The Green Key Eco-Rating Program, the largest international program evaluating sustainable hotel operations, has awarded twelve MGM Resorts International properties a distinguished Green Key designation for “green” business operations.
The resorts are the first in Nevada and Michigan to receive Green Key ratings, which are designed specifically for evaluating commitment to sustainable “green” operations in the hospitality industry. Green Key evaluates hotels on a scale of one to five Keys, with five Keys being the highest ranking. Results are based on a comprehensive evaluation of the hotel’s sustainability efforts.
“This is the first time that our operations have been placed under this kind of microscope and the first time that our Company’s everyday commitment to ‘green’ practices have been formally validated,” said Cindy Ortega, Senior Vice President of Energy and Environmental Services for MGM Resorts International. “We see this rating as quite an accomplishment, as it acknowledges our Company’s commitment to sustainability, while allowing guests the ability to let environmental stewardship play a role in selecting a hotel when they travel. Ratings like Green Key offer real confidence in those choices.”
The MGM Resorts International properties earning “5 Keys” are ARIA and Vdara at CityCenter. “4 Keys” designations went to: Bellagio, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand Las Vegas, The Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York-New York and MGM Grand Detroit. Circus Circus Las Vegas earned a “3 Keys” designation.
Following the philosophy of Conserve Today, Protect Tomorrow, MGM Resorts’ approach to sustainability focuses on five goals – natural resources conservation, sustainable construction and renovation, waste management, sustainable procurement, and communication and education. This strategic framework of raising environmental awareness and promoting sustainability forms the platform from which MGM Resorts is fundamentally changing the way its properties do business.
Through its innovative efforts in 2009, MGM Resorts’ properties diverted more than 20,000 tons of material from landfills. Content ranged from thousands of wine corks, to hundreds of gallons of hydraulic oil used by the high-tech, revolving stage in the MGM Grand’s KÀ Theater. The Company also makes significant contributions in more mainstream recycling efforts and represents about 21 percent of the glass recycled in Clark County, Nevada.
Other recent initiatives at MGM Resorts International include retrofitting lighting with energy-saving fixtures, implementation of Variable Frequency Drives which conserve energy, upgrading boilers to more efficient models, landscaping with drought-tolerant plants and installing water-saving, low-flow plumbing fixtures.
About Green Key
The Green Key Eco-Rating Program is the first of its kind to rank, certify and inspect hotels and resorts in North America based on their commitment to sustainable “green” operations. The program was originally developed for the Hotel Association of Canada by a leading environmental engineering firm. Designed specifically for hotel operations, the Green Key Eco-Rating Program is a comprehensive environmental audit that will allow each participating property to benefit on several fronts – cost savings, increased bookings from environmentally conscious consumers and meeting planners and responsible corporate citizenry. In the United States Green Key is a joint partnership between the Hotel Association of Canada and LRA Worldwide, Inc.; for more information, visit www.GreenKeyGlobal.com.
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