LEED

A Substantial Debut: In Its First Year, CityCenter Receives Two AAA Five Diamond Awards

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Real Estate Developments

Aria Hotel & Casino, CityCenter, Las Vegas

It seems hard to believe that CityCenter has been in operation only a year, but in that year it has received awards as noted below. The most recent and most unusual In its first year, is the AAA Five Diamond Award® for both ARIA Resort & Casino and Mandarin Oriental, The award is usually given to a few select properties deemed the finest in North America, but it is highly unusual for hotels to attain this rating within the first year of operation. The AAA Five Diamond Award winners make up just 0.27 percent of the rated venues throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Bobby Baldwin, CityCenter's President and CEO, said, "From inception to operation, our goal with CityCenter was to create a resort destination that provides guests with services and amenities unmatched in the world. To receive this honor in our first year, reflects our commitment to this promise. It is a great first anniversary gift."

This is not the Aria's first significant award. ARIA is the largest LEED® Gold certified building in the world. In addition to the AAA Five Diamond Award, in its debut year, ARIA has received multiple accolades including: Travel + Leisure's Top 20 Up-and-Coming Hotels in the World, 2010 Global Vision Award; Conde Nast Traveler's 2010 Hot List; Elite Traveler's World's Top Hotel Suites; Esquire's Best New Restaurants for 2010, Top 11 Restaurants Not To Miss; Food & Wine's Las Vegas' Best Bets, Go List 2010, 100 Best New Food & Drink Experiences; MSN's Top 10 New Dining Destinations; Entrepreneur's Best Business Bars; US Airways Magazine's Top 15 Coolest Hotels in U.S.

Tags: citycenter, CityCenter Las Vegas, las vegas hotels, las vegas strip, LEED

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New Green Hotel Planned For Shanghai

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Green

URBN Hotels & Resorts is collaborating with Vanke, China's largest residential real estate developer, to construct a new green hotel in Asia. The boutique hotel is part of a larger commercial, retail and residential development in the Sanlin district of Pudong in Shanghai, China. The project will include 55 hotel rooms, 50 URBN serviced residences, and dining, wellness and art spaces.

URBN Hotels & Resorts created China's first carbon-neutral hotel in Shanghai's Jingan district. The goal for the new hotel is to go beyond carbon-neutral and make the hotel the first positive-impact hotel in China. There are several ideas being developed which will be revealed over the course of the 18-month construction period but including increasing the biodiversity of the site and sending out water that is cleaner than the water from the city's water supply. The hotel will aim for LEED and China Green Star certifications. The URBN Hotel Pudong hopes to surpass the 35% energy savings target hit by the first URBN Hotel. The hotel will open in Spring 2012.

[via Breaking Travel News]

Tags: china, green hotel, leed, shanghai, sustainable hotel

Bees In Business at The Ritz-Carlton Charlotte

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Green

The Ritz Carlton, Charlotte in NC opened last October as the first LEED-built hotel in the area and now this summer they're taking their eco-conscious efforts even further by adding honeybees to the mix. The Ritz already has a rooftop garden, put in place to both insulate the building and provide organic herbs for the kitchen, and this summer that garden will become home to as many as 60,000 honeybees in two fully-contained hives. "Honeybees love herbs, and we're hoping they will especially enjoy the fresh lavender growing within our rooftop garden," explained Jon Farace, executive chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte. "Because honey is considered the flavor of the land, it is likely that the bees' rooftop habitat and pollination of our herb garden will lend a wonderful, unique flavor to their honey." The hives will also benefit the surrounding city as the bees fly to nearby trees and hanging flowers.

The hives, once they mature later this summer, are expected to produce up to 70 lbs of honey that will be used by the hotel restaurant in special honey-based menu items.

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Tags: beekeeping, bees, eco-friendly, green, hotel, hotel beekeeping, LEED, ritz-carlton, ritz-carlton charlotte

Crosby Street Hotel Now Open in NYC

by Deb West (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

Firmdale Hotels, privately owned by husband and wife team Tim and Kit Kemp, opened its first hotel in the United States this fall in New York City's SoHo. The Crosby Street Hotel is located in the heart of SoHo between Prince, Spring and Lafayette streets and is bringing the duo's famous luxurious European style and long standing reputation for world class personal service to this side of the Atlantic. Their London properties are consistently on the Conde Nast Traveller's hot list for both the US and UK.

