LEED Rated Hotels: The Platinum Standard
The nationally recognized standard for the design, construction and operation of green buildings, LEED takes a “whole-building approach” to sustainability by setting benchmarks in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
In practice, a building can be certified at one of four levels: certificate, silver, gold, or platinum. There are minimum requirements in each of the five categories, with the opportunity to accrue additional points to achieve higher ratings.
Currently, the highest rated hotel in the US is the LEED Gold-certified Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa (pictured above) in the wine country of Northern California (pictured above). Built of wood harvested from sustainable forests, the hotel also features carpets and tiles made from recycled materials, as well as solar panels for electricity generation. Compared to traditional hotels, the Gaia Napa Valley uses 26% less energy and 45% less water. The rooms even contain a copy of Al Gore’s book, An Inconvenient Truth, (in addition to the traditional Bible, of course).
There are three other LEED certified hotels in the US: The Inn & Conference Center in College Park, Maryland, the Hilton Vancouver in Washington, and The Orchard Garden Hotel in San Francisco (pictured at left). For those adventurous souls among us, there is also a LEED certified hotel in Dambulla, Sri Lanka: the Kandalama Hotel.
The Green Hotel Association
Hotels need not be LEED certified to have adopted green practices that can make a real difference. Many hotels have joined the Green Hotels Association. These hotels have adopted practices or technologies that reduce their impact on the environment, often well before it was common in the industry. To find green hotels across the U.S., visit our Travel & Tourism Section.
For example, Sadie Cove Lodge in Alaska, built in 1972, uses its own hydroelectric system to generate all of its own power, making it completely “off the grid”. Other hotels might use strategies that aren’t so obvious, like the use of local, native plants that require little watering, or a reflective roof that dissipates and reflects heat, reducing the “heat island” effect common in urban areas. Other green practices include using ecologically-sound cleaning products, instituting recycling and composting programs, and buying local food. The possibilities for hotels to improve on business as usual are endless!