Recently the Washington Post published an interesting article on Marriott’s efforts at going green with energy efficient approaches in the hotels managed by Marriott. In my view, this is effective and an important model for business in general. And, as a past President of Marriott Hotels, I know they will carry out this initiative in an effective and comprehensive manner.

The firm I now chair, Thayer Lodging Group, is also committed to energy efficiency and is taking this a step further and combining with health living. Our initiative is to purify the air in our guest rooms and meeting rooms with an air purification system that is designed:

• By deep cleaning the coils inside P-tacs and air handling units on a more regular and efficient manner, less pressure is created against the coils which causes the units to run at peak efficiency. This, in itself causes the until to use less electricity. Studies have shown that a clean coil uses 18 to 25% less electricity then the “normal” use coils. The purifiers use up about 3% of that savings so the net is 15-22% savings.
• Also, deep cleaning coils on a more regular basis will increase the life of the units as well. We are also gathering data that will confirm that the Pure Rooms have 90% less complaints from costumers concerning non-working HVAC units. The cost savings of recovering from that guest complaint is huge.
• The process uses a micro-fiber encasement to protect humans from breathing in anything that’s inside the pillow or mattresses. The encasements are also moisture resistant so that the human body’s natural fluids, such as the pint of water that the body sweats out every night, will not find its way into the bedding. As well, the encasements keep all human skin cells and dander from the bedding. These contaminants are what causes the pillows to lose their fluff and the mattresses to flatten. We are gathering data now, but the manufacturers of the pillows and mattresses all agree that the life of these items will increase. If a pillow doubles its life when encased and an encased mattress lasts three years longer, imagine the number of these items that don’t go to the landfill.
• Indoor air quality is also listed as a positive for the L.E.E.D. certification, which Pure will accomplish.

We are working on other “green” associated benefits but these are what we are emphasizing right now.

Interesting article in today’s Washington Post business section about Robert Johnson raising $1.2 billion for his third private-equity fund that invests in the hotel industry.

The Post ran my thoughts on what’s happening these days in the hotel industry:

Fred Malek, co-chairman of Thayer Lodging, a private-equity fund that buys and manages hotels, said now is a good time for hotel deals.

“This should be an excellent time to acquire hotels because values are coming down somewhat, some owners do not have the financial capability to upgrade their hotels to meet consumer demands and brand standards, and thus, they will be forced to consider sale,” he said.

I was also thrilled to see my wife quoted in today’s Style section – the story about Debbie Dingell’s efforts to make Michigan a prominent political player in choosing our president.  Here’s what the article said:

“She’s very involved in Michigan,” says her Republican friend Marlene Malek, with whom Dingell holds an annual bipartisan, women-only lunch during the December holiday season. “She’s always there. She’s always doing something political and not political. She has a whole other life out there.”

By the way, if you’re curious about that lunch Marlene holds with Debbie Dingell, here’s a nice write-up that appeared in the Politico’s “Shenanigans” column last month:

Wonder women

All spotted sitting at the same table during lobbyist extraordinaire Debbie Dingell and D.C. socialite/philanthropist Marlene Malek’s all ladies lunch today at the Four Seasons, hosting 300 of D.C.’s high powered ladies: Romney spokeswoman Barbara Comstock, Fred Thompson advisor Mary Matalin, wife of Sam Donaldson, Jan Smith, Tammy Haddad of Haddad Media, former head of the RIAA Hilary Rosen, MSNBC host Norah O’Donnell, lawyer and wife of Howard Fineman Amy Nathan and “Meet the Press” executive producer Betsy Fischer. Topics of conversation? Not so much politics as…Hannah Montana tickets. Also in the room of wonder women? Lynda Carter.

The Washington Post business section has two stories I’m quoted in.

One is about the business side of hotels — a year-in-review and look ahead. Here’s an excerpt.

Now revenue per available room at Marriott and Host will probably grow 5 to 7 percent, according to the companies and analysts, as a weakening economy cools spending and growth. Marriott officials stress such gains would still beat inflation. …

“You will have an abatement of the really large increases, but you are still going to have increases, so that’s good,” said Fred Malek, the co-chairman of Thayer Lodging, which owns several Marriott hotels, including one in Annapolis.

The other article is about private equity and the credit crunch:

“The days of easy money — buying something with a lot of leverage and flipping it in 18 months — are over,” said Frederick Malek, founder of Thayer Capital, a private-equity firm in the District.

There is still good money to be made in private equity through purchases at more prudent values, more conservative leverage, and building market share and profits over time. This is the old fashioned way that we have always embraced and is bases on the time proven premise that if you can improve a company’s performance, you can earn a good return.

Both articles are worth the whole read.  And here’s the photo the Post ran:

Earlier this week I wrote about the greening of the hotel industry, based on a Washington Post article on the makeover of The Bethesda Doubletree, the hotel owned by my company, Thayer Lodging Group.

That blog post earned a nice mention by Anne Schroeder of the Politico, who writes their Shenanigans column. Here’s what Anne wrote yesterday:

Fred Malek Blogs?

The man who has done everything under the sun in Washington — though possibly best known for his philanthropy, his leading role in returning baseball to D.C. and his advising top Republican officials and presidents — has gotten all Gen X-y on us, admitting Al Gore got to his staunch Republicanism.

And his views on air, too.

“Did Al Gore get to me? Sure — it proves even Democrats can get it right sometimes; and in my view, Mr. Gore earned his Nobel for drawing attention not only to global warming but to the environment overall,” Fred Malek writes about his new goal of hopefully becoming the leader of going green within the hotel industry.

“Ever get sleepy in the afternoons? Wonder why? Maybe it’s more than the big lunch. Maybe it has something to do with the air you breathe. We are convinced that we can differentiate our product and improve preference for our hotels through these measures. Green means more than improving the environment — it can also create more green on the bottom line,” he writes.

Agrees a D.C insider: “Fresh air is something this town sorely needs.”

It was a gracious and fun item in Anne’s column. But more important than my blogging, I hope it sparks greater discussion about how going green can help consumers and businesses alike.