The interiors of the hotel are designed by Kit Kemp who has been responsible for the luxury group's design since its inception. She recently won the Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year award and House & Garden Hotel Designer of the Year for her work on their Haymarket Hotel in London. She has brought her trademark quirky London style to the Crosby Street Hotel which was built from the ground up on the site of a vacant parking lot.

Inside guests will have their choice of 86 individually designed rooms and suites spread over 11 floors, each featuring floor-to-ceiling warehouse windows, a rarity in New York City. The hotel is also one of the most environmentally friendly hotels built in the United States and hopes to be one of the very first certified GOLD LEED hotels in New York. Guest rooms provide all the usual amenities found in a deluxe hotel including luxury linens, WiFi, flat screen tv and i-pod docking station. The public rooms of the hotel have there own unique features including:

The Crosby Bar which stretches an entire city block
A state of the art 99 seat screening room with orange leather Poltrona Frau chairs
A private courtyard garden
A personally selected art collection featuring a 10 foot high Juame Plensa sculpture, Peter Clark dog collage, mixed media pieces by Justine Smith and Jack Milroy, and oil paintings by Francois Bard

There is even a bespoke fragrance created for the hotel by acclaimed British perfumer Lyn Harris. The scent will be featured in all the hotel's toiletries free of charge to guests and available for purchase in the form of a scented candle.

Prices start at $525 a night but they are offering a special opening rate of $495 and up.

Gallery: Crosby Street Hotel

Tags: Crosby Street Hotel, CrosbyStreetHotel, Firmdale Hotels, FirmdaleHotels, Haymarket Hotel, HaymarketHotel, hotel, LEED, new york city, NewYorkCity, Poltrona Frau, PoltronaFrau, SoHo

Bank Of America's New Green Hotel

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Green

Guests visiting Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina will soon have a more luxurious place to stay. As USA Today's Hotel CheckIn reports, the nation's largest bank is opening up a new Ritz-Carlton hotel across the street from its corporate headquarters.

The 18-story building will have a 12,000 square-foot penthouse wellness center, a street-side BLT Steak restaurant and 147 rooms including a 2,900 square-foot Presidential Suite. It will be the first LEED-designed new hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina and is being built for LEED Gold Certification making it the first green hotel under the Ritz-Carlton umbrella. The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte at Bank of America Center is scheduled for completion in October 2009.

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Tags: bank of america, BankOfAmerica, charlotte, green hotel, GreenHotel, leed, ritz-carlton

Is Asheville Ready For $2 Million Green Condos?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Green, Real Estate Developments

Asheville, North Carolina isn't the place I would expect to find $2 million condos but a local developer is hoping that they can find ten green-minded buyers to make the 73 North Street project a reality. The project is built on a small lot and includes a photovoltaic array on the roof and a garage that will only fit Smart cars (a Smart car comes with each unit).

The first floor of the building will have a small commercial space and the second will include an exercise room and spa and a guest room for visitors of building residents. The building's roof would be home to a lounge and garden. The building is planning for LEED certification and will include green features such as a water collection system, water-conserving fixtures, high-efficiency appliances and automated lighting and shading systems.

The building's units will sell for $2.1 million to $2.6 million and each would be about 2,300 square feet and take up an entire floor. According to an article in the Citizen-Times, the project won't go forward unless six of the units are sold in advance. Right now you can buy a large house with an acre or two of land for about that price in the Asheville area so the developers have an uphill climb ahead of them.

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Tags: asheville, condominiums, condos, green, leed, north carolina, NorthCarolina, real estate, RealEstate

Hanger 25, An Airplane Hangar Goes Green

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Even airplane hangars are going green. Hangar 25 of the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California is the world's first aviation hangar to get LEED Platinum certification. The project built by Shangri-La Construction has a solar array that produces 110% of the building's operational electricity needs and powers the electric tow and other vehicles that would normally be powered by diesel. The diamond-polished concrete floor reflects light, and does not use toxic sealants that require regular reapplication and maintenance. It has a water-based hi-fog fire suppression system that eliminates toxic and ozone depleting chemicals and fans and evaporative coolers help eliminate need for the usual air conditioning. Water is also saved through low-flush, low flow and waterless fixtures and the landscaping includes drought-tolerant native plants and a no-mow, no-water Synlawn.

