August 2021 (Kuala Lumpur) —  Hard Rock Hotel in Desaru has been awarded LEED Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is the USGBC’s rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient, and high performing buildings. Opened in late 2019, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru is the first hotel of the World-class Entertainment brand to obtain the USGBC’s certification.

Dr Stellios Plainiotis, the Founder & CEO of NEAPOLI, is obviously delighted. “When we started the design process few years ago, the team would have never believed that we could use 34% less energy and 50% less water without compromising in luxury and while setting very high standards in occupant health & comfort,” says Stellios.

NEAPOLI collaborated with the subcontractors on every little detail and tested most products. The rigorous testing for a variety of water saving products is paying off. The hotel is on track to save 45.5% of potable water with efficient water fittings. In addition. the Hotel collects and treats 14,100 tones of rain water per year to cover most of the irrigation requirements.
However, the biggest improvements were seen in energy efficiency with the Hotel facilities generating over 935, 299 kWh of energy savings. The average annual environmental impact of this commitment by Hard Rock on this Hotel is to generate more than 663,000 kg of CO2 offset, the equivalent of planting more than 10,000 trees.

Hard Rock Hotel Desaru did not attain this milestone by just using less
energy and water. It also:

• Recycled 55% of the construction debris (920 tons)
• Sourced over 40% of the building materials locally
• Used over 20% recycled content
• Provided good outside views to 95% of the occupied space
• Used elaborate ventilation systems to provide large amounts of fresh outside air to all guests
• Promotes sustainable – multimodal transportation by providing: a) access to public transport hubs within 5’ walking time, b) bicycle facilities to encourage car free commuting within the Desaru area c) Priority parking spaces for electric and low-emitting vehicles.
• Performed enhanced commissioning, measurement, and verification to ensure the building systems were operating as designed
• Plus more than 60 other sustainable practices