The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved financing of up to $42 million in long-term IDB loans to finance up to eight Marriott-hotels in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico that will meet world-class environmental and sustainability standards.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification has become the dominant standard for green building design, requires buildings to meet specific parameters in areas such as energy conservation, efficiency in water use, CO2 emissions, improved indoor environmental quality and resource management.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, most of the LEED-certified buildings completed until now have been offices or commercial spaces located primarily in Mexico and Brazil.
The first hotel to be financed is a Marriott Courtyard of 127 rooms in Alajuela, near the Juan Santamaría International Airport, 20 kilometers from San José, Costa Rica.
