Sustainability

Sustainable practices – those which use resources in an environmentally responsible, socially fair and economically viable manner that ensures their use by future generations – are essential to the long-term health of the travel industry and, by extension, to destinations like Arlington.

The Arlington Convention and Visitors Service is dedicated to supporting and leveraging sustainability-related initiatives of the Arlington County Government, Virginia Government and local hospitality-related businesses to meet current visitor usage needs and ensure the use of tourism resources by future generations.

ACCELERATE 2023 Annual Report

ACCELERATE is a report that features Arlington County’s completed core work pertaining to energy, climate, and the environment. Due to the constant depth of projects, programs, and policies, each report will contain fresh new stories to maintain transparency and highlight Arlington’s key successes. Learn more.

LEED-certified Hotels

Arlington was the nation’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-certified community and is a nationally recognized leader in creating a sustainable and resilient urban environment. We have long-proven success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing stormwater, fostering environmental stewardship, and promoting our visitors' health and well-being.

The following Arlington hotels are LEED-certified. Additionally, virtually every local property follows brand sustainability programs such as those from Choice, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Wyndham and more.

Homewood Suites by Hilton Arlington Rosslyn Key Bridge (Gold)
Hyatt Place Arlington/Courthouse Plaza (Gold)
Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel (Gold)
Residence Inn by Marriott Arlington Capital View (Gold)
Residence Inn by Marriott Arlington Ballston (Gold)

Arlington County’s Community Energy Plan (CEP)

Arlington County’s Community Energy Plan (CEP) will set our destination on a path to becoming completely carbon neutral by 2050. Some of the plan's goals include:

100% of Arlington’s electricity will be from renewable sources by 2035
Arlington County Government operations will achieve 100% renewable electricity by 2025
Energy equity will be considered during the implementation of the Plan

Click on the link for more information on Arlington's sustainability efforts and green tourism initiatives in Virginia.

County Operations Now Run Entirely on Renewable Electricity

In January 2023, Arlington announced it achieved its goal of 100% renewable electricity use at all County facilities, two years ahead of schedule. The facilities include County-owned buildings, streetlights and traffic signals, leased facilities, and the Water Pollution Control Plant. These sites are now working off of electricity from sustainable sources including Dominion Energy Virginia's Green Power program options for residences and businesses, on-site solar installations at County facilities, and the Maplewood Solar project in Pittsylvania County, supplying more than 80% of renewable electricity to Arlington facilities through offsets.

Virginia Green Travel Alliance

The Virginia Green Travel Alliance (VGTA) is the 501c3 non-profit organization that was created in 2014 to support and expand the outreach efforts of the state’s Virginia Green program and sustainable tourism efforts statewide.

Virginia Green is the state’s recognition program that recognizes tourism partners that have self-certified their environmental efforts. The partnership includes the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Tourism Corporation, and the Virginia Restaurant Lodging & Travel Association.More than 1800 Virginia businesses have certified their environmental commitments through the Virginia Green program. Partners include hotels, restaurants, parks, wineries, breweries, museums, festivals & events, and any other business that considers itself to be a part of the tourism industry.

Learn more about the Virginia Green Travel Alliance here.

Green Dining Arlington

Green Dining Arlington is an initiative of EcoAction Arlington that works with local restaurants to support environmentally friendly dining practices and plastic waste reduction. They help restaurants pursue Virginia Green Travel Association certification, receive statewide recognition of their sustainability efforts, and promote restaurant sustainability efforts to consumers in Arlington County. If you want to promote your sustainable dining practices or pursue Virginia Green Travel Association certification, please contact them at greendiningarlington@ecoactionarlington.org.

Arlington is the Natural Environment for Electric Vehicles

Are you heading to Arlington, and driving an electric vehicle (or are you considering shifting gears to an electric vehicle in the not too distant future)?

Learn More