CityCenter Awarded First Place in Commercial/Institutional Category at Fifth Annual Designing & Building with FSC Awards at USGBC’s GreenBuild ’09 Conference
The Forest Stewardship Council-US (FSC-US®) has honored CityCenter as the best commercial project of 2009 in the fifth annual Designing & Building with FSC Awards. The awards recognize entities that are committed to using sustainably harvested wood and creating a marketplace that promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management. CityCenter’s dedication to the use of FSC-certified wood products is unprecedented in scale and resulted in a significant market transformation.
“We are honored to be recognized as this year’s top commercial project,” said Cindy Ortega, senior vice president of MGM MIRAGE’s Energy and Environmental Services. “Sustainability has been at the forefront of every design and construction decision for CityCenter, and due to our high demand for responsibly harvested FSC-certified wood, numerous local companies have transformed their business practices, thereby opening channels for future sustainable projects.”
Due to its size and buying power, construction of the 18-million-square-foot CityCenter development expanded the local and domestic FSC wood supply markets, which will serve to open channels to future projects interested in purchasing FSC-certified wood. Ten local wood suppliers received their FSC chain of custody certification to supply wood to CityCenter. Additionally, the development supported numerous FSC-certified companies, including:
"As far as a project that has driven the national demand for FSC chain of custody suppliers and products, CityCenter is it — and it deserves to be recognized for that," said Terry Campbell of Forest Products Solutions, in Portland, Ore., and a Designing & Building with FSC Awards jurist.
The FSC is an international non-profit organization established to promote responsible management, distribution and use of timber throughout the world. The FSC-US is recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) rating system as the world’s only credible organization to certify responsible forestry (Source: The Forest Stewardship Council).
CityCenter is a joint venture between MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) and Infinity World Development Corp, a subsidiary of Dubai World. Created with a vision to bring a new level of environmental consciousness to the world-famous Strip, CityCenter will be one of the world's largest sustainable developments upon opening this December, from design and construction to operations and guest amenities. An extraordinary urban resort destination brought to life by eight world-renowned architects, the urban resort destination already has achieved four LEED® Gold certifications for ARIA Resort's hotel tower, ARIA's convention center and theater, Vdara Hotel & Spa, and Crystals retail and entertainment district. CityCenter is poised to achieve a combination of LEED Gold and Silver ratings throughout its remaining elements including Las Vegas’ first Mandarin Oriental and Veer Towers, the community’s only, strictly residential buildings; and The Harmon (opening late 2010), a 400-room luxury boutique hotel. CityCenter is driving green economies of scale in multiple industry segments, paving the way for other entities to build and operate sustainably.
