St. Lucia’s award-winning luxury resort Jade Mountain has become the first hotel in the Caribbean to receive LEED GOLD certification status, an impressive award that marks exceptional standards of sustainability.

The Green Building Council, an organization that monitors building design, construction and operation according to the LEED system of verification for sustainable buildings, granted the coveted certification. The Council granted the certification status to the multiple award-winning resort for its non-traditional sustainable design including its rainwater-fed plant water purification system and innovative recycling process that uses sewage water in irrigation of new tropical landscapes.

When Nick Troubetzkoy designed Jade Mountain Resort, his intention was to provide guests with the experience of being fully immersed at all times in St. Lucia’s lush natural beauty. He achieved and exceeded his goal with the inclusion of breezy open-air spaces, serene water elements including waterfalls and infinity pools, and with his use of natural building materials.

Nick Troubetzkoy, owner and designer, Jade Mountain, said, “I wanted to create individualized spatial environments that would enable guests to forget the fact they’re in a hotel room — and in essence to forget every preconception and to experience the psychology of a dynamic and monumental space on an intuitive and primal emotional level.”

All of the design elements at Jade Mountain serve to integrate the hotel with its surrounding environment, and the new LEED GOLD certification further solidifies Jade Mountain’s unprecedented standards.