Caesars Entertainment Introduces Major Energy Efficiency Upgrades
Market Watch, September 10, 2015. Image credit: Reflex Supplements
The Governor’s Office of Energy (GOE) awarded property tax incentives to 11 Caesars Entertainment affiliated casino resorts for introducing significant energy and water savings measures in tens of millions of square feet of commercial space.
The resorts received the GOE incentive after meeting State regulations and receiving a prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver or Gold equivalency from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is a rating system for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of green buildings.
“Working with Caesars Casinos to make such an enormous quantity of square feet in Nevada more energy efficient was historic,” said Paul Thomsen, GOE Director. “Project successes like this confirm Nevada’s status as a national leader in efficient construction and design.”
In 2015, GOE awarded tax incentives to the owners of 22 buildings in Nevada that achieved LEED certification or equivalency, for a total of more than 46 million square feet. The largest contributor to this robust figure was the Caesars Entertainment properties at 28.5 million square feet.
“Caesars Entertainment is committed to creating healthy, vibrant places for our guests to relax and play, and for our employees to work,” said Eric Dominguez, Caesars Entertainment’s Director of Facilities, Engineering and Sustainable Operations. “We choose to pursue LEED equivalency because of its rigorous approach to measurable environmentally sound building design, construction, operations and maintenance.”
To achieve these levels of LEED equivalency, Caesars is building upon current conservation efforts already in-place by installing energy efficient light emitting diode (LED) lights, introducing day lighting controls, and rewiring lighting systems for better control. Caesars is also educating their team members on new purchasing processes that encourage teams to buy supplies that are made with recycled content, as well as training them on new sustainability procedures that enhance facility operations.