LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 17-story Hilton Los Angeles Airport and Towers, one of the world’s largest airport hotels with 1,235 guestrooms, received Green Seal’s Bronze Level Certification under the GS-33 Standard for Lodging Properties, announced Laurie Hughes, executive director of Gateway to L.A. The Hilton LAX is part of the Gateway to L.A. community, a property business improvement district (BID) just minutes from the Pacific Ocean and near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which boasts the city’s largest consortium of Green Seal certified hotel properties, a movement begun by Radisson LAX Managing Director Cindy Boulton in 2009.
“Gateway to L.A. is a wonderful example of business leaders working together for the greater good,” said Mark Liberman, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. “The Hilton LAX marks the fifth property within the Gateway to L.A. community to achieve this level of environmental excellence, and we expect the trend to continue. The Century Boulevard corridor has emerged the city’s green hospitality center, and some of its largest hotels have effectively reduced their carbon footprint through operational changes.”
Boulton and her Radisson LAX team were the city’s first airport hotel to achieve Green Seal certification in November 2009. As “green hotel” trailblazers, Boulton wanted to develop a vision that would provide assistance and mentorship to neighboring hotel properties to help them also achieve Green Seal certification.
In less than three years, the Gateway to L.A. business district now boasts five major hotels, including the Hilton LAX, who have followed the Radisson’s lead by undergoing the rigorous process of becoming Green Seal certified properties. The portfolio of properties includes Sheraton Gateway Hotel, Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, and Crowne Plaza LAX. Accumulatively these hotels have a total inventory of nearly 4,000 guestrooms and represent the majority of citywide hotels who participate in the Los Angeles Green Lodging Program, an extension of the Los Angeles Green Business Program, with a focus for hotels, motels and inns.
“The hotels within the Gateway to L.A. business district are truly committed to providing guests with a green lodging experience,” said Gateway to L.A. Executive Director Laurie Hughes. “To date there are five hotel properties that have made major strides in creating a sustainable environment in order to be certified by Green Seal. This is no easy feat, and it shows a major commitment by the hotel operators that protecting our environment is paramount to their business model, and for that we applaud their efforts.”
The certification by Green Seal, a national non-profit organization established in 1989 and developer of a science-based certification standards, verifies that the Hilton LAX has met their rigorous environmental requirements to reduce the impact its operations have on the environment and human health. The GS-33 standard for lodging properties requires hotels to demonstrate business practices that are sustainable and target areas of waste minimization and reduction, recycling and energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality and sensitive purchasing products that will be environmentally sound.
Hotels generate an insurmountable amount of waste annually with the average-size property purchasing more products in a single week than 100 families do in an entire year. It is estimated that 2.6 million bars of soap are discarded every day by American hotels and will end up in landfills. By creating new operational procedures where such items can be donated to developing countries with limited access to hygienic products, eliminating unnecessary waste, and installing energy-efficient fixtures, hotels can drastically lower their energy costs and reduce their water usage by making simple operational changes.
The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board is a private, nonprofit business association whose primary mission is to market and promote Los Angeles as the premier site for meetings, conventions and leisure travel. The organization is recognized as the city’s official tourism marketing organization. For more information, visit the official visitor information Web site of Los Angeles at www.discoverLosAngeles.com
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