The Courtyard by Marriott at Irvine Spectrum, which opened in the Summer of 2013, featured a number of sustainable design site elements. In conjunction with the City of Irvine and the Irvine Ranch Water District, the hotel is taking steps towards water conservation through the use of a dedicated recycled water service to exterior landscape features. In addition, the hotel included the use of artificial turf for the approximately 2,000-sf event lawn as a substitute for the water-thirsty natural grass.
In an effort to reduce the amount of stormwater runoff that is released each year, the site was designed with an approximately 3,600- sf bio-retention pond. The pond is designed to capture surface runoff from the site, treat it through biological means, and return it underground through infiltration. The result is a significant reduction in untreated stormwater runoff release into the municipal storm drain system.
During the construction, existing materials were re-used to the maximum practical extent to alleviate the waste produced as a result of the construction. On the project exterior, the pre-existing asphalt parking lot was removed, crushed, and re-purposed on the site for use as the structural base material for the new hotel.
Lastly, the site was pre-wired for electrical vehicle charging stations to support the rapid growth in electric vehicle use throughout Southern California.
