Maui, Hawaii: Starwood to go green on Kaanapali Beach

Maui, Hawaii, may see its first full-service LEED-certified resort in 2011, if all goes according to plan for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The resort, which will be the company’s third vacation-ownership property on Maui, will be outside of Lahaina on Kaanapali North Beach, with views of Lanai and Molokai.

Seems like a win-win to me. And what sounds even better is the eye toward sustainability and energy-efficiency in this LEED-hopeful resort. The resort will use its own desalination and heat-exchange system to produce its water and air-conditioning. A co-generation system will take care of the hot water and electricity.

In a press release, Matt Avril, president and managing director of operations for Starwood Vacation Ownership, said, “We have partnered with Arup, a global firm of designers, engineers, planners, and business consultants renowned for its expertise in green design, to ensure that the design and operation of the resort is environmentally responsible and contributes to Maui’s future sustainability.”

LEED-certification really has to be worked for, so the Starwood crews have their work cut out for them in their quest to attain the recognition. We’ll look forward to seeing the end result in a few years’ time.

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: USGBC.org]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 2:24 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Eco-Travel, Hawaii, Islands & Beaches, Luxury Travel, Maui, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.