That's beginning to change, however, as the hospitality sectoris discovering the benefits of going green, and have a metric formeasuring their sustainability beyond the merely cosmetic.Virtually unthought of even a year ago, today, 451 hotels haveeither achieved or registered for LEED certification, according tothe United States Green Building Council. And the largest LEEDcertified building in the world is the Palazzo Las Vegas.

"This is the fastest commercial market segment we have," saysMarc Heisterkamp, director of commercial real estate of the USGBC,Washington, DC. "Just 12 months ago, no one wanted to go beyondlaundry [conservation]."

Interest really started to increase in about the last 18 months,says Joe McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel &Lodging Association, Washington, DC. "A lot of studies were doneabout the consumer interest, and people said we needed to dosomething," McInerney says. "Europe was way ahead of us, and mostof the major hotel companies are multinational. They were gettingpressure."