This is Just Unecessary

If you're like me, you are tired of hearing about the 'trend' that is going green. It's not so much a revolutionary step towards repairing the damaging footprint on this earth anymore as it is a buzz word and marketing tactic used to appeal to the public interest.

However, there are some strict programs out there that offer some great benefits to companies that do 'go green.' If a building or company do truly want to make a positive contribution to the environment, the thing to do is to become LEED certified. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED is an extremely stringent certification program that recognizes the truly 'green' buildings throughout the U.S. I could go on and on describing the 74-page report on how a building can achieve the LEED certification, but that is not the topic of my post. The real purpose of this entry is to discuss a building that I would bet my life on the fact that it is not and probably will never be LEED certified. And that building or resort I will call it is the one that I am currently staying in while at a campus activities conference. The Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN is not what I would consider a normal hotel. More like a small country. With close to 3,000 guest rooms, over 600,000 square feet of ballrooms and meeting halls, and 9 acres of indoor gardens one can only imagine the incredible amount of energy needed to just keep the lights on here. And that is only the beginning...

Talking about all of the energy guzzling amenities offered here at the prestigious Gaylord Opryland Hotel would require a novel so I will just mention my favorites...

1. A 20,000 square-foot resort spa and fitness center...
- With 14 treadmills, 8 elliptical machines, 8 or so stationary bikes (each of these requiring around 1500 watts of power, and I saw at the most 4 people using these in my last three trips to the gym), heated indoor and outdoor pools, three hot tubs, steam rooms, and state of the art water filtration systems and dispensers, apparently living in the lap of luxury has little regard for energy use.

2. The indoor rainforest...
- If you were to take a 9 acre section straight out of the jungle and build a couple restaurants and stores inside of it, that would be the picture you get as you walk through the lobby and into the atrium. Yes the tropical orchids and palm trees are lovely, but I'm not so sure that the 2-story man made waterfall and 4 or 5 enormous water fountains are quite necessary. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of energy required to pump water and maintain the balmy 75 degrees in the atrium.

3. The hotel room...
- While I do appreciate a sleek and stylish hotel room (and this room is quite chic), upon closer inspection, you would be hard pressed to use the word efficient to describe any appliance in here. Large 36" High Def television, refrigerator, electronic safe, three lamps (each with 3 light bulbs), fresh towels and linens everyday, two sinks, and a high power massaging shower head are just a few of the energy-wasting commodities found in this standard two-bed room

I would shutter to begin to imagine the amount of energy and money required to run this hotel. But I'm sure they have now trouble being able to afford the electricity bill... after all, I did just have to cough up 5 dollars for a cup of coffee.