Hotel chains try to out-green each other | chron.com

U.S. hotel companies are competing to out-green each other nowadays. The proof? In the past two weeks, two major chains have announced ambitious environmental goals. Last Wednesday, Marriott International announced that it had retooled its 31-year-old Bethesda, Md., headquarters to win LEED Gold status — the second-highest environmental rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council — and pledged that within five years, 300 of the chain's 3,300 hotels worldwide would receive LEED certification. At the moment, 40 of the company's hotels are either registered to receive LEED certification or already have it.