Happy Hour | 07/27/11

Rivers Casino

My stepson, Bo, and I attended the Rivers Casino opening last week (House: $50. Us: $0). I’m obviously not much of a gambler, but was intrigued when I heard that the new casino was going for LEED certification for its facility—the first in the nation likely to get it, says Greg Carlin, CEO of Rivers. (A few in Vegas are housed in LEED buildings but the casinos themselves are not LEED as they allow smoking.) The most obvious sign of the greenness here are the live walls covered with golden pothos (Devil’s ivy) that climbs toward skylights (grow lights kick on after midnight). Unlike older casinos, Rivers isn’t afraid to bring in some natural light and provide outdoor patios accessed through NanaWalls. Besides the organic design elements, Rivers has these eco features: low-flow plumbing fixtures, sensor-controlled faucets, a single-stream recycling plan, low-VOC paints and finishes, electric car-charging stations, native and drought-resistant plantings, LEED light fixtures, and efficient A/C. I guess you could say they’re betting on our collective future.

—Jan Parr

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