Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, recently became the first resort in Hawai‘i to obtain LEED Silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for implementing environmentally friendly practices.
According to the USGBC website, LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system that provides independent, third-party verification that a building project meets the highest green building and performance measures. To obtain LEED certification, buildings must pass a rigorous checklist of sustainability points that include water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and awareness and education. LEED certification is also about being stewards of the environment with sensitivity to the impacts on our natural world.
Among other “green” initiatives, Aulani harvests the heat emitted from the resort’s chillers and diverts it to generate hot water.
Even the location of the resort was taken into consideration for LEED certification. Building on an already developed master planned resort location meant that no trees needed to be cleared and no undeveloped lands were disturbed for Aulani.
