EcoStreets

LEEDing Sustainability: Union Park in Las Vegas

Photo courtesy of City of Las Vegas

Wish granted: Las Vegas is in the second stage of building a LEED Neighborhood Development, Union Park, right in the heart of downtown. Located on Grand Central Parkway and Bonneville, Union Park will include several Newland residential developments, the Smith Center for Performing Arts, the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, and some commercial spaces.

I wonder if they’re accepting applications for their apartments?

Joking aside, Union Park promises to be a shining example of sustainability in the midst of the silver coined desert. In fact, this $6 billion development is the exact opposite of traditional models – grow fast, grow big, grow out. Should this succeed, hopefully the city will have incentives to renovate other neighborhoods. Unfortunately, idiosyncratic of local politics, the City of Las Vegas does not handle the university neighborhood. But, that’s a different phone call for another day.

“Union Park will be a place you work, live and play,” said Scott Adams, Director of Business Development at the City of Las Vegas. The point of Union Park, he added is to “densify and diversify.”

That means they are working towards a more compact model that incorporates walkability – walking to work, school, entertainment and home.

“Because of the economic recession, we’re seeing a lot [residential] prices dropping, so you’re going to see more people actually living downtown,” said Adams.

One feature is its connectedness to the ACE Rapid Transit line I’ve been blathering on about. This bus/light rail system has its own dedicated median all around downtown which means no delays because of traffic and faster service. Also, it just looks cool. Union Park will be right by the ACE stop.

Adams says this is only small part of a region wide plan to green the city. That includes more BRTs, more compact development, and using sustainable practices.

So far, Union Park has earned 62 LEED points.

Some other key points from their master plan:

· WALKABILITY: The compact, walkable, and mixed use nature of Union Park with easy access to new and efficient public transportation – via the BRT line on Grand Central Ave. – will result in significantly fewer cars. Traffic engineers estimate this savings to be about 1/3 fewer car trips per day. When compared to a suburban development of the same size, this means that Union Park will have about 13 million fewer car trips (6.5 million fewer cars) per year going to and from the site.

· ENERGY: Electric and gas energy savings are enough to power approximately 2,100 standard U.S. homes per year for the life of the project. That’s equivalent to eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from 4,450 cars per year for the life of the project.

· WATER: The potable indoor water saved by the use of efficient water fixtures in the restrooms, baths, kitchens and laundries of project buildings will save approximately 124 million gallons per year. This is enough to supply water to about 500 standard U.S. homes for a year or fill 6,200 swimming pools.