September 2008 • Features
Certification Programs
By Kristi Cameron
What’s the most sensible way to certify sustainable hotels? Tourist destinations often have little in common with one another but a penchant for attracting Bermuda-shorts-wearing masses. Are travelers—and the rest of us—best served by a standardized system, or would regional models be more useful? Some programs emphasize physical factors like architecture; others focus on service issues, such as the use of biodegradable cleaning products and local, organic foods. Here is a look at how the most prominent and promising certification programs address these questions.
Siting: ADRÉRE AMELLAL, Siwa, Egypt
Energy: PROXIMITY HOTEL, Greensboro, North Carolina
Interiors: LEXUS HYBRID SUITE, San Francisco
Community: MORGAN’S ROCK, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Cleaning: ORCHARD HOTEL, San Francisco
Carbon Footprint: SCANDIC HOTEL, Stockholm, Sweden
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