Green hotel groundbreaking in NK

North Kingstown, RI (WPRI) - Work has begun on a new 55,000 square foot environmentally friendly hotel in North Kingstown.

Green hotels like The NYLO in Warwick seem to be popping up everywhere these days. Now there is another, green hotel coming to town

Mariott's Towne Place Suites, a four story 103 room hotel, will sit on about four and a half acres across from the shops at Quonset Point. Thursday, Governor Don Carcieri kicked off a groundbreaking ceremony and said the hotel is an important addition to an already bustling business park.

One of the main green features for the new hotel will be a geothermal system, which uses wells to suck up water from deep beneath the earths crust. This creates a natural and energy efficient way to heat and cool the building. To install the system, 16 geothermal wells will have to be drilled.

"You'll see a drilling in probably six weeks, and it will be here for a month, and it will be pretty active during that timeframe", says developer Lance Bennett.

Adding to the green theme, recycled and local materials will be used to construct the hotel. In addition to the environmental benefits, new jobs will be built up as well. The Quonset business park already employs almost 9,000 people.

The project is expected to cost of 7.5 millions dollars. The hotel is scheduled to open in February of 2011.