| Green Travel News |
When the new Courtyard Charleston/Summerville in South Carolina opens in 2012, it will be the first Marriott to be built using a green hotel prototype developed in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Marriott is first in the hospitality industry to create such a prototype, in pursuit of its ambitious goal of having 300 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotels by 2015.
Because it has been pre-approved by USGBC, any Marriott hotel that follows these plans will qualify for LEED certification. Marriott says re-using the prototype also saves roughly USD$100 thousand and 6 months in design time, and up to 25% energy and water savings. Marriott plans to create similar green prototypes for its Residence Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott and Fairfield Inn by Marriott.
To date, Marriott boasts nearly 50 hotels across all its brands that are LEED-certified or registered by the USGBC, including:
- The Inn & Conference Center by Marriott at the University of Maryland, the first LEED-certified hotel in North America
- The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte in North Carolina in North Carolina, LEED Gold-certified
- Courtyard Chevy Chase in Maryland, LEED Gold-certified
- Courtyard Portland City Center in Oregon, LEED Gold-certified
- Fairfield Inn & Suites Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor, LEED Gold-certified
- Atlanta Marriott Gateway, applying for LEED certification upon opening
- SpringHill Suites Atlanta Airport Gateway, LEED-registered, applying for certification
- JW San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, LEED-registered, applying for certification
- JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles LA Live, LEED-registered, applying for certification
- The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles at LA Live, LEED-registered, applying for certification
- The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe, in Nevada applying for certification
- TownePlace Suites Baltimore BWI Airport, applying for LEED-Existing Building certification
For a complete list, visit Marriott’s LEED hotels. Additionally, Marriott headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, achieved LEED for Existing Buildings Gold certification earlier this year.
