Hampton Hotels has announced that the Hampton Inn and Suites in Folsom, California, is the brand’s second property to earn LEED certification. Technical Designs of Reno, Nevada, oversaw the LEED process, helping to incorporate a variety of sustainable design strategies to achieve the certification. Poelman Construction Inc. out of Sacramento diverted 84 percent of construction waste from the landfills.
A number of design, construction, and operational elements led to LEED status, including:
- Advanced mechanical system design, selected for its high efficiency, quiet operation and central control/alarm features.
- Water saving fixtures that will reduce water usage by a third.
- Zero CFC based refrigerants in the air conditioning system.
- The hotel’s efficient insulation system, glazing, roof, hot water production, air conditioning, heating, and lighting equipment allow it to reduce its annual energy usage by at least 24 percent compared to a hotel built to standard building code.
- The hotel purchased 572,000 kWh worth of Tradable Renewable Energy Certificate. This amounts to 70 percent of the building energy usage over a two-year period. The goal is to reduce the carbon footprint of the hotel with the purchase of wind powered energy certificates.
- The hotel facility is 100 percent non-smoking.
- Low emitting (VOC) materials (glues, sealants, woods) were used during the construction.
- Landscaping utilizes native plants, reducing the need for watering.
- The hotel is conveniently located in proximity to a public transportation hub and provides a shuttle to guests to limit the need for car use.
- The hotel provides extensive bicycle parking and a shower facility to encourage hotel employees to ride their bicycle to work.
- The hotel provides preferred parking places for fuel efficient and high occupancy vehicles.
- The hotel provides a high tech storm water filtering devices to reduce the environmental impact of run offs.