Home Green Design Three Marriott Brands Earn LEED Volume Pre-certification

Three Marriott Brands Earn LEED Volume Pre-certification

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BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International, Inc. is closer to reaching its goal of 300 LEED-certified hotels by 2015—now that three of its brands—Courtyard, TownePlace Suites and Residence Inn—have all earned LEED Volume pre-certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The Courtyard Scottsdale Pima in Arizona, scheduled to open in early 2012, and the TownePlace Suites Frederick in Maryland, will be the first of their brand categories to be built using Marriott’s LEED Volume pre-certification. Residence Inn projects are under development.

“We live in a world where concerns about the environment and about sustainable development are a necessary and growing consideration for everyone,” says Karim Khalifa, senior vice president of architecture and construction for Marriott. “Sustainability is an important part of Marriott’s global expansion and our commitment to grow responsibly. The LEED Volume Program plays a vital role in that.”

The Volume Program takes the guess work out of the process for high-volume property developers, such as hotel owners who want to build a LEED-certified hotel, saving them time and money. Volume certification provides a streamlined path to LEED certification for a large group of properties based on a pre-approved prototype and process.

Program Offers Significant Savings

For example, owners who followed the Volume Program for Courtyard—the first hotel brand to become pre-certified in the program—saved about $100,000 in upfront costs and six months of design time. By saving 25 percent in energy and water consumption, hotels such as the Courtyard Pittsburgh Settlers Ridge should recover their additional investment in five to six years—possibly sooner depending on federal and local government incentives.

According to the USGBC, LEED-certified buildings are designed to lower operating costs and increase asset value; reduce waste sent to landfills; conserve energy and water; be healthier and safer for occupants; and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. They qualify for tax rebates, zoning allowances and other incentives in hundreds of cities.

Developed by the USGBC, LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across the following environmentally-friendly metrics: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

America’s first LEED-certified hotel and conference center flies the Marriott flag—The Marriott Inn and Conference Center University of Maryland University College in Hyattsville. Other notable LEED-certified hotels in the Marriott portfolio are: the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe and the Fairfield Inn and Suites Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor.

Go to Marriott.

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