The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe that sits mid-mountain at Northstar-at-Tahoe has officially been awarded its LEED certification from the U.S. Green Business Council, becoming the first LEED certified Ritz-Carlton resort.

“Receiving this award is a further example of the Ritz-Carlton’s continued commitment to innovation in the hospitality industry while developing environmentally sensitive and sustainable resorts,” Allen Highfield, general manager for the Truckee hotel said in a press release.

LEED is the internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

San Francisco-based Hornberger + Worstell was the design architect for the project.

LEED recognized features of The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe:

• Recycling/re-use of construction waste – 16,000 tons to date, which is 88 percent of all construction waste for the project

• Reduced building footprint – provided 66 percent of site as open space

• Provided daylight and views to 75 percent of the building

• On-site re-use of rock for retaining walls

• On-site re-use of trees for mulch

• Use of recycled materials — $5 million value, or 9 percent of all materials used

• Use of local materials – 63 percent were extracted locally, 31 percent were manufactured locally

• Provided bike racks and lockers for employees

• Stormwater retention management — no net increased run-off and stormwater treatment.