Dual-Branded DC Hotel Achieves LEED Gold

By Anca Gagiuc

The Wharf – Parcel 5 Hotels, Washington, D.C.

The Wharf – Parcel 5 Hotels in Washington, D.C., landed U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Gold Certification. The honor marks the first Hoffman-Madison Waterfront mixed-use development to achieve any LEED certification.

“Gold for hotels speaks to vision, design, and team commitment,” Avneet Gujral of Sustainable Design Consulting said in a prepared statement. And true commitment was shown. The project was originally targeting LEED Silver, yet the team behind it was able to boost the sustainability efforts to earn sufficient points needed for the Gold level.

Going greener for the Gold

The development’s sustainability highlights include: more than 87 percent of material was diverted from landfill and disposal (75 percent is the requirement); the hotels are made up of 23 percent recycled content, with the curtain wall aluminum extrusions breaking the 20 percent threshold needed for maximum points; most of the flooring is made from low VOC (volatile organic compound) materials and are FloorScore-certified; all common-area millwork is formaldehyde-free.

Located at 975 Seventh St. SW and 725 Wharf St. SW, the 300,000-square-foot project built by Donohoe Construction Co. features a 238-key extended-stay Hyatt House hotel and a 175-key Canopy by Hilton luxury hotel, the first to open in the U.S. SmithGroup JJR was in charge of designing the property and equipped the hotels with limited shared amenity spaces such as a fitness center, an outdoor pool, meeting room space, as well as a rooftop bar with views of the Washington Channel. In addition, the hotels feature over 30,000 square feet of retail space and two levels of below-grade parking.

Image courtesy of Donohoe Construction Co.