Marriott International has taken a leadership approach to sustainability. And while many hotels are finding that incorporating sustainable practices into their operations are bringing them much success, Marriott is incorporating these ideals into its corporate culture.
In fact, they’ve been at it since before it became the cool thing to do. Did you know that way back in 2004 Marriott International became the first hospitality management company to be recognized by the Alliance to Save Energy as a star of energy efficiency? In 2007, for the fifth consecutive year, the state of California recognized Marriott with its Energy Efficiency award, and 275 Marriott hotels have earned the Energy Star label from the U.S. EPA.
Not too shabby.
In the last year alone, Marriott has launched the Save the Rainforest program where guests can join in donating funds. The company is also working at greening the supply chain, and key cards, pillows and toilet paper are some of the items included in that endeavor.
Apparently, other hotel companies are following suit.
“I have found in the hotel industry, smaller ownership companies are catching up to where Marriott was,” said Pat Maher, AH&LA’s eco-consultant. “And one of its major competitors came out with the first brand to be LEED certified before they even opened the doors.”
And Marriott is still moving full speed ahead. By the end of next year, some 30 properties in design, development or under construction will open with LEED certification by doing such things as using reclaimed materials for building, using energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, creating bike paths, offering organic/local cuisine, providing the use of SmartCar or Zipcar and using green roofs.
Two such hotels include the Portland Courtyard and the Fairfield Inn & Suites in downtown Baltimore, which has already opened. And when asked if taking on this responsibility was a blessing or a curse, the owner and general manager response was extreme.
“One of the reasons we have chosen to go for LEED gold is because it is simply environmentally the right thing to do,” said Mike Castro, general manager of the Portland Courtyard. “And as the project has evolved, we have created a few efficiencies that in the long term will be better for our ROI.”
The existing building housed offices, so it has gone through a significant amount of reconstruction to be turned into a hotel. Some of its achievements will include dual-flush toilets and a reduction of water consumption of more than 20 percent, more efficient heating and cooling systems in guest rooms, and the reuse of the kitchen oils that will be converted to biodiesel fuel, which runs some of the transportation systems in Portland.
“It’s been very easy to do, the costs have been minimal, and we will see the ROI in energy usage reduction in 12 to 18 months,” said Castro. “If you take this mindset from the beginning, it is not prohibitive at all.”
Baltimore’s Fairfield Inn & Suites, located in the former Baltimore Brewing Company site, also hopes to achieve LEED gold, with the main criterion being energy savings.
“We were not sure at the beginning what it was going to cost to go this route,” said Gene Singleton, owner of the property, “but it is not as expensive as many people think.”
According to Singleton, just 2 percent of the entire project, which was about $23 million, was spent on the direct hard costs and the indirect costs of consultants and fees to achieve LEED certification.
The Fairfield’s green initiatives include extra roof and wall insulation, better insulated and more reflective windows, two-button-flush toilets for low and full flow, infrared-controlled thermostats, reuse from the former property use of a grain silo and brewing tank to capture and store rain water from the roof for landscape irrigation. The property also purchased renewable energy credits so that its carbon footprint would be zero.
“Marriott encourages existing and new buildings to achieve certain sustainability levels, and the things at the forefront are directly beneficial to the properties,” said Singleton. “Once you are on board for the concept, it makes you think about things differently.”
Marriott does encourage all of its properties to consider green initiatives based on business value. According to Stephanie Hampton, senior director, corporate communications, the company is coming out with a green prototype for the Courtyard brand owners that is cost- and time-efficient.
And when asked about future Marriott properties looking to achieve LEED certification after the end of next year, Hampton said there was no specific goal, but that the number would surely accelerate.
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