Home Green Design Joie de Vivre’s Hotel Carlton Earns LEED-EB O&M Gold Certification

Joie de Vivre’s Hotel Carlton Earns LEED-EB O&M Gold Certification

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SAN FRANCISCO—One of San Francisco’s eco-chic hotels now ranks as its greenest according to the industry standard set by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) internationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system. Hotel Carlton, a Joie de Vivre boutique property, has earned the prestigious LEED Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB O&M) Gold certification from the USGBC. The hotel is the first in the country to earn the rigorous Gold certification under the USGBC’s newly-revamped LEED-EB O&M rating system which debuted last year and was designed specifically to address the needs of existing buildings.

“We are thrilled and proud that we can now say Hotel Carlton is LEED-EB O&M Gold certified, making it the highest rated hotel by LEED standards in San Francisco,” said Pamela Flank, the hotel’s general manager. “Sustainability makes good business sense because it conserves resources. Every operations decision we make at the hotel is filtered through our mission to reduce our impact on the environment.”

In addition to earning its LEED-EB O&M Gold certification, Hotel Carlton also was recently awarded a top score of 100 from Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Comprehensive Certification Criteria

To achieve LEED-EB O&M Gold, the USGBC’s certification for existing commercial and institutional buildings, a property must significantly reduce environmental impacts in a number of areas. A building must achieve a certain number of points in a ranking system that encompasses energy, water, and natural resource conservation, air and water quality, and other factors. And it must maintain these practices and improve the building’s eco-efficiency over time. Second only to a Platinum certification, LEED-EB O&M Gold reflects an ongoing commitment to environmentally sustainable principles and practices. It’s an investment Joie de Vivre founder and CEO Chip Conley believes is worth the effort.

“Joie de Vivre embodies smart design, and smart design is also sustainable,” said Conley. “Lessening our environmental impact reflects our core values, which are about style with soul. We want our guests to have a meaningful experience at our hotels, and Hotel Carlton exemplifies that desire.”

Relaunched in 2004, the 161-room Hotel Carlton became the first solar-powered hotel in San Francisco in 2008. Its sustainability platform continues to evolve and includes numerous practices to reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are used throughout the hotel; toiletry dispensers grace guest bathrooms; and bottled water is not available at the hotel. Instead, filtered water machines are available in common areas and glass pitchers are placed in guestrooms. In-room and public recycling bins are found throughout the hotel; carpets are made from post-consumer recycled material; only low-VOC paints and nontoxic cleaning products are used; and guests can reuse their towels and linens instead of having them laundered daily. Additional hotel initiatives to reduce environmental impact include a popular turn-key green meetings program and purchase of carbon credits to offset all carbon usage.

To receive the LEED-EB O&M Gold ranking, the hotel achieved:

• Annual CO2 reduction from energy policy—167 tons;

• 78 percent reduction in average vehicle ridership for employee commuting;
• 80 percent waste diversion from landfills;

• Nine percent on-site renewable (solar) energy production;

• Occupant-controlled lighting in 100 percent of work spaces;

• 27 percent reduction in water use;

• At least 60 percent of cleaning products are sustainable; and

• 100 percent sustainable purchases of durable goods.

Go to the Hotel Carlton.

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