This Just In ...

The 256-room hotel, which opened in downtown Portland in June 2009, is the first Courtyard to receive such a high level of recognition for environmental design and responsibility. Among the hotel's green benchmarks:

• a reduction in energy use that is 60 percent higher than benchmarks established by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers
• the elimination of all harmful refrigerants
• a 26 percent savings in potable (drinking) water
• dual-flush toilets in all hotel rooms
• curbside access to alternative transportation modes (MAX light rail trains and biodiesel buses)
• the recycling of 84 percent of the project's construction waste

The hotel is a renovation of an older downtown office building. The building's exterior received a complete facelift, and its window proportions were optimized to allow maximum daylighting and energy conservation, both important LEED considerations. The hotel offers wireless Internet access, business services, more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space, valet parking and The Original, an independent on-site restaurant dishing up diner-style comfort food in a chic but comfortable environment. The Original's main entrance faces Southwest Sixth Avenue and Portland's new MAX light rail Green Line (opening Sept. 12, 2009).

The hotel is continuing the Marriott initiative to Go Green. LEED is an internationally recognized certification system developed by U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization, that measures how well a building conserves energy, water, reduces CO2 emissions, and improves indoor environmental quality.

Thirty of Marriott-branded hotels in design, development or under construction are expected to achieve LEED certification.