Environmental Leader

More than 30 Marriott hotels are being designed or constructed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Additionally, LEED status for existing buildings is being sought for Marriott’s global headquarters in Bethesda, Md., according to a press release.

At the headquarters, Marriott is diverting 64 percent of its total waste (450,000 pounds) from the landfill and providing Connect by Hertz cars for employees who use public transportation or carpool to get to the office, but need to run an errand or attend an off-site meeting mid-day. In its cafeteria, Marriott is adopting biodegradable disposable containers, with an ultimate goal to shift to permanent-ware. It also is converting used cooking oil to biodiesel.

With The Inn and Conference Center by Marriott at the University of Maryland in College Park, Marriott had the first-ever hotel with a location to be certified under LEED. Click here to learn more about the hotel’s green attributes.

Marriott’s next LEED-certified hotel, the Fairfield Inn & Suites Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor, will have its grand opening in July. The hotel is applying for LEED-Silver status. It will have environmentally friendly suites, bicycle storage and changing rooms and preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles. Solar tracking skylights help light the hotel’s breakfast area. An outdoor courtyard includes turf made of recycled tires, as well as rainwater cisterns, which are former brewing barrels from the site’s original occupant, the Baltimore Brewing Company, according to the release.

Marriott will open other LEED-certified hotels later this year, including:

• The Ritz-Carlton Highlands Lake Tahoe in Truckee, Calif.
• Residence Inn Arlington Courthouse in Virginia
• Courtyard hotels in Chevy Chase, Md., Portland, Ore., and Pittsburgh, Pa.

In 2010, Marriott aims for the following properties to be LEED-certified:

• Renaissance Crystal City Potomac Yards and the Residence Inn Crystal City Potomac Yards in Arlington, Va.
• the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway
• Two hotels in the L.A. LIVE sports and entertainment destination, JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles and The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles.

In marketing its green practices to consumers, Marriott offers hotel guests to “green their stay” for an extra dollar a day. It also offers so-called green hotel keys.