When it opens in early 2012, the new Courtyard Charleston/Summerville in Summerville, S.C., will be the first hotel built using its green hotel prototype, Marriott International announced last week. The prototype — developed in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) — is the first in the hospitality industry to be pre-approved by the USGBC as part of its LEED Volume program, meaning that any Marriott hotel built using its plans will earn basic LEED certification upon final USGBC approval.
"This new program packages all the basic requirements for LEED certification in a prototype," said Marriott Senior Vice President of Architecture and Construction Karim Khalifa. "It saves our owners valuable time and money in the planning process and allows us to provide a greener portfolio of hotels for our guests."
Marriott, which has set a goal of having 300 LEED hotels by 2015, announced its plan to develop a green prototype hotel last fall. At that time, it said the new Courtyard-brand prototype would save approximately $100,000, six months in design time, and up to 25 percent in energy and water costs for its owners.
Based on the results of the Courtyard brand, Marriott now plans to develop similar green prototypes for its Residence Inn, TownPlace Suites, SpringHill Suites and Fairfield Inn brands.