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A piece of news from August, which we’ve only just come across, was a press release extolling some of Marriott’s Hawaiian Vacation Club properties’ green credentials. The fact that that we missed this news because we were visiting some of these resorts at the time is rather ironic!
Audubon International, a not-for-profit environmental education organisation (“dedicated to providing people with the education and assistance they need to practice responsible management of land, water, wildlife, and other natural resources“) has certified two of Marriott’s Vacation Club properties in Hawaii at Platinum level and two further Hawaii Vacation Club properties at Gold level in their Green Lodging Program.
From the Audubon website:
“The Green Lodging Program provides third-party verification that lodging facilities have met environmental best practice standards and have demonstrated a strong commitment to water quality, water conservation, waste minimization, resource conservation, and energy efficiency.”
Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club on Oahu and Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club were the resorts to achieve Platinum certification while Marriott’s Kauai Lagoons and Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club, both on Kauai, were the resorts to achieve Gold certification.
The main factors that appear to have led to these certifications include:
“[R]ecycling, use of energy efficient lighting and Energy Star appliances, and window coverings that reduce solar heat gain.”
The implementation of an Energy Management System “that monitors all aspects of the buildings’ heating and cooling systems including the ability to adjust thermostats for energy savings when rooms are unoccupied” by both the Ko Olina and Maui properties appears to be what raised their ratings above those of their sister resorts.
We searched the Audubon website but couldn’t find details of the various levels of certification they assign to properties so we are left to assume that Platinum and Gold are the top two.
Some of environmentally friendly efforts were noticeable on our recent visit to the Waiohai Beach Club, where the resort was making good efforts to keep guests informed of how they too can help protect the environment:
There were signs placed in the lift lobbies (on the car park level) encouraging people to:
“Time your shower to keep it under 5 minutes. You’ll save up to 1,000 gallons a month.”
“Turn off the water while you shave and you can save more than a 100 gallons a week.”
and
“Turn off the water while you brush your teeth and save 4 gallons a minute. That’s 400 gallons a week for a family of 4.”
This is all good advice and very easy to implement. Indeed, more resorts could make simple efforts like these to educate and inform their guests.
This is not only good news for the environment, it is good news for owners at these resorts. These measures should not only protect the locations we love to visit, but also help reduce energy bills and, by extension, limit increases in owners’ maintenance fees.
Well done MVCI! Now it would be great if Marriott’s Kauai Beach Club lives up to the standards set by your other four Hawaiian resorts and reaches the same certification level.