[via Treehugger]

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Tags: airport hangar, AirportHangar, burbank, green, hangar 25, Hangar25, leed

Windermere on the Lake, Green or Greenish?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Green

Can huge be green? It's a question that comes up every time we see another large home aspiring for LEED certification go up. The NY Times profiles one of the most ambitious eco-friendly projects, Windermere on the Lake in North Stamford, Connecticut.

THe private community of twenty-four homes is spread out over 74 acres with a private lake. The model home is approximately 7,000 square feet of gracious living space with five bedrooms, four baths, a home theater, wine cellar and exercise room.

Windermere is being developed by NRDC Residential, a new division of the National Realty and Development Corporation of Purchase, N.Y., and will be going for LEED certification. The homes will be built to basic LEED standards. Buyers can also opt for a $100,000 geothermal system that uses an electric pump to transfer heat from the soil to the house in the winter, reversing that process in the summer. Other green features include formaldehyde-free kitchen cabinetry, sustainable building materials, low-VOC paint and carpets and smart lighting.

The homes are available in four basic styles meant to mimic the look of an English village and sell for $3.2 million to $4.8 million depending on size. Many question how green houses of this size can actually be. By nature, smaller is generally greener but if people are going to build mega mansions creating ones that are both attractive and more eco-friendly is at least a step in the right direction. Check out the gallery below for a look at the model home.

Gallery: Windermere on the Lake

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Tags: eco friendly, EcoFriendly, green, leed, windermere on the lake, WindermereOnTheLake

Hotel Terra Green Ski Package

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Green

Hotel Terra Jackson Hole is a new luxury eco-boutique hotel set to open on January 29, 2008. The resort, which is located near the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wyoming is one of a new crop of LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotels in the United States. The six-story, 72-room hotel has a fitness center, rooftop hot tub, two restaurants, and a snowboard and ski rental shop. The guest rooms include organic linens and organic amenities such as shampoo and lotion. The rooms are also home to less eco-friendly features such as flat screen televisions and Bose surround speakers.

Hotel Terra Jackson Hole is the first in a collection of Green hotels launched by the Terra Resort Group. Examples of LEED, and other environmentally sound, elements in Hotel Terra include recycled Eco Shake roof shingles, low VOC carpets, paints and sealants, energy efficient heating and cooling systems, water conservation systems, wind power and the use of recycled products throughout the building. The Hotel Terra is offering a season-long Green Ski Package that offers a four nights' stay and daily lift tickets for two people, starting at $303 nightly.

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Tags: green, hotel, hotel terra jackson hole, HotelTerraJacksonHole, jackson hole, JacksonHole, LEED, ski, snowboard, wyoming

Eco Home To Be Sold On eBay

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Auctions, Green

Thinking green? Want to spend some green too? Project7ten, the recently built LEED Platinum Certified home in Venice, California, will be auctioned on eBay starting December 15th at 9 PM PST and ending on January 14th, 9 PM PST. Constructed from reclaimed, recycled or sustainable materials, fitted with solar panels and boasting a rainwater reclamation system, this home puts eco-living in the limelight. Adored by Hollywood stars and acting as a model for future home and office building efforts its no wonder that its starting bid is so high: $2.85 million to be exact. Yet this abode does offer a few extra perks: an 18-month lease of a Ford Escape Hybrid, a portion of the proceeds to benefit a non-profit called Healthy Child, Healthy World, and a great start to treating Mother Earth well.

Gallery: Project7ten

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Tags: auctionwire, ebay, LEED, LEED-platinum, project7ten

Fan Pier, Boston's New Green Neighborhood

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Green

I've already reported on two new LEED certified neighborhood developments, here comes news of a third. Fan Pier in Boston will be a $3 billion development that spreads across nine city blocks and will be home to residential, commercial, hotel and retail space. The Fallon Company recently broke ground on Fan Pier's first office building. It is the second building to be constructed at Fan Pier, following the striking design of the new Institute of Contemporary Art. One Fan Pier Boulevard, will be a new 18-story office building.

