UVA Inn at Darden Honored With Virginia Green Travel Star Award

27 February 2017

By Dave Hendrick


Reinforcing its commitment to sustainable business practices, the hotel and conference center at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business has been honored with a major award from Virginia Green, a state partnership that promotes environmentally sustainable travel and tourism.

At the awards ceremony during the two-day Virginia Green Travel Conference, held at the Darden School, First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe awarded a Virginia Green Travel Star Award for the Green Conference Center of the Year to UVA Inn at Darden, the full-service hotel, conference and event center located on Darden Grounds.

“We’re honored to be recognized for our commitment to sustainable practices,” said Eric Branch, director of sales and marketing at UVA Inn at Darden. “As we consider enhancements and operational impact in the future, we will be committed to honoring the spirit and intent of this award.”

UVA Inn at Darden features 177 guest rooms, 69,000 square feet of meeting and event facilities, and world-class dining in the Abbott Center dining room. The Inn and hospitality space services Darden’s Executive Education programs along with external events, overnight guest stays, conferences, weddings and celebrations.

Darden has a significant commitment to sustainable business practices and recently entered into an agreement with UVA and Dominion Virginia Power to purchase the entire output of electricity produced at a new 160-acre solar facility in King William County, Virginia, for the next 25 years. The power purchase agreement will enable Darden to achieve its long-term zero-carbon goal, with plans to be a carbon-neutral enterprise by 2020.

Darden has instituted multiple energy-efficiency initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce its carbon footprint in recent years, and has implemented physical and operational improvements to reduce its impact on the environment through efforts such as composting, recycling and energy-use reduction.

About the University of Virginia Darden School of Business

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (MBA, MSBA and Ph.D.) and Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programs offered by the Darden School Foundation set the stage for a lifetime of career advancement and impact. Darden’s top-ranked faculty, renowned for teaching excellence, inspires and shapes modern business leadership worldwide through research, thought leadership and business publishing. Darden has Grounds in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area and a global community that includes 18,000 alumni in 90 countries. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

 

Press Contact

Molly Mitchell
Associate Director of Content Marketing and Social Media
Darden School of Business
University of Virginia
MitchellM@darden.virginia.edu