Are you an eco-conscious traveler? You may wonder how eco-friendly the place you're staying is. How are they trying to reduce their carbon footprint? At The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas, we've been ahead of the curve to become one of the largest green hotels on the planet. We created our global sustainability strategy with this in mind. It is designed to help minimize the impact we have on the environment. Below is a list of all the ways our resort towers are environmentally friendly hotels.
01 LEED®-certified Hotel
Qualifying to be LEED certified is based on a 100-point scoring system. There are four levels of certification: certified, silver, gold, and platinum.
There are seven different categories for a building to earn points:
- Sustainable sites
- Water efficiency
- Energy & atmosphere
- Materials & resources
- Indoor environmental quality
- Innovation in operations
- Regional bonus points
In 2008, The Palazzo® tower was the first Las Vegas resort to achieve LEED Silver Certification. To date, it is the largest new construction building in the country. In 2010, The Venetian tower and The Venetian Expo Las Vegas were the only properties to receive LEED Gold Certification for existing buildings in Las Vegas.
02 Eco-luxury Hotel
Every suite at The Venetian Resort is nearly double the size of the average Las Vegas hotel room. The latest energy-efficient LED lighting is utilized in all the suites. We saved more than 73 million kilowatt-hours of electricity from 2010 through 2021. That is enough to power more than 9,450 homes for a year. When staying at The Venetian Resort, guests can relax knowing that every detail is considered.
- Master light switches in The Palazzo suites allow guests to turn off all lights at once to save energy
- Energy Star® energy-efficient minibars and LED televisions
- Green sustainable-certified chemicals utilized for cleaning
- Sustainable-certified carpet and building materials
- Sustainable-certified products such as amenities, toilet paper, etc.
- Sustainable housekeeping practices (such as turning off thermostats, closing drapes, etc.) are followed to conserve energy and water and recycle waste
- Eco-linen program – guests are automatically part of the program, unless they wish to have their linen and towels changed more frequently
- EPA-certified low flow plumbing fixtures (showerheads, toilets, faucets)
- Over 27 electric car charging stations are available to guests for free
- Used bottled amenities are donated to Clean the World non-profit organization
- Used linen and towels donated to Opportunity Village non-profit organization
- Many other materials are donated to local non-profit organizations:
- Minibar food & beverage items
- Lost & found items
- Leftover toilet paper rolls
- Gently used items (such as ice buckets, recycling bins, desk organizers, hairdryers, irons, hangars, etc.)
- Sustainable food & beverage in-suite dining menu offerings
03 Water Conservation
Being part of the prestigious LEED hotels is no small feat. It takes a team effort and continuous improvement through reevaluation. As one of the most sustainable hotels, we lead by example with our nano-filtration water technology. The filtration allows us to conserve 25 million gallons of water each year. That is the equivalent of 38 Olympic-size swimming pools.
This non-potable water is used in:
- Landscaping
- Street cleaning
- The Palazzo fountain
- A portion of the building’s air conditioning
The system enables us to stay completely off the water grid for The Palazzo tower’s irrigation.
04 Fighting Hunger in Southern Nevada
Communities going hungry is a concern across the nation. One in seven struggles with hunger in Southern Nevada. This led to a partnership with Chefs to End Hunger. This is a regional non-profit organization that distributes leftover meals to local charities. The pick-ups were aligned with produce deliveries. Enabling the same refrigerated drop-off trucks to be refilled with food for donation. This prevented an empty return trip. In 2017, this creative program donated more than 17,500 meals. The Venetian Resort donated more than 670,000 leftover meals to date from conventions.
05 Reducing Waste
Our eco-friendly resort has one of the highest recycling rates in Las Vegas. It's above 21%, more than the national average. Every year The Venetian Resort reclaims more than 30 million pounds of material through the recycling program. That amounts to forty 747 aircrafts full of waste diverted from landfills. All the food waste is converted into animal feedstock and donated to the local pig farm.
06 Conserving Energy
The Venetian Resort and The Venetian Expo have gone “all in” on renewable energy. Since May 2019, the resort has been in a partnership with NV Energy. Our partnership allowed us to offset our energy use. By investing in solar, wind, and other energy sources, we were able to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates. These certificates help track the energy we generate. Our entire Las Vegas campus is powered by 100% renewable energy. This adds up to about 225 million kilowatt-hours per year. That is enough to power 29,000 single-family houses. The U.S. Department of Energy recognized our effort to go beyond a 20% energy reduction goal in the Better Buildings Challenge. In 2019, the resort and The Venetian Expo were praised for a 24% reduction in energy use since the challenge began in 2011.
07 Better Buying Habits
The Venetian Honest Food Program uses fresh and sustainable ingredients. This allows our chefs to prepare everything from scratch. By using seasonal and locally sourced ingredients, they can avoid frozen, canned, and processed foods. We wanted to do even better. Our next goal was targeting our seafood use. We wanted to find more responsibly sourced products. In June 2019, we started working with an organization called FishWise. With their help, we are sourcing even more sustainable seafood using their strict criteria. Our goal is to serve as a model for the industry. By completion, The Venetian Resort will offer the most extensive seafood sustainability choices on the Las Vegas Strip.