September 14, 2009

Contact: Stephanie Steinberg, Chairwoman

                Smoke-Free Gaming,  5994 S. Holly St., #153,

                Greenwood Village, CO 80111

                Website: www.SmokeFreeGaming.org  

                Email: SmokeFreeGaming@yahoo.com

                303-819-3131 cell

Las Vegas Strip Casino Project

Gets  Certified 'Green'

Despite Allowing Smoking 

The most recent casino project on the Las Vegas Strip has announced today that it has received gold-level certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) even though smoking will be allowed in its 150,000 square foot casino and in other areas of the project when it opens later this year.

The CityCenter project, which is comprised of a casino, hotels, condominiums, retail and entertainment venues, etc., received its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at the gold level for being a "green" project. 

"The U.S. Green Building Council continues to deceive the public by allowing smoking in these so-called "green" projects. There is no justification for exposing the employees and the public to air that is highly contaminated by the carcinogens in secondhand smoke," stated Stephanie Steinberg, chairwoman of Smoke-Free Gaming. "There is absolutely nothing "green" about the "grey" in secondhand smoke. 

Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals including arsenic (used in pesticides), lead (formerly found in paint), chromium (used to make steel), and cadmium (used to make batteries).

The USGBC has continually ignored Smoke-Free Gaming's demands that these casino projects abide by the organization's own required smoking restrictions. Yet, it continues to certify smoking-permitted projects. Smoking will be allowed in the casino, hotel rooms, condominiums and in other areas of the project.   The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino on the Strip which also allows smoking throughout the property, received Silver LEED certification from the USGBC in April 2008.

Smoke-Free Gaming advised the USGBC that smoking that would be taking place in these casino projects. An email reply was received on July 12,  2007 from Tom Hicks, Vice President of LEED which states:

"Based on LEED's prerequisites, projects with indoor smoking cannot be LEED certified. While we appreciate your interest in these specific projects, we are not able to comment on specific projects until they complete their submissions."

Indoor air quality is an important factor in achieving LEED certification. LEED has perquisites for indoor air quality and allowing smoking throughout a project is not an option.

 As a reward for going "green," certified projects in Nevada receive sales tax breaks for "green" purchases and up to 50% property tax abatement for up to 10 years.

Smoke-Free Gaming is an advocacy organization for gaming employees and patrons in support of smoke-free gaming environments. For more information go to  www.SmokeFreeGaming.org

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