The Westin Chicago North Shore

Starwood Advances Environmental Sustainability Efforts People want to feel good about the company behind the brand. That's why our promise to do the right thing and respect our environment is so important to us. We consider today's business environment a call to action as we deepen our commitment to environmental sustainability through a multi-year transformation of how we do business. Starwood's environmental sustainability approach includes reducing the environmental impact of our business, developing sustainable products and services to meet customer needs and creating a company culture committed to sustainability. Reducing our impact on the environment Starwood is working to reduce carbon emissions and is committed to reporting on progress annually using the Carbon Disclosure Project Survey and Starwood's Sustainability Report. To achieve our sustainably goals we have designed a two pronged strategy. First, we are building greener hotels in collaboration with our owners and developers and have created green building guidelines. Second, we are focused on changing hotel operations to improve the health of the environment across our global portfolio of 960 hotels. Our initiatives were shaped by client needs, shareholder input and hotel best practices. In addition, our initiatives align with environmental certification programs to help our hotels meet locally adopted certification standards. At present, more than 130 Starwood hotels have either achieved or are in pursuit of a third-party certification including LEED, Green Seal, Green Globe, Green Key and Energy-Star. Developing sustainable products and services to meet customer needs Innovation is in Starwood's DNA and we are putting it to good use to help shape new products and services that meet our customers' needs while improving the guest and customer experience. In 2006, we made history with the launch of Element Hotels – Starwood's green trailblazer and the first major hotel chain to require all its hotels to pursue the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification. Starwood is also developing a carbon offset program, and launching a new sustainable meetings concept to help our customers achieve their sustainability goals when conducting meetings at Starwood properties. Look for additional sustainable solutions as we continue to develop our environmental program. Creating a company culture committed to sustainability Most importantly, we are making sustainability a part of our culture. We kicked off our sustainability efforts by creating a dedicated Department of Environmental Sustainability, now part of our Global Citizenship team, and publishing an environmental sustainability policy. We recently launched the Starwood Sustainability Resource Center, a one-stop-shop for associates to learn more about environmental sustainability and how to execute on program initiatives. In early 2009 we also made important operational improvements at our White Plains headquarters to support our sustainability efforts.