South Carolina is now home to the first Marriott LEED green hotel prototype. The Courtyard Charleston/Summerville will be the hotel's flagship green property, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The new Courtyard hotel will open in early 2010 and will introduce the first phase of The Parks of Berkley, a community consisting of 5,000 acres and one of the largest planned developments in the Southeastern United States.

Marriott has set its sights on 300 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotels by 2015, and all the hotels to come will follow the South Carolina prototype. Last fall, the hotel group announced plans to develop a green hotel prototype for its Courtyard brand that will save roughly $100,000, six months in design time, and up to 25 percent energy and water savings for its owners.

Currently, Marriott has nearly 50 hotels across all brands that are LEED-certified or registered by the USGBC, including:

• The Inn & Conference Center by Marriott at the University of Maryland, the first LEED-certified hotel in North America
• The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte in North Carolina, LEED Gold-certified
• Courtyard Chevy Chase in Maryland, LEED Gold-certified
• Courtyard Portland City Center in Oregon, LEED Gold-certified
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor, LEED Gold-certified
• Atlanta Marriott Gateway, applying for LEED certification upon opening
• SpringHill Suites Atlanta Airport Gateway, LEED-registered, applying for certification
• JW San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, LEED-registered, applying for certification
• JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles LA Live, LEED-registered, applying for certification
• The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles at LA Live, LEED-registered, applying for certification
• The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe, in Nevada applying for certification
• TownePlace Suites Baltimore BWI Airport, applying for LEED-Existing Building certification

Filed under: North America, United States, Hotels and Accommodations, Ecotourism