The Holiday Inn Near the University of Michigan has saved 170 trees, 3,800 gallons of oil, 70,000 gallons of water and kept more than 30 cubic yards of trash from the landfill, according to the hotel’s manager.

And that’s just the beginning.

Since Ann Arbor’s largest hotel, located on Plymouth Road just off of US-23, began a green campaign in 2007, it has implemented many eco-friendly initiatives. The hotel has installed light sensors in public spaces; purchased energy-efficient light bulbs and started a recycling program for employees -- and now guests -- and instituted a towel reuse program. Kitchen hood fans are now turned off overnight when not in use. An ozone process reduces hot water needed for laundry. Low-flow flush valves have been installed for the toilets. For printing, both sides of a sheet of paper are utilized. To save on heating costs, an entire floor or two is shut down during slow times.

“It’s amazing,” said Joe Sefcovic, who manages the hotel. “Just since we started this in December 2007, we have recycled 10 tons of paper alone.”

As a result of their efforts, the hotel became the first in Washtenaw County to earn the Green Lodging Michigan certification from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth last month. The Holiday Inn joins 85 other hotels around the state that have been Green Lodging certified. There are three levels of certification, depending on the total number of points amassed. The Holiday Inn won the second tier certificate.

Sefcovic said he applied for certification in June after he learned that out-of-towners were calling the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau looking for a recommendation to a green hotel. There were none.

But his green efforts started even before the certification process began as a way to save money and be good environmental stewards, he said. Many of those practices won the Holiday Inn points for Green Lodging certification.

But the process itself also brought changes: The hotel discontinued using fragranced deodorizers in rooms and switched to copy paper with at least a 30 percent recycled content. To determine if the gardens need to be watered, a probe is used and then gardens are only watered in the morning when evaporation is less.

After the city started single stream recycling July 5, the Holiday Inn spent $1,500 to purchase waste baskets for hotel rooms to encourage guests to recycle. “We put the recycling cans next to the trash cans so people can do the right thing. Most people want to recycle,” Sefcovic said.

Sefcovic said he will use the Green Lodging seal in marketing the hotel - on stationary, the hotel’s e-mail signature, the hotel’s voice mail recording, the website, with the CVB and with new signage in the hotel lobby - and he hopes the efforts will be a draw to increase occupancy rates during tough economic times.

It also saves money, he said. The Holiday Inn was able to reduce its monthly trash collection fees by $500 since the recycling program began and reduce energy costs by $30,000 a year, Sefcovic said.

But it’s about more than money and marketing, he said. “Some things save us money and some things cost us money. But we also just want to do the right thing.”

Since 2006, Green Lodging Michigan has encouraged the state’s hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and resorts to implement environmental initiatives to conserve energy, reduce water consumption, protect air quality, reduce waste and purchase environmentally friendly products. They use a self-assessment check list and can earn three levels of certification, depending on their efforts, said Roger Doherty, program manager.

Two other Ann Arbor hotels, Ann Arbor Marriott and Four Points Sheraton, have applied for Green Lodging Michigan certification.