Green ELEMENT Brand Keeps on Growing

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced plans to open an Element Hotel in June of 2010 in Palmdale, Calif., one of the fastest growing communities in the United States. Inspired by Westin Hotels & Resorts, ELEMENT Palmdale will offer a new extended stay experience with modern style and eco-friendly design. Element is Starwood’s newest hotel concept and the first hotel brand in the country to mandate all hotels pursue the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED certification, the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. The hotel will be owned and developed by Condor Hospitality.

Element Hotels are equipped with energy-efficient, stainless steel appliances and lighting, water-efficient faucets and fixtures. Guests can maintain daily routines such as recycling paper and plastic and using green materials, while those driving hybrid cars are rewarded with priority parking. Filtered water in guestrooms and amenity dispensers in the showers reduce plastic bottle waste. In addition, Element Hotels use low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paints and carpets with up to 100 percent recycled content and anti-microbial carpet pads to improve indoor air quality for guests and staff.