In honor of Earth Day, here's a look at new restaurants, corporate event venues, hotels, conference centers, and private rooms across the United States and Canada that factor the environment into their design or operations. Many of these new and renovated venues have LEED certification from the U.S. Green Buildings Council or another certification group. They can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, conferences, meetings, weddings, business dinners, teambuilding activities, cocktail parties, and more.
The Westin Denver International Airport hotel received Platinum LEED certification in March. One of only three hotels to achieve a Platinum rating, the hotel—which was designed by global architect Gensler and built by M.H.S.—has a design that reduces energy costs by 49 percent and energy use by 43 percent. The hotel also uses 30 percent less water than conventional designs, with features including high-efficiency mechanical systems, wall-to-wall windows in its 519 guest rooms and 35 suites, and a pre-conference foyer that maximizes daylight heat. Other sustainable design features include low-flow showerheads, demand-control ventilation, and load-shedding escalators. For meetings and events, the hotel has 37,500 square feet of space that includes 19 rooms, the largest of which holds 850 for receptions. Additionally, the hotel has a 60,000-square-foot plaza that holds as many as 2,500 for receptions.
Offering 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space, the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta is the largest LEED-certified convention center in the world. In March, the venue unveiled numerous energy-saving upgrades as part of its $28 million Guaranteed Energy Savings Performance Contracting (E.P.C.) project with Trane, which began in 2015. The project included replacing equipment in the convention center's Building B central plant with custom-built chillers; replacing the center's interior, exterior, and exhibit hall lighting with more energy-efficient lighting; recycling construction waste; and upgrading on-site water feature motors. The upgrades are expected to reduce the venue's carbon footprint by 39 percent annually. For events, the venue has 12 exhibit halls, 106 meeting rooms, two grand ballrooms, and a variety of outdoor spaces.
The Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, California, is slated to debut its $60 million renovation this summer. The venue, which has been closed since 2015, is aiming to earn a Platinum LEED certification as part of the city's commitment to sustainability and the environment, which includes programs such as the Green Building Ordinance, free recycling, the Commercial Food Scrap Collection Program, and the Environmentally Preferred Purchasing Policy. Once reopened, the conference center will offer 40,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space that will accommodate as many as 3,200 standing.
The Anaheim Marriott in California debuted a newly installed commercial solar system on its roof in January. Located above the Platinum, Grand, and Marquis ballrooms, the photovoltaic system—which includes 1,805 solar modules—fuels the daily power of nearly a third of the hotel's 1,030 guest rooms. The system is projected to produce 880,000 kilowatt hours of power annually, which will reduce the hotel's yearly energy consumption equal to the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from 131 passenger vehicles. For meetings and events, the hotel offers 44 rooms, the largest of which holds 3,515 reception-style.
Italian-American eatery Faun opened in Brooklyn, New York, in August 2016. Designed by owner and architect David Stockwell, the space was built with numerous reclaimed elements—a notable feature is a sycamore bar made from a local tree that was cut down after Hurricane Sandy. The menu, helmed by chef Brian Leth, offers dishes made with ingredients sourced from local purveyors and an on-site 950-square-foot garden that grows crab apples, cherry tomatoes, figs, a number of herbs, and more. A variety of flowers also are grown in the garden, providing a habit for butterflies and bees. The garden is fertilized with compost made from a portion of the restaurant's kitchen scraps. The space, which is available for buyouts, seats 46 inside and 50 outside.
The first LEED-certified hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, the Beach Club at Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina opened at the end of 2016. The 92-room hotel is part of the Clean Marina Initiative, as it meets the environmental performance criteria for factors such as hauling and storying boats, boat sewage collection, hazardous waste management, and used oil management. The hotel's Fish House restaurant is part of the Sustainable Seafood/SC Aquarium Good Catch Partnership, committed to serving sustainable seafood. The hotel, which also has a green linen initiative, has 40,100 square feet of indoor and outdoor space for events that accommodates as many as 1,900 standing or seats 100 for classroom-style meetings. Its other meeting and event venues include a 30,000-square-foot pool, a 30-seat private movie theater, and a 20-seat table in the Palmetto Executive Boardroom.
Mediterranean restaurant Eden opened in Chicago's West Lake District in December 2016. Helmed by principal Jodi Fyfe and chef/partner Devon Quinn of Paramount Events, the restaurant aims to source all of its ingredients locally and grows a variety of herbs and greens for dishes in a 500-square-foot greenhouse and garden attached to the venue. The 2,000-square-foot restaurant, which seats 90, offers communal seating with tables that were created locally with reclaimed wood from the family-run business Square Nail. For private dining, the restaurant offers the 10-seat Sage room and the 36-seat Celadon room.
One of the largest producers of organic extra virgin olive oil in the United States, McEvoy Ranch launched a new corporate and special events program for groups and outside companies in March. The 550-acre ranch in the San Francisco Bay Area's Marin County offers six customizable indoor and outdoor venues for corporate meetings, social events, weddings, and more. Event spaces include the indoor Victorian room and the Chinese-inspired indoor-outdoor Pagoda—connected by a courtyard made of repurposed slate from the San Francisco Ferry building—which both hold as many as 100 for receptions. The outdoor Frantoio patio holds 300 for receptions, and a courtyard holds 200 for receptions. Additional spaces include a Rustic Greenhouse that holds 100 for receptions and a tasting room that holds 20 inside and 60 outside. Other eco-friendly highlights of the property, which is certified by California Certified Organic Farmers, include its privately owned Norwin windmill, six rainfall collected irrigation ponds, and its 80 Acres Beauty Collection that offers products made with organic olive oil and infused with botanicals. The ranch also hosts a variety of breakout activities including wine and olive oil tastings, yoga, floral arrangement classes, and olive orchard and estate vineyard tours.
Farmers'-market-inspired New York restaurant Villanelle opened in March. Owned by Catherine Manning, the restaurant serves vegetable-focused New American fare from executive chef Nick Licata. The venue goes green in a variety of ways, such as using heat sanitizing dishwashers and filtering and sparkling water in house. The restaurant also sources produce and dairy locally and offers a number of wines that are sustainable and organic. Available for buyouts, the venue has 900 square feet of dining and bar space, which accommodates as many as 54 seated and 65 for receptions.
Hotel Indigo Denver, which opened in January in the Union Station neighborhood, is one of four LEED-certified hotels in the Denver Metro area. The 180-room hotel, designed by architect firm John Portman & Associates, features a contemporary design with locally inspired artwork that evokes Colorado's environment and Gold Rush era. For meetings and events, the hotel has a 200-square-foot boardroom that seats as many as 20 theater-style and two 594-square-foot rooms that can be combined to seat as many as 150 theater-style. Meeting rooms come with high-speed Wi-Fi, audiovisual equipment, ergonomic chairs, and a full catering menu courtesy of neighboring restaurant Hearth & Dram.
Home2 Suites by Hilton Dallas Addison opened in February. The 132-suite hotel, which is owned by Shinn-Addison Hospitality and managed by Magnolia Lodging, offers a variety of eco-friendly features that keep with the hotel brand's sustainability principles. These include saline-based indoor and outdoor pools; soap recycling and general recycling programs; dual-flush toilets; reusable china, glassware, and silverware; and energy-efficient lightbulbs. While the hotel doesn't have an official meeting space, it offers its Oasis area for smaller, informal gatherings.
