by Michael J. Crosbie, Ph.D., AIA

Summary: In our energy-consuming culture, is there anything more over-the-top than casinos? Arrayed in the Nevada arid climate, Las Vegas must rate as one of the least sustainable places on earth. For example, its inhabitants and visitors consume huge amounts of water in an environment where that commodity is particularly scarce—and a good part of it is used to raise grass in the desert. If there was ever a case for xeriscaping—the use of native plants and landscaping that can survive harsh desert conditions, it’s Vegas.

Green casino in New York
But most of us don’t go to Vegas to enjoy the landscape. We’re there for the casinos, the shows, the spectacles—all of it housed within air-conditioned enclaves that are some of the most “site unspecific” buildings on Earth. It might be too late for Vegas ever to turn around and be green, but that’s not necessarily the case for casinos as a building type. Across the continent from Vegas, a paradigm-shift in the gaming industry is taking place. The St. Regis Mohawk tribe and Empire Resorts are placing all their chips on building the first “green casino” in the U.S. The site is Monticello Raceway in New York, and the tribe wants its $600 million casino to be a model of energy conservation and resource efficiency. Andrew Zumwalt-Hathaway of Steven Winter Associates is helping the architects, BBG, and the tribe to look at the entire life-cycle of casino use to understand where synergies can be found to design and build a casino that might be an example for others in the gaming industry.

And the industry is starting to pay attention. A recent issue of International Gaming & Wagering Business magazine, a publication for those in the casino trade, presented the idea of sustainable casino development and operation as a bottom-line proposition. In other words, the color of money is the best reason for going green. Maybe this isn’t so surprising. Casinos, after all, are building types designed around the idea of maximizing the take. If sustainability can cut costs, it’s a sure bet.

Micro-turbines and natural light
For example, according to Zumwalt-Hathaway, because of their large economies of scale, casinos can economize on their operating costs by using micro-turbines to generate electricity, allowing the facility to harvest its own power at a fraction of what it would cost to buy it from a utility. Micro-turbines run on natural gas, which can be a cheaper fuel source when compared to electric utility costs. Micro-turbines also generate a great amount of heat, which can be used to produce hot water and heating for the casino. For the gaming industry, savings on operations translate into more square footage. More space for gaming activities means more income for the casino, which would likely offset the additional cost of the micro-turbines at a faster payback rate than other building types.

Others savings might require casinos to rethink the psychology of the space they create. For instance, one of the traditional rules in gaming environments is to remove the customer from the outside world and its distractions. This usually translates into no exterior views—and little if any natural light. More natural light can cut lighting costs (and cooling costs, too, with fewer heat-emitting bulbs) but casinos will want to carefully consider whether outside distractions might reduce time on the gaming floor.

The bigger message for architects about green casinos is that different clients consume energy in different ways, and some forms of resource efficiency can yield bigger jackpots based on how the client uses the building, and how the facility generates revenue. Sustainability has to be tailored to the client.