The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognizes JW Marriott in Washington, DC, for its certification to the Superior Energy Performance 50001^TM (SEP 50001^TM) program and additional Platinum-level achievements. SEP 50001 is a U.S. DOE-administered certification and recognition program for facilities that use an ISO 50001 energy management system and verify achieved energy performance improvement. Through these milestones, JW Marriot achieved a verified 7.8% energy performance improvement over three years. The impressive energy savings realized over the past three years have helped the JW Marriott Washington, DC save $221,551 in energy costs. In addition to energy performance improvement, the hotel has reduced CO₂ emissions by 725.43 metric tons. This success supports Marriott International’s carbon reduction goal.

“Marriott International has a corporate goal to achieve a minimum of 30% renewable energy use and reduce the environmental footprint by cutting water intensity by 15%, carbon intensity by 30%, and waste-to-landfill by 45% across the portfolio by 2025,” said Tushaar Agrawal, General Manager at JW Marriott Washington, DC. “SEP 50001 and ISO 50001 are important tools to help [the DC venue] reach these 2025 targets.”

JW Marriott Washington, DC, is a luxury hotel situated on Pennsylvania Avenue, in the heart of the nation’s capital. With 777 rooms and suites, the hotel offers dining options, a 24-hour fitness center, a business center, 29 meeting rooms, and 34,696 square feet of event space. The hotel is owned by Host Hotels and Resorts and managed as part of Marriott International, Inc. Both companies have corporate sustainability goals and support sustainability efforts, and they have provided the JW Marriott Washington, DC, with strong backing to pursue SEP 50001 certification.

DOE’s SEP 50001 program, managed by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, offers certification and elevated levels of recognition to facilities that achieve sustained excellence in energy management. To achieve SEP 50001, facilities implement an energy management system aligned with ISO 50001, the International Organization for Standardization’s energy management standard, and demonstrate improved energy performance. Entities that exceed certification requirements in SEP 50001 can use a scorecard to achieve DOE recognition at the Silver, Gold, or Platinum level. An independent third party conducts an audit to verify achievements.

In September 2013, the Washington, DC, venue certified to ISO 50001 and, in 2016, became the first Marriott hotel to achieve certification to the SEP 50001 program at the Platinum level. The hotel saw a verified 16.5% improvement over its energy performance in 2012, when management first initiated an energy management system (EnMS). Since then, the emphasis on sustainability has continued to be part of the JW Marriott culture. The JW Marriott has consistently enhanced its EnMS to continue and extend its benefits, as evidenced by the hotel’s second Platinum-level SEP 50001 certification, attained in 2021.

Learn more about how JW Marriott improved its energy management practice through SEP 50001.