundry over two shifts.

Orange Lake’s new Milnor equipment consists of a PulseFlow Milnor CBW washer, a Single Stage press, and four pass-through dryers. The new equipment processes 4,000 pounds of laundry per hour, using only 0.3 to 0.4 gallons of fresh water per pound, with the day’s work of 30,000 pounds of laundry finishing in just one shift.

Bill Bell of Steiner-Atlantic, Milnor’s local distributor for the Orlando area, says, “Orange Lake has an eye on the staff’s overall environment and on improvements in efficiencies and expenditures, so we were thrilled that they committed to the corporate investment of introducing this modern equipment from the best in the industry.”

The Orlando resort, with 2,478 villas and an average of 511,853 annual guests, processes eight million pounds of laundry per year. The new equipment allows the company the ability to grow their laundry operation to process up to approximately 10.5 million pounds of laundry per year.

Scott Hedrick, vice president, rooms division, says, “We are delighted to be using the Milnor equipment in our laundry facility. It’s a step towards reducing our impact on the environment on a daily basis and changing how we operate to create significant efficiencies and cost savings while positively impacting the guest experience through improved linen quality. It’s also a pleasure to improve the everyday workplace for our skilled laundry team members, who are truly the ‘heart of our house.’”

Orange Lake Resorts is a timeshare resort developer with nearly 30 years of proven success in the industry. Orange Lake’s flagship property in Orlando, located next to Walt Disney World® Resort, was established in 1982 by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson. A 1,450-acre golf, water park and sports resort, Orange Lake Resort in Orlando includes 2,478 villas with the ability to expand to 4,500 villas.

Orange Lake Resorts is proud to be one of Orlando Sentinel’s “Top 100 Companies for Working Families” for the second year in a row, winning the Sentinel’s 2011 “Community Service Champion” award for excellence in philanthropic contributions.