Though it may cost a little more at the onset, hotel developers are starting to consider the environment more and more when building new properties or upgrading existing facilities. Sure, energy prices have dropped by about one-third since peaking last July, but for many hoteliers it’s not only about saving a few bucks here and there, it’s about systemic change regarding the push-pull relationship between the owner’s needs and respect for Mother Nature.

While the environmental movement has long been entrenched in some areas of the hotel – most notably with smaller touches such as low flow shower heads and the option by guests to not have sheets and towels changed daily – there are some properties forging ahead with more extreme levels of environmental conservatism.

These vanguard hotels are still very few, but they do represent a future where renewable energy and guest satisfaction reside harmoniously.

Take for example, Hohmeyer’s Lake Clear Lodge in the Adirondacks. While an extreme example of what can be done, this intimate resort has embraced the eco-conscious ethic and provides some valuable and realistic suggestions other property managers can adapt. Owners Cathy and Ernest Hohmeyer have set an incredible goal that by 2015, the 22 acre property will be entirely self-sustaining and self-sufficient, producing their own electricity and recycling all waste.

“Financially, it is more difficult to not go green because people are searching out [these types of resorts],” said owner Cathy Hohmeyer in an interview with Hotel Interactive. “We put more out there in costs to be green, but people are supporting us and we will get our return on investment from that. As a society, we should have been green in the first place and it used to be that way. Only now we are relearning that.”

Hohmeyer said they started to make changes several years ago when she swapped cleaning chemicals for those that were more environmentally friendly. For food, the resort sources as much local fruits and vegetables as possible to eliminate fuel use during transportation over long distances and grow herbs and flowers for use by the kitchen on site. They wash sheets and towels only by request and are phasing in organic sheets and towels, E.P.A. and Energy Star recommended equipment whenever possible, compost organic waste, installed new insulation and energy efficient heaters in older structures, recycle everything possible from paper to aluminum, and utilize more natural lighting as well as myriad other efforts to numerous to mention.

One unique environmentally friendly twist is with its exercise facility. There are no electrically powered Stairmasters or other equipment here. Instead, guests utilize a natural exercise circuit developed by the Hohmeyers for both indoor and outdoor use. All muscle groups are considered and guests do activities such as chopping and stacking wood or canoeing as part of what they have dubbed a total exercise program.

Up in Maine, the Grand Summit and Jordan Grand Resort Hotel and Conference Centers at Sunday River, have offset 100 percent of their operations’ electricity usage with energy generated from wind.

Done as a point of strategic differentiation from competitors in an eco-friendly region of the county, these hotels are able to host large scale gatherings at a 100 percent wind powered four-season resort complete with golf course, skiing and snowboarding. And it is not just the hotels that are wind powered, so are the resort’s base lodges, offices, ski lifts, and snowmaking operations.

To succeed with this lofty goal, the resort has purchased 20 million kilowatt hours of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from Constellation NewEnergy.

At aloft, a new brand from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (its first property breaks ground next week in Rancho Cucamonga, CA), the chain is adopting what the company calls an eco friendly "see green" program. The program will include utilizing construction materials like recycled teak wood, which will be used throughout the property in both the guest rooms and the public space. In the laundry, Seventh Generation detergent is brand standard and the hotel’s pool will be cleaned with Clarity Water Products or Sal-Chlor cleaning agents.

The landscaping plan takes what used to be the standard parking lot and re-imagines it as an outdoor park-like environment, with a variety of trees and shrubbery. Depending on the location, the plan also includes a grassy area appropriately named the "backyard". A special area of parking spots that will be reserved specifically for hybrid cars and the company is currently in discussions with a number of car companies to provide a hybrid aloft "house car" at each location. There will also be self-service car-washing station, with eco-friendly cleaning agents as well as reusable cleaning cloths.

In the room, dispenser units replace those ubiquitous tiny bottles and will hold shampoo/conditioner and body wash to help reduce the use of non-biodegradable plastic materials. Also, guests will have the option to re-use their towels and linens.

Glenn Haussman, Hotel Interactive's Editor In Chief, has been specializing in the hospitality industry for more than 10 years. He often speaks at lodging industry events, is quoted frequently as an expert source by newspapers and is an adjunct professor at New York University.