Bethesda, MD — Marriott International, a green leader in the hospitality industry, plans to grow its portfolio of eco-friendly properties to a total of 300 LEED-certified hotels in the next five years, the company said today.

Currently, 40 hotels across the company's nine Marriott International brands are certified or registered as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design projects under the standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The registered projects are in the pipeline for certification, according to the hotel firm.

Marriott, whose portfolio of green properties includes the first LEED-certified hotel in the United States, is expected to release more details about its green building drive tomorrow during a ceremony at its refurbished headquarters, which recently achieved certification.

Marriott's 30-year-old building in Bethesda attained LEED-Gold status (the second-highest designation possible in the ratings and assessment system) as an existing building as a result of a three-year renovation and retrofit project. The changes are expected to save Marriott $700,000 annually and help the company receive as much as $1.3 million tax credits.

With the improvements to the building and changes in operations or facilities management, Marriott headquarters has:

• Increased the recycling rate to 69 percent in 2009 and diverts all waste from landfill to a waste-to-energy plant.
• Enrolled in demand response energy reduction programs and earned more than $100,000 in electricity rebates.
• Upgraded lighting and lighting controls that include higher efficiency lighting solutions with reduced mercury content.
• Installed motion sensors in all restrooms, telecom and electrical closets.
• Replaced office supplies with cost-neutral, greener alternatives or recyclable options.
• Converted to china and flatware in the company cafeteria, eliminating disposable products.
• Switched from evening to daytime office cleaning.

In addition, the building has received an Energy Star rating of 77 for the past three years. The rating is based on a 100-point system with scores of 75 or higher deemed top performance. As such, Marriott's headquarters ranks in the top 25th percentile in the U.S. for energy efficiency when compared to buildings of similar age, size and use.

In the ceremony tomorrow at Marriott headquarters, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and USGBC Chief Operating Officer Chris Smith are expected to recognize Marriot International President and COO Arne Sorenson and Executive Vice President of Global Communications and Public Affairs Kathleen Matthews, the co-chairs of Marriott's Green Council. Sorenson and Matthews will accept the certification award on behalf of the company.

The firm's first LEED citation came in 2005 when The Inn & Conference Center by Marriott at the University of Maryland became the first hotel to receive green building certification from the USGBC. Over the years, 275 Marriott properties have become Energy Star-labeled hotels under the EPA's energy efficiency program promoting greener buildings.

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