[November 27, 2012]

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Joins Urban Land Institute Greenprint Center for Building Performance

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance, a worldwide alliance of leading real estate owners, investors and financial institutions committed to reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions across the global property industry, has announced the addition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) as a new member.

"At Starwood, we believe that economic growth and the well-being of society are inextricably tied to the health of the environment," said Frits van Paasschen, chief executive officer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. "As one of the leading hospitality companies in the world, we have an obligation to be good stewards to the planet, as our guests choose our hotels both for what is on the inside as well as to experience the communities in which they exist. It is not only good for our environment, guests, associates, partners and shareholders, it also has well-proven economic rationale."

Simon Turner, president of Global Development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, has been appointed to Greenprint's Advisory Board. "We are delighted to join forces with the ULI Greenprint Center to help advance our common goal of creating environmentally sustainable communities across the globe," Turner said. "As a company, we are committed to integrating leading environmental practices and sustainability principles into our core business strategy, and we leverage our people, brands, and global reach, while working closely with our hotel development partners and suppliers, to achieve these goals. We encourage other hotel management and ownership companies to join this effort and work with us to collectively improve the sustainability of the hotel and real estate sector around the globe."

Long known as an industry innovator, for the past five years, Starwood has reported and publicly disclosed its carbon footprint through the Carbon Disclosure Project Survey (CDP) for all its hotel and corporate office operations. Additionally, in 2011, Starwood also began reporting critical water-relatd and supply chain related data to the CDP. The company is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its business and creating a company culture committed to sustainability. To that end, Starwood is working towards its goal of reducing energy consumption by 30% and water consumption by 20% by the year 2020.

Starwood joins existing Greenprint members Aetos Capital; AvalonBay; Beacon Capital Partners; BlackRock; Blackstone Group; CalPERS; Commonwealth Pacific; Equity Office Properties; First Washington Realty; GE Capital Real Estate; GI Partners; General Investment and Development Advisors, Inc.; GID Investment Advisors LLC, GLL Real Estate Partners; Grosvenor; Hines; Jones Lang LaSalle; LaSalle Investment Management; Miller Capital Advisory, Inc.; Paramount Group; PATRIZIA Immobilien; Prologis; Prudential Real Estate Investors; RREEF, a member of the Deutsche Bank Group; Silverstein Properties; Sonae Sierra; Thomas Properties; TIAA-CREF; Tishman Speyer, and UDR.

About the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance

The ULI Greenprint Center's mission is to lead the global real estate industry towards improved environmental performance, focusing on energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. Greenprint is a member-driven organization that achieves its goals through measurement, action and education. The Greenprint Foundation, founded in 2009, was acquired by ULI in 2012 to form the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance.

Greenprint's flagship product is the Greenprint Performance Report™. The international scope and size of the report makes it one of the real estate industry's largest, most transparent and comprehensive environmental benchmark. The report is a consolidated view of participating properties, detailing their energy, water and waste performance by geography and asset class. For additional information, visit www.greenprintfoundation.org.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has nearly 30,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,128 properties in nearly 100 countries and 154,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, and ElementSM. The Company boasts one of the industry's leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

[ Back To Smart Grid Home's Homepage ]