Lodging that’s both stylish and socially responsible.

Here in the United States, the hotel industry has an enormous environmental footprint, equalling 5 billion square feet of space, 5 million hotel rooms, and $4 billion in annual energy use, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. That’s a whole lot of impact, particularly when you consider that the vast majority of properties operate with little to no regard for the environment.

But little by little, the tide is changing, and hotels are coming to realize that operating sustainably doesn’t just affect the environment – it also affects their bottom line. On average, hotels that incorporate green principles use an average of 26 percent less energy and 30 percent less indoor water, and they generate 33 percent less energy and 50-75 percent less solid waste.

The gold standard of the sustainable hospitality industry is the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program, which encompasses stages from certified to Platinum. The application process is rigorous, and as of October 2011, only 122 hotels worldwide had made the cut. Here are some of our favorites.

(above) Bardessono, Yountville, California, USA

ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru, India

The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Kandalama Hotel, Dambulla, Sri Lanka

The Hotel Wilshire, Los Angeles, California, USA

JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, San Antonio, Texas, USA

Posada de Mike Rapu, Easter Island, Chile

Sandpearl Resort, Clearwater Beach, Florida, USA

Portola Hotel & Spa, Monterey, California, USA

The Park Hotel, Hyderabad, India

Proximity Hotel, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, California, USA

The Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The W, San Francisco, California, USA

Tambo del Inka, Urubamba, Peru

Sheraton Incheon, Incheon, South Korea

Hostal Empúries, l’Escala, Spain

The Element Times Square, New York, New York, USA

Ulagalla Resort, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Kimpton Hotel Palomar, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The Davenport Hotel, Spokane, Washington, USA

Crosby Street Hotel, New York, New York, USA

Bintan Lagoon Resort, Bintan, Indonesia

The Allison Inn and Spa, Newberg, Oregon, USA

Parkview Green, Beijing, China

SEE ALSO:

30 Photos of the World’s Most Uniquely Designed Buildings

25 Photos of Urban Green Spaces

40 Photos from Flea Markets Around the World

View more photo collections here. 

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The Orchard Garden Hotel in San Francisco is a wallet-friendly city-center green retreat.

When you’re travelling on business, how green are the places where you choose to stay? The Orchard Garden Hotel is slap-bang in the heart of Frisco, near Union Square, so you’ve got no excuse for not taking public transport to get there. They’ve even got bike stalls.

What the hotel lacks in interior-design zing, it more than makes up for with its eco-credentials. Made from recycled materials – glass and steel – it was one of the US’s first LEED-certified hotels. Its interior decór doesn’t have us singing, but the green agenda seals the deal: paper and carpets are made from recycled materials, the inks are soy-based, the paint is non-toxic and the cleaning products are citrus-based and chemical free.

The 86 guest rooms, spread over 10 floors, are decorated in the natural tones, and furniture is made from FSC-approved wood, with organic Aveda bath goodies for pampering (being good has its rewards). As in many hotels these days, you get a large-screen HD TV, DVD player, iPod dock and WIFI.

Now, listen up: when you leave your hotel room, do you remember to turn off all these electronic toys? Really? Honestly? (I don’t.) Doesn’t matter – your eco-conscience is safe, as this hotel has the genius keycard system, as used in Europe. When you enter your room, the (recycled plastic) card goes in the slot, all the lights come on and everything is ready to go. When you leave, you take it out, and – hey presto – all systems go off (bar one outlet for charging a device). All this saves a whopping 20% in energy costs. And potential second-guessing.

Staying downtown in a city, even if you’re here for work, it’s a crime to miss the view: suites have their own terraces, as well as a sofabed for tagalong buddies. If your budget doesn’t stretch to that – prices for interior rooms are impressively reasonable – you can always check out the skyline from the roof terrace.

Rates start at $125/night plus tax, city buzz and bike parking included, car parking definitely not.

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Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) explained.

Let’s talk quantity. Last week we covered the basic qualities of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), so diving into the quantifiable details and juicy substance behind the LEED Rating Systems that has sculpted the sustainable building industry is only natural.

LEED dictates an assembly of seven focus topics – sustainable site development, water savings, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental air quality, innovation in design, and regional priority. The LEED curriculum is distributed throughout the entire building lifecycle, from conception through design, construction, occupation, and maintenance. Each of the LEED Rating Systems (revisit our first article to delve into the different rating systems) is tailored to a specific building type and industry. Here’s a simple breakdown from the USGBC website of what each topic covers and an explanation of what, specifically, LEED measures.

