This article is part of gb&d‘s Green Typologies series, Four of a Kind: Green casinos upending the stereotype.
PROJECT
Location Las Vegas
Size 18 million ft²
Completed 2010
Program Three hotels, two residential towers, shopping complex
TEAM
Developer MGM Resorts International
Architects Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Helmut Jahn, RV Architecture, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Studio Daniel Libeskind and David Rockwell and Rockwell Group
GREEN
Certification LEED Gold (six separate buildings)
Materials 90% of construction waste recycled
Energy On-site 8.5 megawatt cogeneration plant, reflective rooftops, high-performance glass
HVAC Air-conditioning systems built in slot-machine bases
Water Conservation measures save 50 million gallons per year
Transportation Compressed-natural-gas limo fleet, 100% electric CityCenter Tram
CityCenter in Las Vegas may have a silver sheen thanks to its copious amounts of steel and glass, but there’s nothing second-rate about the casino and hotel development that calls itself the “City of Gold.” Standing as a testament to the marriage of sustainability and world-class design, CityCenter netted six LEED Gold certifications—the most of any development in the city—one each for the Vdara, Veer Towers, and Mandarin Oriental; one for the Crystals shopping pavilion; and two for ARIA’s hotel and convention space.
Like its casinos, CityCenter employs a host of bells and whistles that provide interest and efficiency. At ARIA, automation is taken to a new level in guest rooms where everything from the temperature to the TV, window treatments, and wake-up calls is customizable and responds to guest presence or absence. Employee uniforms made from recycled materials are outfitted with radio frequency chips that link them to their matching employees.
Turning traditional air-conditioning on its head, slot machines are engineered with ground-to-ceiling cooling units that circumvent traditional HVAC inefficiencies by starting cooling at the floor. And an 8.5-megawatt natural gas, cogeneration plant—a first on the Vegas strip—provides 10 percent of CityCenter’s electricity and uses exhausted waste heat to heat or cool the water used throughout the buildings and in pools.
If the ultimate form of clean transportation—walking—isn’t an option, guests can move about the city by two other green means: the CityCenter Tram, which is electrically powered and runs along 2,187 feet of track from the Bellagio to Monte Carlo, or the exclusive CityCenter clean-burning, compressed-natural-gas limo service.
This article is part of gb&d‘s Green Typologies series, which in each issue explores a single type of building. For more of our most recent collection, Four of a Kind: Four of a Kind: Green casinos upending the stereotype, choose from the list below:
- The D Las Vegas: Localizing a Freemont Street landmark
- Golden Gate Casino: Smart energy systems update an icon
- Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino: Cogeneration an answer to triune needs
