Vegas Betting on Clean Tech
Kerry Trueman December 28, 2007 | 12:30 pm EST

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With all its gaudy neon and nonstop glitz, Las Vegas doesn’t get a gold star for energy efficiency–yet. But that’s about to change, thanks to MGM, which is constructing the nation’s most expensive LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) private development, according to the CS Monitor.

The 68-acre, $7.5 billion complex, called CityCenter, will feature a casino, hotels, condos, shops, and a convention center. The decision to make the complex ultra-energy efficient is a win-win for MGM; first, it will benefit from a rebate on state sales and property taxes for construction that meets the LEED standards, and second, MGM expects to save a bundle on operating costs. The 10 hotels it already owns on the Strip run up a daily electric bill of $350,000. Yes, daily.

The decision to go green has not been without complications, though. MGM couldn’t find suitably luxurious low-flow faucets, so it had to have a faucet specially designed to meet its specifications. An extravagance, perhaps, but it’s not money down the drain; with the west’s water growing ever more scarce, a complex like CityCenter has no choice but to conserve. What better place to build an eco-friendly development than an irrigated desert famous for its electrifying excess?

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