Sustainable Site Development: Choosing a building’s site and managing that site during construction are important considerations for a project’s sustainability. The Sustainable Sites category discourages development on previously undeveloped land; minimizes a building’s impact on ecosystems and waterways; encourages regionally appropriate landscaping; rewards smart transportation choices; controls stormwater runoff; and reduces erosion, light pollution, heat island effect and construction-related pollution.

Water Savings: Buildings are major users of our potable water supply. The goal of the Water Efficiency credit category is to encourage smarter use of water, inside and out. Water reduction is typically achieved through more efficient appliances, fixtures and fittings inside and water-wise landscaping outside.

Energy and Atmosphere: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, buildings use 39% of the energy and 74% of the electricity produced each year in the United States. The Energy & Atmosphere category encourages a wide variety of energy strategies: commissioning; energy use monitoring; efficient design and construction; efficient appliances, systems and lighting; the use of renewable and clean sources of energy, generated on-site or off-site; and other innovative strategies.

Materials and Resources: During both the construction and operations phases, buildings generate a lot of waste and use a lot of materials and resources. This credit category encourages the selection of sustainably grown, harvested, produced and transported products and materials. It promotes the reduction of waste as well as reuse and recycling, and it takes into account the reduction of waste at a product’s source.

Indoor Environmental Air Quality: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans spend about 90% of their day indoors, where the air quality can be significantly worse than outside. The Indoor Environmental Quality credit category promotes strategies that can improve indoor air as well as providing access to natural daylight and views and improving acoustics.

Innovation in Design: The Innovation in Design credit category provides bonus points for projects that use new and innovative technologies and strategies to improve a building’s performance well beyond what is required by other LEED credits or in green building considerations that are not specifically addressed elsewhere in LEED. This credit category also rewards projects for including a LEED Accredited Professional on the team to ensure a holistic, integrated approach to the design and construction phase.

Regional Priority: USGBC’s regional councils, chapters and affiliates have identified the environmental concerns that are locally most important for every region of the country, and six LEED credits that address those local priorities were selected for each region.

Catch this piece on basic LEED qualities and visit the USGBC website for more information.

Images: USGBC

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Virgin unveils the country’s first green airport terminal.

Wednesday, Sir Richard Branson himself was on the scene at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to open the new, fully green $383 million terminal that will house both American and Virgin America airlines. The terminal will likely be the first in the United States to achieve gold LEED certification. (That’s not the only first: Virgin Galactic’s White Knight Two and SpaceShipOne made an appearance, as well. If you’re going to have a green terminal, it may as well debut with a spaceship.)

Global architecture firm Gensler remodeled Terminal 2, originally erected in 1954, thoughtfully – and under budget. The most significant change to the structure is the addition of more windows, lending a spacious, bright quality to the entire space. As Forbes reports, Gensler architect Melissa Mizell says that “the goal was to pair passenger delight with energy efficiency and water efficiency.”

The terminal uses a host of technologies to boost its green credibility, including low-flow faucets in the bathrooms and displacement ventilation systems for more efficient temperature regulation (the architects explain this should reduce power usage by at least 20%). There are also new spaces for art installations and play; partners in the project believe fliers will now enjoy the experience of visiting the airport. The space may be conscious in every way – art, check, green, check, retrofit vs. tear-down, check – but as Forbes points out, there’s no word on making the planes themselves more efficient.

Catch more pictures of the terminal, including art installations, at 7×7.

Images via: 7×7

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Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) explained.

LEED is an acronym that has taken hold of the sustainable building movement and become integrated in many industries beyond. If you have any interest in green building, you have stumbled across the ubiquitous acronym a handful of times – enough to know it’s inherently good. But what, exactly, does it mean?

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the certification and rating system designed to encourage, standardize, and award sustainable building efforts. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) developed the LEED Rating System, “the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.”

“LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.”

The LEED Rating System provides a framework for identifying and implementing practical and quantifiable green building solutions. The LEED framework outlines a number of credits and assigns points to a project based on how many credits the project fulfills. Based on the number of points earned, a project can earn titles ranging from Certified (earning the minimum number of points) to Silver, Gold, and Platinum (earning the maximum number of points).

