A new level of green

By the Caribbean Journal staff

It’s long been one of the Caribbean’s greenest hotels, but now Aruba’s Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts has attained a new level of green certification: LEED Silver.

The designation comes from the US Green Building Council, which examines factors like design, construction maintenance and operations.

“The green building movement offers an unprecedented opportunity to respond to the most-important challenges of our time, including global climate change, dependence on non-sustainable and expensive sources of energy and threats to human health,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “The work of innovative projects such as Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts is a fundamental driving force in the green building movement.”

The property is located on Eagle Beach in Aruba.

“Becoming LEED-certified is a critical step in our efforts to protect the world we share especially here on Aruba where rising sea levels threaten our very existence,” says Ewald Biemans, owner of Bucuti & Tara. “We must act together and we must act now. We want to inspire others near and far to make the environment and our earth’s future a top priority. This is a critical time for our endangered environment, so for the future of our planet and our wellbeing, environmental standards and certifications must become common practice on Aruba and throughout the Caribbean.”