STAMFORD, CONN.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.’s aggressive environmental goals and design-led approach earned the company’s global headquarters the highest LEED accolades available. Home to approximately 1,200 Starwood associates representing nearly every global function, One StarPoint is the only building in Stamford to achieve the highest level of LEED certification.
“We made a long-term investment in Stamford when we moved our global headquarters here and our extensive work for LEED certification is one way we continue to create a healthy and environmentally conscious work environment, which helps with retention, reduces energy consumption, and creates a more pleasant working experience,” said Ken Siegel, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and head of Global Citizenship. “We’re proud of the dedication it took to achieve this certification—more than five years—and proud of our associates’ commitment to the Harbor Point community.”
Kicked off in 2009, architects, designers, and the Global Citizenship team invested tens of thousands of hours to earn LEED Platinum from the U.S. Green Building Council for an existing building. Their choices for a more environmental and healthy environment also reflect a financial commitment of approximately 2 percent to 4 percent more than standard building costs.
Initiatives Reflect Starwood’s 2020 Goals
Designed by renowned firm HOK, the bright workplace has an open floor plan that increased collaborative interactions and allowed for ample natural light. The space is in line with Starwood’s design-led brand approach and reflects the company’s commitment to sustainability, a commitment expressed by its aggressive goals to cut energy use by 30 percent, water use by 20 percent, and carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2020.
Among the LEED Platinum decisions:
• In addition to large windows and glass-walled offices and doors, the designers placed most offices in the middle of the floor with glass walls and doors so all associates have natural light.
• A limited number of offices are on the exterior walls and all of them have glass walls and doors to ensure views and light for all associates.
• The building uses daylight harvesting which automatically dims lights when it’s bright outside.
• Starwood maximized all of the points available for water reduction by completely renovating the bathrooms and installing waterless urinals, low-flow faucets and fixtures, and dual flush toilets.
• The architects and builders used low- to no-VOC materials.
• The building has an air filter to make sure contaminants from the external air are filtered for the employees working inside.
• Centralized printing stations reduced the number of printers on each floor, cut paper and ink waste, and have the additional benefit of getting people up and moving as well as interacting.
• The company added full-scale recycling in its pantries as well as adding dishes and dishwashers on each floor to cut down on disposable plates and flatware.
• During construction, Starwood sourced many materials locally to reduce excessive transportation of materials.
• Starwood recycled 85 percent of its construction materials, keeping the discarded materials out of landfills.
The company will continue to make environmental sustainability improvements beyond this certification including more LED lighting and launching a property energy management system, which will allow for real-time changes to reduce electricity bills and energy consumption.
Last summer, Starwood signed a new 430,000-square-foot, 20-year lease for its expanded global headquarters at One StarPoint in Harbor Point, renewing and significantly growing the company’s long-term commitment to Stamford and the State of Connecticut. Starwood first moved to Stamford in 2012 and occupied about 290,000 square feet of the building.