Because building systems and types are dynamic and individualized, the clever people at the USGBC have developed different protocols for different industries. A healthcare facility, a retail tenant improvement project, and a new construction home all offer different challenges demanding unique solutions. LEED has responded with different rating systems for different building categories. Here is a rundown of the current rating systems:

Next in Shelter, we will look at how LEED has an impact on architectural design, construction, the environment, and green standards. Stay tuned.

Images: USGBC

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In a twist of acronym irony, it seems that 2011 may be the year that LEED falls behind. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the ubiquitous certification and rating system to encourage, standardize and award sustainable building efforts. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) developed the LEED Rating System, “the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.”

The Cascadia Green Building Council is one of the three original chapters of the USGBC and has been heavily involved with the development and success of LEED in the Pacific Northwest. When Cascadia founded a new green rating system, the world took notice. The new organization is the International Living Building Institute (ILBI) and its mission is an alluring and inspirational string of words:

“To encourage the creation of living buildings, sites, and communities in countries around the world while inspiring, educating and motivating a global audience about the need for fundamental and transformative change.”

The ILBI extended the Living Building Challenge, the most advanced and demanding green building rating system in the world (think net-zero energy and water consumption). The Living Building Challenge poses the question, “What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place?” What if indeed. The challenge is designed as an evocative guide, platform, beacon, unified tool, performance based standard, and a visionary path to a restorative future. Does this make you salivate? Or is it just me?

“It’s official: we now have concrete evidence that buildings can benefit the ecosystems they inhabit. Click here to learn more about the three pioneering projects that prove it can be done.”

In an effort of full disclosure, I should note that the USGBC has endorsed the Living Building Challenge. The ILBI claims their standard is in no way meant to compete with LEED, rather to function as an, “additional outlet to promote the goals set by the USGBC…it establishes a vision for a project’s environmental and social responsibilities from a new vantage point.” I have to wonder, if the Living Building Challenge isn’t mean to compete with LEED, is it meant to complete LEED? This would implicate LEED as inherently incomplete.  To be blunt, if LEED was demanding enough, Cascadia wouldn’t have launched ILBI.

I am sincerely looking forward to watching ILBI collect momentum and waiting to see if ILBI and LEED walk into the sunset holding hands, or if ILBI will leave LEED behind.

Catch the rest of our 2011 shelter trends.

(Thank you to JWT Intelligence for calling my attention to ILBI).

(Image of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living from ILBI.)

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Desperate times in Asia call for desperate green measures to achieve clean air (pollution is proving a major killer), pure water (so long, mountain glaciers) and enough food to meet the crushing demand.

Witness frantic and frenetic China where a massive industrial build up has come at the expense of the environment and human health. They knew they were forgetting something during that crazed development of resources. But now, with predictions of energy consumption doubling by 2030, something has to give.

Spurring immediate change was the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Literally offering a breath of fresh air, the government played catch-up, erecting buildings using strict green guidelines, shutting down polluting factories and restricting traffic. This pop-up example of  sustainable community development triggered action by eco activists to maintain the blue skies and cleaner air. Money is the strongest talking point.

Games or no games, Asia can now see a dramatic cost cutting incentive to lowering the impact of development, and change is coming at a faster pace. For this reason, progress is a mixed bag as environmentalists there work to pressure those most responsible for poisoning the air for personal gain.

Playing Catch Up on Improved Shipping Methods

A whopping 80 percent of global trade is done on the sea. Improved methods are crucial to improving air quality since seaborne trade is expected to double by 2025. Carbon emissions from shipping amounts to four percent of all emissions, globally, and the U.S and Europe have and pushed for more responsible methods, introducing green initiatives such as more efficient operating systems and reworking ship design for more effective trafficking.

News Asia reports that adoption for green initiatives by shipping companies has been slow in Singapore and Southeast Asia despite the fact implementing measures can save some 30 percent on fuel and energy costs. Plus, those who have invested in measures such as scrubber systems to remove pollutant particles have reported a one to three year return on that investment. While all of this is convincing, what might allow Asia to catch up is the threat its ships won’t be able to enter international waters without adhering to tighter regulations.

China Advancing Cleaner Energy out of Necessity

China is now reportedly ready to let wind energy soar as it makes a commitment to a renewable energy revolution. According to the Telegraph, that commitment is most apparent in Beijing, where edicts are being issued weekly including a pledge to generate 100 gigawatts of power from wind by 2020, tripling the original target of the national energy strategy.

