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City Center Las Vegas Nevada

CityCenter in Las Vegas places a sure bet on energy savings

06 July 2011
Casino hotels and restaurants operate around-the-clock in Las Vegas and they require heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment that is reliable and easy to operate and maintain. Those criteria alongside a commitment to sustainability became vitally important to MGM Resorts International when it was developing the CityCenter project; the largest and most elaborate commercial construction project in US history.

CityCenter is an $8.5 billion resort destination with 6,000 hotel rooms, 2,400 condominiums, 38 restaurants and bars, a convention center, a shopping mall, a Cirque du Soleil theater and a 150,000 sq ft casino. The complex has been equipped with energy-efficient features including 744 Danfoss VLT® drives installed in nearly every area of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. The drives control the motors in the system so they run precisely at the speed necessary to obtain the desired effect.

Reducing carbon emissions by 43,500 tons

Energy usage data compiled during the first year in operation show that the drives have improved the projected energy performance of the complex by 45% over the international ASHRAE standards (Standard 90.1-1999). ASHRAE sets standards for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning in new construction projects and the standards define minimum values or acceptable performance for the equipment. Furthermore, according to energy savings data from typical variable speed drive usage, the drives have the potential to save as much as 10,049 kW per hour, which exceeds the amount of energy that a second central plant would produce if the complex required that much energy for operations.

Looking at these savings in real terms, this translates to energy savings of just over 58 million kW per hour or 58,000 mW per hour. Significant energy savings like these also help to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 43,500 tons which is the equivalent of taking a typical power plant off the grid for a full six days.

In addition to the obvious utility cost benefit, the use of Danfoss drives also contributed to the CityCenter’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certifications. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the US Green Building Council. The Gold certifications mark the highest LEED achievement of any hotel, retail district or residential development in Las Vegas.
Simple and efficient system
In the planning stages in 2006, MGM Resorts project managers and consulting engineers WSP Flack and Kurtz knew that the project’s scope and the Las Vegas environment would place extraordinary demands on its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. They needed to make the operating system as simple and efficient as possible. Eventually, they selected the line of VLT® HVAC drives from Danfoss because of the product’s performance history and consistent interface.

“MGM Resorts had nearly 20 years of experience using Danfoss products in other facilities. Their products had a solid track record,” said the project’s leading engineer. “There were several buildings under construction at one time, so there was pressure to stay on track and deliver a product the day it was needed. And because of that aggressive construction schedule, we had to be confident that the products we were installing were going to perform.”