(Disclaimer: you’re not allowed to take pictures at this show unless you are “official” press, which I am clearly not, so there won’t be any pictures in these posts.)

If I could have take pictures inside the hall at the HD Expo this weekend, I could show you several very cool products developed to meet the needs of hotel, restaurant, casino and resort designers and developers.

There are so many products claiming the “green design” tag that it seems to demonstrate that the demand has grown huge for green products, no matter what the cost premiums associated with “going green”.

After all, hospitality design is all about multiples, huge multiples, and when you think about the natural resources that could be consumed simply in creating chairs, linens, carpets, mirrors and art for the estimated 6 million new hotel rooms (and the buildings to house them) estimated to be built just in the United States by 2030, it would seem a logical place for an environmental conservation mindset to take root.

But, as we as contract framers well know, large multiples means large dollar amounts and therefore a heavy emphasis on conserving the cost per unit and the costs of delivery when it comes to hundreds or thousands of chairs, linens bedframes or picture frames, and the overwhelming consensus of design professional I’ve spoken to agree that much of the time, cost has been the over riding factor in hospitality industry design decisions.

As someone who has always attempted to walk the walk when it comes to energy conservation and material recycling simply as a matter of personal responsibility, but who has worked in notoriously NOT green industries like entertainment construction, picture framing and custom painting, I find it very encouraging that the need for green design has finally seeped down into the design industry decision making consciousness.

Because the people at this how wouldn’t be supplying it if there wasn’t significant demand.

And one of the most powerful aspects of the hospitality industry is that it creates significant demand by virtue of its very size.

In the next post I’ll start talking about more specifics of what I learned here at the HD Expo about how green design can work itself out in the hospitality design industry, what it could mean specifically to the art and framing business, and to The Frame Maker in particular.

This hopeful thought hovers around the edge of the conversation: perhaps the good “green” example set by destinations like hotels, restaurants and resorts could help spread a greener consciousness as guests return home not just with entertaining experiences and fond memries, but also a practical demonstration of green living, or green design in action.