Las Vegas City Hall, pictured Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, is an example of the city’s “green” buildings. According to NV Energy, Las Vegas City Hall uses a water-cooled chiller, condensing gas boiler, variable air-volume air handlers for its heating and air conditioning systems, daylighting controls, occupancy sensors, photovoltaic renewable energy generation, and the direct and indirect evaporative cooling of outside air. The building has earned a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.
Friday, Sept. 3, 2021 | 2 a.m.
As calls for increased measures against climate change sweep across the county, Las Vegas has already stepped up, namely in the buildings that welcome residents and policymakers alike.
Enter any building owned by the city of Las Vegas — take City Hall, for example — and know that the bright lights and cool air have been powered by 100% sustainable energy since 2016, just one aspect of how the city is staying ahead of the curve in sustainability efforts.
Las Vegas has needed to accommodate new residents while lessening the environmental impact that new building projects may have, considering the relationship among density, building type and water consumption in its 2050 Master Plan, said Marco Velotta, senior management analyst with the city's planning department.
Nevada’s population grew 15% from 2010 to 2020, welcoming over 400,000 people, according to 2020 Census data. To balance this, new government buildings and facilities must be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certified or higher, a policy that has been in place in 2006, Velotta said.
LEED is a program of the United States’ Green Building Council that provides a project checklist for new construction or major renovations. It uses a point system for each level of certification, with LEED Silver projects accruing 50 to 59 points, Certified buildings 40 to 49 points, Gold 60 to 79 points, and Platinum 80 to 100 points. Sections for points include location and transportation, sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation, and regional priority.
Recent city projects following these guidelines include the Municipal Courthouse and Fire Station 3. As of 2016, all buildings owned by the city of Las Vegas run on 100% sustainable energy, and in 2020 Las Vegas was determined a LEED Gold city.
The announcement last month that Lake Mead’s depth will stoop below 1,075 feet — the point at which the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation declares a shortage for the Lower Colorado River Basin — by the end of this year, has been at the forefront of the city workers’ minds, Velotta said. Although approximately 90% of water in the Las Vegas Valley comes from Lake Mead, residents will not eye increases in their rates or abnormal restrictions.
For residential and government building projects, Velotta said the city has found ways to accommodate new residents while lessening the environmental impact these projects may have. The city’s 2050 Master Plan considers the relationship among density, building type and water consumption, a connection he said is present in the types of new building projects in the city.
“A human-scale building that’s three-to-five stories, that’s way more water-efficient than a single-family residential house and also way more efficient than a skyscraper or an apartment building that’s 10 stories or higher,” he said. “I think there’s a sweet spot, and the 2050 plan is trying to get that building stock built over the next 30 years to accommodate that.”
Other strides in water conservation efforts include a decrease of consumption from 1.47 billion gallons in 2008 to 1.18 billion gallons in 2016 through stringent water recycling practices, replacement of real grass fields for synthetic turf and water waste curbing by the Las Vegas Valley Water District. Overall, water consumption out of the Colorado River decreased 40 billion gallons, even as Las Vegas grew exponentially.
The Las Vegas Valley Water District references CBER’s population growth research to anticipate how much water the city will use, said Bronson Mack, outreach manager for Southern Nevada Water Authority. Through its conservation guidelines, Southern Nevada’s consumption of Colorado River water by decreased by 23% since 2002 even as the city grew by 800,000 people over the same period, he said.
“For our community, water conservation is the fulcrum on which we balance water supplies with water demands,” he said via email. “So today, we are supplying less water to more people than we did two decades ago.”
In the summer, residents may water their grass every day except Sundays and outside the 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. window. Starting Sept. 1, residents are only allowed to water three times per week at any time of day, and starting Nov. 1, allowances dwindle to once per week.
“If every property in Southern Nevada followed the seasonal watering restrictions year-round, we could save more than 7 billion gallons of water — more water than will be reduced next year under Lake Mead shortage conditions,” he said via email.
Along with the buildings themselves, Jace Radke, senior public information office for Las Vegas, said that zoning codes for downtown Las Vegas emphasize the area’s potential for additional sustainable capacities, like walkability and human-scale buildings.
“Not only are these zones higher density (up to 30-40 dwelling units per acre) and residential/commercial mixed use, they may include features such as bike parking, increasing shading/landscaping, solar, drought- and heat-tolerant trees, [and] green building features,” he said.
Investing in building upwards through human-scale buildings rather than creating more single-residency homes will prove more sustainable for the city, said Jose Silva, environmental organizer with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.
“Tall buildings provide shade, and while it may … not sound like the most important thing, that shade actually can help cool down the city, and Las Vegas is notorious for its heat,” he said.
Councilman Brian Knudsen of Ward 1 said that as density in the city grows, so too will building projects to house those coming to Las Vegas, engendering conversations among City Council members.
“It’s not an easy task — balancing the growth of our community with the land and water and social service systems we have,” Knudsen said via email. “I’m confident that the council will start seeing more and more housing projects that will utilize alternative and green building materials in the near future as those industries continue to develop.”
Councilwoman Victoria Seaman of Ward 2 said that the city has a reputation to uphold in terms of its environmental practices.
“The city of Las Vegas takes great pride in our leadership role on sustainable and renewable energy,” she said via email. “I encourage all developers to incorporate that technology in the design of their buildings.”
