Portfolio Hotels to Manage First Green Hotel in SF
MARCH 12, 2007. Chicago-based Portfolio Hotels & Resort is the management company for the recently opened 86-room Orchard Garden Hotel in San Francisco, Calif. As the first hotel in California to be built to the nationally accepted standards for green buildings developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the newly constructed hotel, representing a new generation in hotels, followed the "Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design" (LEED(R)) Green Building Rating System in order to earn the coveted LEED certification. The hotel's green practices also include chemical-free cleaning products, a 100% tobacco-free environment, recycled paper and soy-based inks, and the San Francisco debut of a guestroom key card energy control system. Recently, the City of San Francisco officially approved the hotel as a Green Business.
Portfolio Hotels & Resorts worked with the hotel's developer and owner Mrs. S.C. Huang on implementing practices to ensure a LEED certification for a New Construction hotel. According to Portfolio Hotels & Resorts Chief Operating Officer Graham Hershman there are several important reasons for pursuing this certification. "Studies prove that LEED certified buildings have lower operating costs, higher employee productivity, and happier, healthier occupants. It's very gratifying to be involved in a ground up construction project that is setting a nation-wide example as one of the first of the next generation of "green" hotels. Our company also is committed to sustainability and we are dedicated to incorporating environmentally responsible programs in all of our hotels."
LEED is a voluntary program that promotes integrated, whole-building design practices and provides a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals. It provides state-of-the-art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor air quality. An example of this is that more than 50 percent of the material value of the hotel's wood-based products are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
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