In an effort to reach their goal of 300 LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotels by 2015, Marriott will begin by building their Courthouse Charleston/Summerville hotel with the backing of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC.) The company’s press release states that “Marriott is the first in the hospitality industry to launch a green hotel prototype that has been pre-approved by USGBC as part of its LEED Volume program, meaning that any Marriott hotel that follows these plans will earn basic LEED certification, or possibly higher, upon USGBC final approval. The new Courtyard hotel will open in early 2012 as a part of a joint venture between Blanchard & Calhoun Commercial of Augusta, Ga., and MeadWestvaco of Summerville, S.C. The hotel will introduce the first phase of The Parks of Berkley, a community consisting of 5,000 acres and one of the largest planned developments in the Southeastern United States.”

Marriott already has approximately 275 hotels that have earned the ENERGY STAR^® label from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—the most of any hotel company. In order to save money Marriott began developing a green hotel prototype for its Courtyard brand last fall. Going to a standard green prototype will save roughly $100,000, six months in design time, and up to 25 percent energy and water savings for its owners.

Additionally, Marriott International, Inc. headquarters in Bethesda, Md., achieved LEED for Existing Buildings Gold certification earlier this year. In 2009, “the recycling rate increased to 69 percent and all headerquarters’ waste was diverted from the landfill to a waste-to-energy plant. Additionally, the building achieved and maintained an Energy Star rating of 77 (out of 100; a score of 75 or better indicates top performance) for the last three years, placing it in the top 25th percentile for energy efficiency when compared to buildings of similar age, size and use and an accumulated reduction of 9.04 percent in electricity consumption.”
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