Fan Pier's next building will be a 20-story, 175-guestroom luxury hotel with 100 residential units, many with terraces overlooking the harbor. There will be nine new buildings in total as well as public parks and an improved harbor walk. There will also be a 96-slip deep water yacht marina that will be able to host megayachts. The project is expected to completed during the next four years.

What's green about this one? News on that has been slow in coming. There are lots of public parks planned and it will have excellent access to public transportation but while the developers are promising a sustainable neighborhood they have not offered up a lot of specifics to the public yet.

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Tags: boston, development, fan pier, FanPier, leed

Ever Vail, Vail Goes Green

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Green

The other day I mentioned a LEED neighborhood development project in Florida, now comes news of another LEED neighborhood development project, the $1 billion project in Colorado, Ever Vail. The project at the base of Vail Mountain seeks to become the largest LEED-certified project for resort use in the U.S. The resort will include residences, a hotel, office space, retail shops, restaurants and a public park.

Eco-sensitive measures at Ever Vail will include using woods certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and local area beetle-kill Lodgepole pine trees in building construction, using a geothermal system for snowmelt, using micro-turbines in Gore Creek to power the outdoor streetscape lighting and using reclaimed water from snowmelt for use as water in toilets rather than using drinking water. A "closed-loop" gray water system would also be in place for washing all mountain operations vehicles, such as snowcats and snowmobiles at the site of the new mountain operations maintenance yard. The project will also include affordable housing in the form of studio, one- and two-bedroom units that will range in size from approximately 900 to 1,600 square feet.

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Tags: colorado, eco friendly, ever vail, EverVail, green, LEED

321 North, Plantation Florida's Green Neighborhood

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Green

South Florida hasn't exactly been the hub of the green movement but an ambitious new project in the city of Plantation might help to change that. A 33-acre development called 321 North seeks to create a new green town center for the city of Plantation. The $350 billion project includes 600 residential units, office space and a revamped shopping mall all within walking distance. A local news station, NBC6, checked out the development which will be created with eco-friendly materials including zinc siding and green screens where plants can grow to create natural shade. On the interior the bamboo and palm wood and products made of recycled materials continue the green theme. The development also is part of a nationwide pilot program to expand LEED beyond individual buildings to creating entire eco-friendly neighborhoods. Construction is expected to begin next year.

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Tags: 321 north, 321North, development, eco friendly, florida, green, LEED, plantation

India's Turning Tower Goes For Green

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Green

The rather chunky India Tower seeks to be the greenest skyscraper in India. The India Tower is a 60-story tower in Mumbai. The developer is aiming to get a LEED gold rating for the project. The tower's odd patched- together look was created by FXFOWLE architects and comes as a response to the three-acre site, the building's requirements and its mixed use. Each chunk of the tower has a different use, separating out retail, a Park Hyatt hotel and serviced apartments, and long-lease and duplex penthouse condominium apartments. The tower will use sustainable systems such as solar shading, natural ventilation, rainwater harvest and the use of green materials.

The tower's three-story podium will include restaurants, retail stores, a fitness club and a nightclub. The Park Hyatt will have a Sky Lobby (floors 30-35) with the hotel residences beneath on floors 14-28. The long-lease apartments will be located on levels 38 through 50 and levels 52 to 59 will be home to duplex penthouse condominium apartments with panoramic views. Construction is underway and should be done in 2010.

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Tags: eco friendly, green, india, india tower, IndiaTower, leed, mumbai

Midcentury Modern, Estate Of The Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

This home on Blue Hill in Maine is the perfect vacation home for someone looking for something a little more modern than your traditional shingled cottage. The home has 225feet of deep-water frontage and the side that faces the water is a wall of glass. The home is three bedrooms with plenty of open spaces including a double-height living room with a soapstone fireplace. There are also multiple porches and decks and two outdoor showers. The mater suite has a walk-in closet with an attached laundry room, and expansive master bath that includes a soaking tub and a deck overlooking the bay. The home was designed by a LEED accredited architect and has green features such as bamboo floors, the use of recycled materials, passive solar features and a landscaping design to reduce mowing. It is listed at $1.85 million. After the jump, loft-like in Maine.

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Tags: blue hill bay, BlueHillBay, eco-friendly home, estate of the day, green home, leed, maine, modern home

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