In describing the new wind farms in western China, the Telegraph found they have even emerged as a tourist attraction where fascinated couples pose in front of the giant white propellers for photos. “Today, the same winds that struck fear into traders of the Silk Road, swallowing whole caravans in blinding storms of dust, are being used to power plans for a new, green revolution for China’s energy-hungry economy,” wrote the Telegraph.

Meanwhile in the city, the government has installed solar panels to power street lights in Beijing as well as solar water heaters in some of the remaining houses. In fact, the Telegraph tells us China will now spend more than six times America’s green stimulus spending to reduce emissions and create alternative energy by revamping nuclear, solar and hydroelectricity.

In terms of working together, a consortium of U.S and Chinese companies are investing $1.5 billion in a 600-megawatt wind farm in West Texas using turbines made in China. The power should meet the electricity demands of between 135,000 and 180,000 U.S. homes for a year. Chinese banks have largely paid for the farm with loan guarantees and cash grants from the U.S. government.

Japan Joins Call for Reduced Emissions

As the Japanese people also grow more environmentally aware (they were even in the dark about the dolphin slaughter) the government has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent compared to 1990 levels, while upping environmental-related employment. Subsidies also are being flaunted for home solar electric generators and friendly appliances and hybrid vehicles.

In 2010, a new incentive initiative was created for the purchase of eco-friendly houses, and in 2011, the government will expand the Feed-in-Tariff range and set an emissions rights market. Other incentives encourage research and development. Investment Week suggests Japan’s primary focus is energy-saving technology. It is considered the most energy-efficient country in Asia. China’s share of greenhouse emissions is 19 percent – five times larger than Japan’s – and the country is expected to widen its ecology and tech markets for solar and hybrid cars, nuclear energy, water conservation and purification and waste disposal. Other growth areas include LED lighting, fuel batteries, smart grids, carbon dioxide capture and storage.

Forging  Green Dwellings for Emerging Middle Class

Asia is also advancing in the uphill battle of energy-efficient housing, taking its lead from the West. Japan might be slightly ahead of the yuppie housing game but all that newly acquired income from making all of our stuff has seen a rapidly emerging middle-class in China. That populace now seeks the same green standards for cleaner materials, energy and water efficiency in residential dwellings as the educated and informed in Europe and the U.S.

China Daily tells us a number of real estate developers are answering that call by adopting green industry systems for residential buildings. Shenzhen Fountain Corporation, for example, is slated to develop LEED-registered residential buildings in Zhuhai in Guangdong province and Changsha in Hunan province. Apparently, this will bring world-class environmental standards to China.

Officials see they can save 20 to 60 percent on energy consumption, and better yet, LEED-certified buildings, though more costly to build, see good returns on investments in the long run. Developers see it can give them a competitive edge while meeting increasing demand.

Hybrid Rice to Replace Disappearing Fields

Hybrid seed growers want the government in the Philippines to act now and urge local farmers to adopt the use of hybrid rice technology which has proven effective in doubling or tripling their farm yield as high as 17 tons per hectares. This is comparison to the output of four to five tons per hectare for certified inbred seeds.

Expanding land and using old technology is no longer a viable option. Still, the Aquino administration has said it would continue using inbred seeds. Advocates of a hybrid rice program argue without it, China would not have busted out to become the second-largest world economy able to feed more than 1.3 billion people.

China embraced the technology in the 1960s when a famine threatened starvation, and has since led the world in the research of hybrid rice and development. In describing the technology, Commodity explains that in conventional rice plants, inbreeding take place since each flower has both male and female organs, allowing the plant to self-pollinate  to produce. But Hybrid rice seeds come from two genetically distinct parents requiring three breeding lines (male-sterile line, the maintainer line, and the restorer line).

Complicated, no? China’s ability to master it has given the country an edge in not only feeding its own population, but providing ways to cultivate sticky rice in other parts of Asia where it is popular. Farmers must buy new hybrid seeds every season and China is now developing super hybrids from parent lines that are genetically more distinct than typical hybrids and contain a greater degree of heterosis, and therefore, higher yields.

Images: Ivan Walsh; Kiwi Mikex; Dmytrok; FHKE; Muji; Bionicfarmer

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From the Hill…

Remember when you were a kid, and mom and dad would give you a few bucks each week for mowing the lawn, cleaning your room, doing the dishes and taking out the trash? And if you took on more responsibility, you’d ask the parentals for a raise, because baseball cards and toys are expensive. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has taken that concept a little too far.

