A recent Green Building Council (USGBC) report, “LEED in Motion: Hospitality,” suggests that the hospitality industry is poised for significant growth in terms of green initiatives, including energy efficiency.


“This growing sector is rapidly adopting green buildings, because owners and developers want to enhance their triple bottom line—people, planet and profit,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and USGBC founding chair, in a press release. 


According to the report, hotels consume natural resources at an extraordinarily high rate because they are occupied 24/7.


“Hotels and resorts often face complex consideration when going green, but with more than 5 billion square feet of space in the United States alone, the hospitality industry represents an enormous sustainability opportunity,” the report states. “Over the last few years, sustainable practices have started to gain momentum. Green hotels are catching on. Hotels across the world are incorporating LEED and other green building practices into their spaces, changing the way hotels are designed, built and operated.”


The hospitality industry is poised to transform the market by creating healthy, smart, efficient, responsive, resilient and sustainable buildings. The report cites a recent study conducted by Dodge Data & Analytics (formerly McGraw-Hill Construction), which found that green construction in this sector increased by 50 percent from 2011 to 2013. In 2015, it represented 25 percent of all new construction.


More specifically, there are currently more than 400 LEED-certified hotels around the world, nearly 135 million square feet. The number is expected to increase significantly over the coming years, with some 1,600 registered hotels totaling more than 986 million square feet in the pipeline for LEED certification, nearly four times the current number.


A Cornell University study, “The Impact of LEED Certification on Hotel Performance,” found that LEED-certified hotels gain a revenue benefit from increased cost savings, decreased annual operating costs and higher overall ROI.


“We’re constantly evaluating opportunities to improve energy and operational efficiencies of the hotels that we own, as this ultimately increases their value,” said Raymond Martz, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, in an interview with the USGBC. “We’ve developed a set of best practices for energy usage and green programs.”