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Surprising Sights at Greenbuild

Posted : November 20, 2009 by Michelle, Category: Building Regulations, Sustainability

Now a protest on smoking in LEED buildings was not quite the sight I expected to see as a rocked up for the first day of Greenbuild! I believe the protesters were referring in particular to the newly certified ARIA resort and casino in Las Vegas which allows smoking on the casino floor.

On closer inspection and investigation however, it appears that the casino itself was excluded from the LEED submission, which only covers the hotel resort tower and convention center.

“The USGBC already has awarded LEED Gold certification to ARIA’s hotel tower, convention center and theater; as well as Vdara Hotel. CityCenter’s remaining venues are poised to receive a combination of Silver and Gold LEED ratings.” (For full article click here)

But even if it had been included smoking could be allowed in designated areas with measures taken to avoid second-hand smoke in other areas according to EQ Prerequisite 2: Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control. See the blog and comments at Cooper Green Design for more detail.

I wonder if the protesters knew this or if it would make much difference to them? However, it does raise some interesting questions about what LEED should and can demand of facilities, and how boundaries are set. Though I believe the Minimum Program Requirements (MRP) in the latest version of LEED (2009) would now not allow this kind of exclusion.

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Tags:Greenbuild, LEED, Sustainability