Tennessee Hotel Set To Earn LEED Silver

The new Hilton Garden Inn Gatlinburg, located near the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee, is on track to earn LEED Silver certification, according to a recent article. Opened on May 28 last year, the 118-room hotel is the first hotel in the state of Tennessee to aim for LEED certification.

Some of the hotel’s sustainable features include:

- Onsite rainwater retention with permeable parking lot pavers that help absorb 100 percent of rainwater. The pavers were acquired locally and are non-reflective, thus reducing the hotel’s heat island effect.

- Dual-flush toilets and low-flow fixtures in hotel bathrooms, reducing the hotel’s water use by 30 percent compared with a hotel of similar size without this feature.

- An ozone laundry system that reduces water use compared with a conventional laundry system by 30 percent, while cutting electricity, hot water use, and labor costs.

- The hotel has purchased Green-E energy credits, offsetting about 70 percent of its annual electricity use. At least 35 percent of the building’s electricity will be provided by renewable sources from the local utility company.

- The hotel’s pool and hot tub use an environmentally friendly salt-water based purification system.

- The landscaping is comprised of native and drought-resistant landscaping, thereby requiring less water to maintain.

- The hotel was built on the former site of a strip mall and parking lot.

- 90 percent of demolition debris was recycled, and 75 percent of construction waste was diverted from the landfill.

- The hotel is located near the Gatlinburg trolley and the aerial tram system, and provides bicycle storage and changing facilities. Preferred parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles is set aside in the hotel’s parking lot.

Read more about the Hilton Garden Inn Gatlinburg, here.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

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