Montage Beverly Hills Awarded Gold Leed Certification for Sustainability

Montage Beverly Hills, the 201-room luxury hotel that opened November 2008 in Beverly Hills, CA, has earned Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED for New Construction rating system. This is the first certified ultra-luxury hotel in Southern California for LEED for New Construction, one of just four Gold certified hotels worldwide designated by this third-party benchmarking system designed to encourage the design, the construction and the operations of more sustainable buildings. Montage Beverly Hills is also the first newly constructed mixed-use hotel and residential project to be LEED certified as a single development, denoting it as a high performance building that is a responsible, efficient and healthy place to live and work.

To date, 18 hotels worldwide achieved LEED certification at Certified Silver, Gold or Platinum levels. The specific LEED for New Construction V2.2 rating system designations reflect assessments of factors such as site selection, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. LEED, begun in 2000, now encompasses more than 22,000 registered and certified projects in the U.S. and 91 countries and is administered by the USGBC, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders.

"All future projects are being designed and constructed with the sustainable commitment that Montage has towards the environment and surrounding communities. We will continue to lean on the USGBC and the LEED rating system in order to benchmark our success," said Mark Slymen, director of sustainability for Montage Hotels & Resorts and a LEED accredited professional who oversaw adoption of required LEED elements in conjunction with Green Dinosaur, a green building consulting firm.

Developed by The Athens Group and designed by HKS Hill Glazier Studio, Montage Beverly Hills is the second in a growing portfolio under the Montage Hotels & Resorts banner. Alan Fuerstman founded the luxury hotel operating and development company with the goal of creating an artistic collection of luxury hotels, resorts and residences in stunning settings to serve the affluent traveler.

Visit www.montagehotels.com.

The Montage Beverly Hills was recently selected as on of Travel Agent's Hot New Hotels for 2009. View a slide show of the property here.