Crowne Plaza applies to be Jacksonville’s first green hotel
06/22/07 • Posted in: Downtown Jacksonville, Eco, Southbank by Joey Marchy 11 Comments »
The Daily Record reported earlier this month that:
The Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront has applied to be the first “green” certified hotel in Jacksonville through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Florida Green Lodging Program.
So I wanted to look into this program and learn a little more about it. See how easy/hard it is to become certified. What certification means and spread the word to get other hotels interested in the program.
The Green Lodging Program is a voluntary, non-regulatory program established by the State of Florida to reward environmentally conscious facilities (i.e. green hotels) in the lodging industry. The goal is to encourage hotels continually improve environmental performance.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, this initiative encourages hotels and motels to adopt cost-saving green practices that conserve energy, reduce water consumption, protect air quality, and reduce waste. Through partnerships with national trade associations, Green Lodging encourages the adoption of resource-efficient materials and appliances by the Florida hospitality industry.
There are three levels of certification: One, Two and Three Palm Certifications. Here’s an overview of becoming One Palm certified. Conduct Environmental Baseline Assessment (via a downloadable checklist), Commitment & Organization (GM Support– Green Team, Environmental Compliance), meet Core Requirements (Water, Energy, Waste Reduction, Clean Air and Communication) and finally schedule on-site certifying visit.
All those are pretty broad so lets look at the core requirements which are the important ones:
- Water Conservation: towel/sheet reuse, low flow fixtures
- Energy Efficiency: energy efficient appliances (Energy Star certified) and lighting (CFL lighting)
- Waste Reduction: recycling and purchasing products with post consumer recycled content
- Clean Air Practices: green cleaners, HEPA filters, Cleaning AC Units
- Communications: environmental Policy, Hotel Green Team and Guest Feedback
I can go on-and-on or you can read more for yourself if you are interested. If you are traveling this summer and you’re interested in staying in a green hotel here is a list of hotels that meet or exceed the Florida Green Lodging Program requirements.
There’s also a more rigorous certification process called LEEDS–not that I am complaining about this, any step forward is a move in teh right directio for Jacksonville.
Architects and builders in the Northwest have been using those LEEDS standards for a few years now. What it (for me) boils down to is sustainability and the environment in which the building is constructed. As a society, we now have more building materials and options than ever before…and there is no excuse for erecting new buildings that don’t take into account the climate they exist in.
Anyway, that’s it for my rant. And if people don’t think environmentally aware=beautiful, check out work by the late Samuel Mockbee, and work being done by the Miller+Hull Partnership in Seattle.
I just posted a bit of a rant about greening the tourism industry yesterday myself. I agree that any step forward is a good move. Let’s hope more hotels follow, and that if they decide to build a convention center, they build it smart, green, sustainable from the get-go.
I understand SRG Homes will be building their homes to LEEDS specs.
I think more importantly than trying for leeds certification, which is a nationwide set of guidelines, it is more important to strive to meet the standards of the Florida Green Building Coalition, which obviously takes in more consideration for the climate and characteristics of Florida. Also, as of now, there is no leeds certification for residential, but I believe there will be one within the next year or two.
I certainly didn’t mean to suggest that we jump full-bore into LEEDS certifications, but merely meant to suggest it as a sort of goal/model to look towards (and wow, nice spelling on my part BTW, certainly says something for re-reading what you’re about to post for the whole world to see).
And yes, first meeting the FL guidlines would be desirable indeed.
Madeline,
I wasn’t so much responding to your post, as much as I was just putting my 2 cents in on leeds vs fgbc’s guidelines….we’re definitely on the same page though.
Green? Good color choice, it certainly is ugly the way it is.
Can anything with an artificial “e” ever be truly green?
Greene? C’mon now!!!!
OK…..let’s give them a “g” for effort.
Well Jim, that’s really mature of you.
We just stayed at the Jenks House Bed & Breakfast in Riverside (on Post Street) - they were certified as a Green Lodge on the same day as Crowne Plaza. Great alternative to the Plaza for any “green” conscious travelers.
Nice tip Jason! Thanks.
The state of Florida, thanks to Gov. Christ’s executive order, now mandates that employees on state business stay at lodging that is state certified as green. Same goes for state meetings held at hotels/motels/bed and breakfasts. In Orlando people of the Mouse have been all over this getting their lodges certified. Jacksonville now has 3 certified including our 2 guest room b&b. We are seeing more business because of our certification (8/18/07) but we were green decades before we even became a b&b. Our solar water heater is 27 years old and still kicking patootie. By the way, there is LEED certification for residences, both existing and new construction. A recent guest of ours is an artichect from Dallas and is designing several LEED commercial projects. He said the entire LEED certification process is slow and cumbersome and can lengthen the design/construction process significantly. Leed certification is, admittedly, quite rigorous. Jason does have a point when he says that the Florida Green Lodging Program is more concerned about dealing with Florida’s specific climate and many months of air conditioning. LEED wants you to use Low-E (emissivity) glass in windows of all four orientations. In Jacksonville it makes little sense to use Low-E glass on north facing windows since the sun only shines on north facing windows for about two weeks a year in August. Better to use regular double or triple glazed windows on the north side and use the money saved by not using Low-E for measures that will actually save energy and money. Low-E glass is definitely a good idea in Jax if the south, east and west facing windows are not shaded by overhangs or trees. Still, despite each certification program having some short comings, both are helping preserve our environment.