Green/Eco-hotel Initiative

• Hilton Vancouver Washington The recently opened 226-room Hilton Vancouver Washington sets a new, urban precedent for the eco-hotel. The downtown property, which is owned by the city of Vancouver, Washington, and is the centerpiece of its revitalization plan, is slated to become the second hotel in the United States to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating, a certification awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council and one of the most difficult for any building to receive. Designed by the Portland architecture firm Fletcher Farr Ayotte, the hotel is exemplary in its energy efficiency, water-use reduction, sustainable construction and operation, and promotion of alternative transportation. Perhaps most significant, however, is the hotel's adoption of a simple formula: build green, save money. The property is expected to recoup the additional cost for its energy-saving technologies in less than two years and save approximately $86,000 annually through reduced energy costs. By demonstrating the ease and economic feasibility of building green, the Hilton Vancouver Washington has paved the way for other large, urban hotels to embrace environmental responsibility. "We should draw lessons from this hotel," says juror Andrew Drumm. www.hilton.com