Mandalay Bay Convention Center is in the midst of an expansion that will add 350,000 square feet of exhibit space that will result in more than 1.1 million square feet of total exhibition space. The $66 million project is expected to finish in January. The property has an established program of environmentally sustainable practices, including recycling more than 80 percent of all convention materials. The finished building will have 20 acres of rooftop solar array—installed in October—that the management says is the world’s largest rooftop solar array on a convention center. It will produce enough energy to power the equivalent of about 1,000 homes.
In September, the meeting complex that includes Sands Expo Convention Center and the Congress Center at the Venetian and the Palazzo Las Vegas became the first venue to achieve “level two” certification for environmentally sustainable meetings, events, trade shows, and conferences from the Convention Industry Council’s APEX initiative and ASTM International. The process involved meeting standards in waste management, energy, air quality, water, procurement, and other areas. The designation is among the property’s accolades for its sustainability initiatives, including LEED Gold certification for Sands Expo. The convention center has more than 2.25 million square feet of show floor and meeting space.
The LEED Gold-certified Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas hotel opened a new meeting and event space known as the Gallery in late 2014. The loft-style venue offers a blank canvas for events with a painted cement floor, white walls, and frosted floor-to-ceiling windows. It measures 1,900 square feet and seats 80 guests or holds 200 people for receptions. The property has a number of green practices in place in areas such as water and energy conservation and participates in the City Center Waste Management Program in which glass, paper, cardboard, metals, plastic, food waste, and grease are sorted and recycled or repurposed. The hotel also uses environmentally friendly cleaning products and offers preferred parking to employees and guests using alternative fuel vehicles or employees who carpool.
Danny Meyer's global Shake Shack juggernaut expanded to Las Vegas in December with a location on the Strip in front of New York-New York Hotel & Casino. The fast-casual restaurant features green architecture and eco-friendly construction in touches such as furniture constructed from lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, tabletops made from reclaimed bowling alley lanes, and energy-efficient kitchen equipment and lighting. The venue has indoor and outdoor seating and holds about 300 people for receptions.
Neighboring resorts the Venetian and the Palazzo Las Vegas, both owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, participate in the Sands Eco360 Meetings program. Led by a green meeting concierge, the program allows meeting planners to customize sustainable solutions for their events. Planners can leave with an Impact Statement that reports an event’s energy and water consumption, recycling rate, and carbon footprint. The Venetian tower is finishing a refresh of its guest suites that includes new energy-efficient lightbulbs that use less energy but provide more total light output. Both properties have LEED certification: the Venetian is Gold and the Palazzo is Silver.
The Corn Creek Visitor Center at the Desert National Wildlife Range, also known as the DNW Refuge, earned LEED Platinum certification in April 2014. The center uses photovoltaic arrays to create solar energy and reached its “net zero” goal of consuming no more than the amount of energy it produces. The 11,000-square-foot building approves meetings held at the center on a case-by-case basis. No social events are permitted, but professional meetings for businesses or nonprofit organizations may be allowed for events held Monday to Wednesday. Also, no alcohol is permitted at meetings. The center’s meeting space seats as many as 70 people or can be divided into two smaller rooms.
The Courtyard Las Vegas Convention Center received LEED Gold certification in May 2014. The hotel implemented several green practices that include sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. It also switched to earth-friendly cleaning products and implemented hotel-wide recycling with Republic Waste Services. The hotel has 137 rooms and 12 suites and two meeting rooms with 1,250 square feet of flexible space.
Residence Inn Las Vegas Convention Center received LEED Gold certification in May 2014. The hotel, which has 192 suites, offers two event spaces: the 580-square-foot Reno Room holds 24 in a U-shape configuration or 40 for receptions. The Garden Terrace holds 50 for outdoor banquets or 175 for receptions. For meetings, it offers notepads and pens made from recycled materials.
Cashman Center, a convention and sports facility, recycles more than 65 percent of its waste, diverting more than 22 tons of recyclable materials from the landfill a year. Operators of the 55-acre site are mindful of its water use as well and implemented a landscaping plan that conserved more than six million gallons of water in two years. The facility has 98,100 square feet of exhibit space, 14 meeting rooms, and a 1,898 seat theater.
Element Las Vegas Summerlin is part of Starwood’s eco-friendly brand. The 123-room, LEED-certified hotel’s design includes carpets with as much as 100 percent recycled content and low-V.O.C. paint, and staff use green cleaning products. The guest rooms feature Energy Star-qualified kitchen appliances, eco-friendly bath fixtures, and recycling bins for paper, plastic, and glass. Another perk at the property is priority parking spots for hybrid cars. The hotel has a 441-square-foot meeting room equipped with a 50-inch flat-panel TV and free Wi-Fi.
Communication with event guests is critical to the success of sustainability efforts. Symantec displayed a large sign near the registration area to share information about its initiatives. The company began its awareness campaign two months before the conference with articles in the event newsletter and on its Web site. In addition to the display, organizers shared information about sustainability during keynote sessions and on the event app.
At its Vision Barcelona conference in November 2012, local children joined Symantec executives to plant a tree just outside the convention facility. The 15-year-old founder of Plant for the Planet spoke during the event's opening ceremony and Symantec pledged $10,000 to plant 10,000 more trees.
Sustainability can carry over from one event to another. Intel created 400 messenger bags from large vinyl banners that had been used at a 2010 conference. The bags became giveaways at future Intel events and some were donated to schools, saving 5,500 square feet of material from landfills. "We do re-purpose other signage. The trick is to not date your material," says Lou Cozzo, Intel's corporate event marketing manager.
Intel has worked with United Van Lines to reduce the impact of shipping. Two of the trucks used to ship materials for the Intel Developer Forum used hydrogen technology that reduced fuel use and emissions. United also uses a scheduling system that minimizes miles traveled to transport the freight.
Symantec reduced the amount of carpet used at Vision Barcelona by 52 percent by covering the trade show floor with reusable, rented carpet tiles; traditional carpeting was only used in the walk ways of the plenary room.
At its Vision Barcelona conference in November, Symantec diverted 55 percent of the waste away from landfills. "Visible, colored bins really stand out when you see them all around the venue, and they help our attendees recycle correctly," says Claudia van't Hullenaar, principal specialist for Symantec global event marketing.
To cut down on e-waste, Symantec stocked the conference's Internet Café with older computers from its corporate office that had been phased out of use. Organizers also eliminated handouts in all labs and training classes (which in the past had amounted to 22,000 sheets of paper) and instead gave participants Kindles and iPads to use.
After the McDonald's Worldwide Convention in Orlando, Freeman disassembled the "Marketplace" exhibit and donated it to a local fairground, transporting it in three tractor trailers. Parts of the remaining 16 booths were also donated to other groups.
McDonald's was the first vendor in the history of the Orange County Convention Center to divert exhibit floor food waste from landfills and contribute it to a soil-enriching compost program for local farmers.
