At Travel Portland, our real consciousness around sustainability as an industry goal and promotional asset came about when we were trying to recruit the 2004 U.S. Green Building Council convention to be held in Portland.
You may know them at the creators of the LEED certification --Leadership in Environmental & Energy design, which is probably the most widely used international green building accreditation.
Fortunately our convention center is one of only two in the U.S. that is LEED certified, so we had a good starting point. But the rest of the package had to be put together.
Travel Portland worked with hotels in the community and the convention center to put together a green meeting package that met their parameters, and we got the conference.
All of this was a wake-up call for Travel Portland and our industry―it really led to the recognition of the power of being able to present a sustainable meetings package and destination.
The Doubletree Hotel at the Lloyd Center was the first to really jump on board. They researched sustainability programs and certifications and settled on Green Seal certification.
Green Seal is a very stringent certification that looks holistically at the whole hotel, not just recycling or linen reuse, but every aspect of their operation.
This became important, because as many areas have jumped on the sustainability bandwagon, we have wanted to make sure Portland remains very authentic and speaks truthfully about what we’re doing, to make sure we’re not “greenwashing.”
These certified hotels, together with our LEED certified convention center, which also has a holistic sustainability plan in place for all of their operations, and our public transit offerings―light rail (that is free downtown), streetcar, bus and bicycle/pedestrian facilities―makes Portland a leader as a green meetings destination.