Baltimore's First LEED Certified Green Hotel

I recently had the opportunity to view Baltimore’s first LEED Certified green hotel -- the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor. I realize your experience with a Fairfield Inn may be a brief stay in a small town off of an interstate highway. This ain’t your typical Fairfield Inn!

First of all, it is located right in heart of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor – at Harbor East – in the former home of the Baltimore Brewing Company and DeGroens Micro Brewery (I just got thirsty!) and was purchased by Brewmasters, LLC. It is a 100% smoke-free environment and has countless green features including increased use of natural light, 100% green power and use of eco friendly cleaning products. Every product they use is evaluated for sustainability, environmental impact and origin.

Guest Rooms
The contemporary rooms feature all the traditional amenities as well as FREE high speed internet access, 42” LCD HDTVs, and motion sensors for climate control when the room is vacant. There are also allergy-free studio suites with a bike and bike rack.

Rain Barrel
The site is full of reusable materials that have been incorporated into the design elements of the hotel. My favorite feature is the corrugated steel vessel used by DeGroens for holding grains to brew beer. The Fairfield Inn designers converted the vessel into a large rain barrel that traps and stores rainwater runoff from the roof to supply all irrigation needs of their landscape design.

Courtyard
An urban courtyard features outdoor seating and beautiful landscaping featuring native and adapted plants and trees. Their turf grass lawn is made from 100% recycled tires and has less environmental impact than real grass.

Green Roof
I can’t tell you how nice it was to look out a window and instead of seeing an ugly black rooftop, a saw a beautiful, lush, colorful green roof. Not only is it pretty to look at, but it provides insulation for the building while reducing the radiant heat that impacts the city from traditional rooftops. It also reduces storm water runoff, filters pollutants from storm water, reduces energy needs and minimizes heat island effects.

Waste Reduction and Recycling
Construction materials included the use of recycled materials and environmentally certified rapidly renewable wood products. Furthermore, the hotel is committed to recycling 75% or more of the waste generated during daily operations.