Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

Virginia Green
Hotels & Lodging Facilities

Virginia Green
Holiday Inn Patriot and Hotel and Conference Center
Williamsburg, VA

Virginia Green is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s campaign to promote environmentally-friendly practices in all aspects of Virginia’s tourism industry. Virginia Green has established "core activities" specific to each sector of tourism, and these practices are considered the required minimum for participation in the program. However, Virginia Green encourages its participants to reduce their environmental impacts in all aspects of their operations, and this profile provides a full list of all their “green” activities. These are the activities that guests / customers can expect to find when they visit this facility.

Holiday Inn Patriot and Hotel and Conference Center

Hotel for lodging of guests and 10,000 SQF meeting space for conferences.

We decided to go green to assist in conservation of natural energy and resources.

Hotel staff has been fully educated in the importance of adhering to reducing solid waste, conserve energy and recycle all materials that can be reused. All our guest rooms and meeting space and public area have recycling bins to assist our guests in contributing to achieve this goal.

Virginia Green Activities

This facility pledges that they:
Offer optional linen service
- Have signage in each guest room explaining the linen reuse procedures 
- Train housekeeping staff on our process for optional linen service  
- Purchase water- and energy-efficient washers and dryers 
- Use non-phosphate, non-toxic and biodegradable laundry detergents 

Recycle
- Have in place clearly marked recycling bins or provide convenient drop-off locations for guests to recycle: 
- Glass Bottles 
- Plastic Bottles 
- Aluminum cans 
- Steel cans 
- Newspaper 
- Office paper
Other items recycled by the facility: 
- Printer/ copy machine toner cartridges 
- Cardboard 
- Fluorescent lamps 
- Batteries 
- Electronics equipment such as computers, etc. 

Reduce solid waste
- Track overall solid waste costs 
- Instruct housekeeping staff to save and reuse unopened items 
- Recycle fryer grease 
- Donate excess food from events 
- Have an effective food inventory control system to minimize waste 
- Use disposable foodservice items that are recyclable (in your area!) 
- Use cloth napkins 
- Use water pitchers to minimize the use of single-use bottles 
- Use bulk soap dispensers in public restrooms 
- Purchase recycled-content paper-towels and toilet paper 
- Remove facility and staff names from junk mail lists when possible 
- Reuse scrap paper for notes 
- Purchase recycled paper with a high-percentage recycled content 
- Use electronic correspondence and forms when possible 
- Use green cleaning products that are dispensed in bulk 
- Re-use paint thinners 
- Properly recycle and/or dispose of thinners and solvents 
- Perform preventative maintenance on all appliances, HVAC systems, plumbing, and vehicles 
- Use integrated pest management (IPM) 
- Minimize use of pesticides and herbicides in landscaping 

Use water efficiently
- Track overall water usage and wastewater costs 
- Perform preventative maintenance to stop drips and leaks 
- Have landscaping that utilizes native species 
- Have minimized our lawn area 
- Have minimized impervious areas (paving, concrete, etc.) 

Conserve energy
- Track overall energy bills 
- Have established a numeric goal to reduce energy usage over time 
- Use ENERGY STARs Benchmarking Tools for the Hospitality Industry 
- Have individual thermostats for each room; ensure they are correctly adjusted 
- Regularly perform preventative maintenance on HVAC system 
- Have installed a high efficiency HVAC system 
- Keep office doors and windows closed if HVAC system is on 
- Use natural lighting (i.e., open draperies and raise shades whenever adequate light from windows is available) 
- Have adopted a policy/practice to turn off lights in unoccupied rooms 
- Have installed LED Exit Signs 
- Have adopted a policy/practice to minimize the use of lighting during night cleaning 
- Use ENERGY STAR qualified appliances (commercial kitchens, heating and cooling, consumer electronics) 
- Use ENERGY STAR qualified office equipment (computers, monitors, copiers, printers, etc.) 
- Have adopted a policy/practice to turn off fans, computers, monitors and other devices in unoccupied rooms at the end of the workday or when otherwise not being used 

Offer a green events package
- Include the availability of "green meetings/conferences" in marketing packages (see the factsheet on Environmentally-Responsible Conferences & Events) 

Holiday Inn Patriot and Hotel and Conference Center    Holiday Inn Patriot and Hotel and Conference Center

For more information on Holiday Inn Patriot and Hotel and Conference Center, see www.hipatriot.com or contact Haya Kiani at ahhosp1@cs.com or 757-565-2600.

For more information on the Virginia Green program, see www.deq.state.va.us/Programs/PollutionPrevention/VirginiaGreen.aspx.

Virginia GreenVirginia Green is a partnership supported by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Hospitality & Tourism Association, and the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

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