A green hotel may conjure up images of an innovative lodge with furniture made of recycled cans, plastic and tires. But what's being called green in hotels is a bit more inconspicuous. With water and garbage being the main areas of waste, figuring out what this new movement means to the hospitality industry has experts debating how green their facilities should be, making certification credentials more attractive to hotels looking to draw environmentally conscious guests. "Everybody wants to go green but nobody really knows what it is," said K. William Gunther, chairman of the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association.

It's a complicated discussion with a lot of gray areas for industry leaders who can't seem to agree on what constitutes green, where certification should come from and how it should be enforced. From a sustainability viewpoint, garbage and water consumption are so out of hand that Gov. David Paterson's Office has intervened to form a green hospitality tourism group that brings together key players in the industry.

Gunther, who also manages the RIT Inn and Conference Center in Henrietta, said hotels are jumping on the green bandwagon to stay competitive. According to Gunther's research, 70 percent of people prefer to do business with a green hotel.

Some hotels have looked into purchasing green certification from independent organizations such as Green Seal, Green Globe or Green Key, which cost from a few hundred dollars to $5,000.

Gunther, who is also working with the governor's green group through RIT, said he's expecting certification standards to be fairly low in the beginning as hotels get more energy-efficient. Several states, including Florida, Michigan and Vermont, have already formed certification programs administered through trade associations. Most of the recommendations about energy and water savings systems come from the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

E.J. Del Monte Corp., headquartered in Penfield, is a company that Gunther feels is on par with those in other states that are ahead of the curve. Inspired after looking at data collected from its 17 Marriott-branded properties, E.J. Del Monte officials initiated an environmentally friendly approach.

Research indicated that guests generate about two pounds of waste per person each day, of which 80 percent is recyclable. After amassing 59 tons of recycled cardboard, paper, plastic, metal and glass, last year E.J. Del Monte set a goal of becoming a waste-neutral property, where things thrown out equal items recycled.

Jeff Shutt, general manager of the company's Courtyard Rochester West in Greece, said E.J. Del Monte looks for ways to implement green practices without disturbing the comfort of its guests.

The hotel revamped its laundry operations with a linen reuse program, replacing washers with Ozone 3 machines that use cold water and less detergent, along with replacing shower heads and toilets to lower water pressure.

E.J. Del Monte also incorporated an energy management system that controls the heating and cooling of rooms from the main desk. Two years ago, the company switched 450,000 light bulbs to fluorescent lighting, saving 65 percent in operation costs and energy usage. And last year, the chain replaced its outdoor bulbs with LED and fiber-optic technology, yielding a 40 percent reduction.

"When we have our meetings, we don't make our decisions based on how much we're going to save in dollars, but we make decisions based on how it's going to help the environment," said Shutt. "And if it helps us save money, that's great."

The hotel chain spent more than $500,000 in upfront cost and upgrades, an investment that doesn't easily translate to older establishments like the Rochester Plaza Hotel downtown.

Last summer the Rochester Plaza hired Chloe Williams, sales and catering assistant, to figure out energy-efficient practices for a 40-year-old building. She estimated it will take a $500,000 investment to save 5 percent to 7 percent on energy costs. Given the state of the economy and dwindling profit margins for the hospitality industry, raising the capital is a challenge without raising rates.

Consequently, the Rochester Plaza settles for using biodegradable containers for lotions and shampoos, occupancy light sensors and reducing paper use. "We're doing things piece by piece because it is difficult to do things all at once," Williams said. "But we continue to look at the numbers to see where we can save dollars and still go green."

In January, the Rochester Plaza hopes to make its first big green investment; an air quality filtration system that detects and removes chemicals from the atmosphere. But it's the little things like turning off lights and reusing paper that sometimes bring the most effect.

"It's all about figuring out how to recycle materials that you use at the hotel to do your job," said Cynthia Stanley, general manager at Woodcliff Hotel and Spa in Perinton, who is affectionately called the Post-It-Note Queen for her conservation of office materials.

The health spa also formed a green team in charge of finding innovations. One proposal resulted in a heat exchanger that uses warm air generated by the laundry to heat the pool.

Gunther, meanwhile, cautions hotel owners to take the initiative instead of waiting for government-mandated certification. "We hope that it doesn't become a regulation. We'd rather govern it ourselves as opposed to being told what to do because those who sometimes put the regulation out may not have a full understanding of an individual business," Gunther said.