She recently moved into a new district office located in the San Francisco Federal Building. It’s in a trendy neighborhood, has a great view and costs a little more than the old office space. How much more, you ask? Pelosi’s paying $18,736 each month to type, make calls and talk around the water cooler in the new digs. That’s right. I’m going to type that again because it bears repeating, and because – if you’re like me – upon hearing the price Speaker Pelosi is paying to go to work, you picked up a calculator and a pencil, and just shoved them in your eyes. $18,736. For renting an office.

All sorts of reasons were cited for the move: she’d been in the old place for twenty years; the new office’s location is more accessible for her constituents (public transportation and walking being so unruly and all); she needed more space (why? Because the monthly office pool is an actual pool?). Also the new office is in a “green” building. This is one of those moments when the word green means just so many things, isn’t it?

But rent is getting higher all the time, and San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the country. So maybe this is just a harsh realty reality. The thing is, Pelosi’s new office rent is four times what she was paying for the old one – which is also located in San Francisco. Also, her rent is almost double what anyone else in Congress is paying. Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., whose office is in Los Angeles, is getting it for a steal: only $9,055 a month! And Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-FLA., pays only $1,353 a month for an office owned by the University of Central Florida in Orlando and another $100 for a small office provided by the City of Port Orange.

So how’s Pelosi paying for her pad? Each member has a Representational Allowance at his or her disposal, to cover the cost of rent, transportation and supplies and materials associated with the position. Another good use for this allowance is the cost of communication with constituents, like town hall meetings. She’s paying for this space with an allowance. That’s a lot of dishes she must have washed! What’d she do, offer to mow the lawn at the National Mall?

Here’s a map of all the LEED-certified buildings in San Francisco. Something tells me Speaker Pelosi could have found an office that was just as green, for a little less green.

Image: Speaker Pelosi

Editor’s Note: This is the latest installment in Christopher Correa’s weekly column, Hill/Street Greens, examining the environmental deeds (and misdeeds) of Washington, D.C. and Wall Street.

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In a nation embracing all things green, it was just a matter of time before outdoor places – ranging from parks, parking lots and transport corridors to family homes and university and corporate campuses –  ended up with a “green” rating system similar to LEED for buildings and  energy star ratings for appliances (and even churches).

Three years of research by teams of landscape architects, ecologists and engineers from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas-Austin have resulted in the Sustainable Sites Initiative. It’s a 179-page report that includes voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for creating sustainable landscapes.

The SSI is offers a four star rating system for landscapes based on a 250-point scale that measures all actions encouraging regeneration, improving and maintaining ecosystems, supporting sustainability and minimizing water and pesticide use.

To test this rating system, the SSI is currently looking for pilot projects. Any kind of designed landscape of 2000 square feet or more is eligible.

But while the Sustainable Site Initiative and rating system sounds like it’s only aimed at large scale public developments, guidelines and principles can be incorporated by anyone, including homeowners, who are developing or re-landscaping outdoor areas.

For those wanting to create their own sustainable garden, here are some helpful tips to get you started.

1. Create soil-enriching compost from food scraps, newspapers, garden pruning and grass-clippings.

2. Replace “thirsty” plants with indigenous, natives and exotic plants. These plants not only require less care and less water, but also have more resistance to harsh climate changes and local pests and diseases.

3. Planting natives will also attract wildlife to your garden, making it much healthier. Bees and birds will transport pollen around the local area, while other native wildlife often become natural pest removers by eating harmful insects.

4. Use recycled or local products when building garden features such as decks, fences and pathways.

5. Learn to plant strategically to shade the house and reduce runoff. Planting deciduous leafy trees near your home will assist with the energy efficiency of your house. In summer, they block the sun and provide shade, thus reducing the need to use the air conditioner. And in winter, when the leaves have fallen, the reverse happens.

6. Collect rain water in drums or barrels and use for irrigation. This will not only save you money but also will help conserve water.

7.  Consider replacing lawn with native plants, vegetables, or even permeable pavers or gravel.

8. Adding flowers that attract beneficial insects to the vegetable patch will limit the need to spray with chemicals.

9. Establish a drip irrigation system which will ensure water only goes where it’s needed.

Images: Jeremy Levine Design, one2c900d, one2c900d

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