Concord Hospitality built and operated the new LEED-certified Courtyard by Marriott in Settlers Ridge, PA.

A first-of-its-kind Courtyard by Marriott opened earlier this week near Pittsburgh. The 124-room property in suburban Settlers Ridge is the brand’s first LEED-certified hotel developed from a prototype created by Concord Hotels, the hotel’s owner and operator, with support from Marriott International.

“We first looked at LEED development about three or four years ago,” said Concord President & CEO Mark Laport during last week’s Lodging Conference in Phoenix. “We determined at that time it would put a $1-million premium on a 120-room hotel. Said another way, development costs would have been 10 to 12 percent higher, and we weren’t sure what kind of payback we could achieve.”

Starting 18 months ago, Concord designers, with input from Marriott, engineered the prototype so the additional cost to build a LEED-certified property is now between $350,000 to $500,000, with a projected payback of about six years. Among the green elements in the Pittsburgh property:

• A heat recovery system that reclaims building exhaust air to pre-heat the building’s fresh air system;
• An energy management system that reduces unnecessary heating and cooling run times when guestrooms are vacant;
• Water-saving showers, lavatories and toilet fixtures;
• Energy-efficient light fixtures; and
• An enhanced building thermal envelope that includes exterior building “outsulation” and increased glass and glazing u-value.

Laport says all future ground-up development, including six projects underway, will be designed for LEED certification. A second LEED Courtyard is under construction in Washington, PA, and the firm is working with golf legend Arnold Palmer on development of a SpringHill Suites in Latrobe, PA that will aim for certification.

While Laport believes green development is the right thing to do, his motives aren’t just altruistic. The new Courtyard design is expected to reduce energy usage by 24 percent, saving about $50,000 in current energy costs. The hotel will also save more than 300,000 gallons of water per year, the equivalent of 21 swimming pools.

“And being the first to market gives us a competitive advantage among other developers and operators,” he added. “And someday in the future, most or all development will be LEED. Just as it did by requiring hotels to be sprinkled, the federal government will at some point mandate that its employees only stay in LEED-certified hotels.”

With 75 properties and counting, Concord is one of the hotel industry’s fast-growing developers, owners and managers. So far this year, the company signed contracts to manage 18 hotels. It’s also opened four new properties this year and has five more under development.