Holiday Inn Is Chicago’s First LEED Hotel

The Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza has received LEED Gold Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the first LEED-certified hotel in Chicago, it announced last week.

Adjacent to Chicago’s famed Merchandise Mart, the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza has 521 rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space. Originally built in 1977, it recently underwent an extensive renovation that included several green measures—including installing solar film on many of its windows to reduce solar heat gain—that helped it achieve its LEED designation.

Also earning it LEED points, the hotel has adopted a Sustainable Purchasing Policy that gives preference to LEED-qualified green products, including cleaning supplies, office supplies, furniture, electronic equipment, lamps, and construction materials. In line with that policy, the hotel has installed green-certified carpeting, chairs, and cabinets made with FSC-certified sustainable wood, recycled upholstery fabric, and energy-efficient guestroom TVs.

"We are always striving to better serve our community, our guests, and the globe with efforts as aggressive as this redesign and as small as using ‘green’ cleaning products," director of sales and marketing France Langan says in a statement. "This is a priority for the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza."
—Nielsen Business Media