Apr 9 2010
W San Francisco hotel has earned Silver LEED certification for one of its existing buildings. The hotel is known for its green practices and sustainability efforts.
W San Francisco, certified by the California state as a green hotel, commenced its green initiative in 2007. Moreover, the hotel won “Good Earthkeeping” award from the California Hotel & Lodging Association for its environmental leadership in 2008.
Some of the energy efficiency measures taken by W San Francisco include utilizing LEDs, motion sensors and CFLs among others for its back-of-house lighting and guestroom lighting; replacing HVAC cooling towers with energy-efficient models thereby saving electricity of 300 kWh/year; activating ENERGY STAR power management features on all PCs; and tracking energy savings and usage. Going forward, the hotel plans to install wind turbines on its rooftops in an effort to further encourage the usage of renewable energy and enhance energy efficiency.
The hotel’s “Sensory Meetings” meeting experience offers beverage and food that is biodynamic, organic and local. W San Francisco’s parent company Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has 67 hotels worldwide, which have either received LEED certification or seeking or registering for LEED certification.
Generally, the LEED certification recognizes the construction, design and function of green buildings with high performance. The rating system of LEED provides four different certification levels for novel construction, which are Certified, Gold, Silver and Platinum. The certification levels correspond to the total credits accumulated in various green design categories.
The LEED meant for Existing Buildings Rating System addresses complete building maintenance and cleaning concerns such as systems upgrades, exterior maintenance programs and recycling programs.
Source: http://www.starwoodhotels.com