Lexus of Las Vegas earned LEED EB Gold certification for implementing sustainable practices around recycling, carpooling, energy management, lighting, and water use reduction. With help from Sustainable Energy Solutions, Lexus established policies and plans to sort recyclables, provide preferred parking for carpoolers, install efficient lighting and sensors, and reduce energy usage by 20%. Employee participation increased for recycling and carpooling programs through educational materials. Lexus also restored native plants at a local nature preserve.

1. Case Study
Lexus of Las Vegas
LEED® EB v 2.0 Certification
Gold Certified
Background Solutions Director of Facilities and the Pur-
Sustainable Energy Solutions (SES) Recycling chasing Administrator spent time
provided project management and Prior to the LEED certification, researching products that met the
energy efficiency services for LLV did not have a comprehensive criteria of the Sustainable Purchas-
Lexus of Las Vegas’ LEED EB recycling program. The challenge ing Program.
certification project which recently consisted of getting employee buy- The Energy System
earned LEED EB Gold Certifica- in. Initially, there was resistance to Upgrades to the EMS were required
tion becoming the first existing flattening cardboard and sorting for the trending requirements as
building in Nevada and the first recyclables. Persistence on the part well as better system control over
Lexus dealership to earn LEED EB of the Director of Facilities as well the chiller plant. CO2 sensors were
Gold. as inclusion of educational materi- installed in heavily occupied spaces
Project goals included developing als into newsletters and signage such as the break room, to insure
plans for recycling, carpooling, helped to overcome these objec- that the indoor air quality was
sustainable purchasing, low mer- tions. As recognition of the impor- maintained at the highest levels.
cury lighting, energy management tance and environmental benefits of Variable speed drives were installed
and water use reduction. recycling took hold, the employees to improve plant efficiency.
SES drafted the policies and plans of LLV pitched in to make the recy- Low Mercury Content Lighting
required as part of the LEED Certi- cling program a success. During the initial introduction of
fication and provided policy devel- Carpooling and Preferred Park- the new purchasing policy, LLV
opment and implementation support ing became victims of “Green Fraud”.
throughout the year and a half im- Preferred Parking allows the em- Lighting manufacturers and ven-
plementation process. Following ployees who are part of the car dors intentionally mislead and
implementation of the sustainable pooling program to park closest to fraudulently advertised their prod-
operations and maintenance prac- the building. People accustomed to ucts as environmentally preferable
tices, Lexus of Las Vegas was noti- getting front row parking grumbled and “eco” friendly. LLV switched
fied by the USGBC of its success- about the preferred parking pro- lighting vendors and have since
ful Gold LEED EB certification in gram; once the monthly newsletter been successfully meeting the crite-
September 2009. began featuring articles explaining ria of the low mercury purchasing
and promoting the Preferred Park- plan.
ing program the grumblings quieted Highlights
down and employees began enjoy- Energy Efficiency
ing the benefits of reducing air pol- Lexus of Las Vegas achieved eight
lution, saving money on gas, and optimize energy performance
getting front row parking. points. The result of the calcula-
Green Cleaning/Sustainable Pur- tions for EA Credit 1 indicates a
chasing 44.35% reduction in energy usage
Getting vendor and service provider (Continued on page 2)
buy-in presented challenges. The
Innovative Ice Storage Plant Solutions

2. Lexus of Las Vegas, LEED® Gold
from comparable buildings. The proximately 10% of the employees Project Facts
overall energy usage for the build- at Lexus of Las Vegas are active
ing has been reduced by over 20% participants in an alternative trans- Project Size
since starting the LEED process. portation program called Club Site: 4.06 acres
Site Restoration Ride. The Southern Nevada Re- Building: 123,500 sf
Lexus of Las Vegas earned two gional Transportation District de- Project Location
points by contracting to restore veloped Club Ride to promote Las Vegas, NV
over 4 acres of land at the Springs alternative transportation in the Project Scope
Preserve in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas region. Bill O’Connor, Manage LEED certification including
Springs Preserve is a 180 acre cul- Director of Facilities, is the Lexus sustainable policy development and
tural and historical attraction con- of Las Vegas Transportation Coor- implementation; energy efficiency as-
sisting of wetlands, restored desert dinator. He took two training sessment and improvements; and docu-
habitat, desert gardens, the Nevada classes and held several Club Ride mentation support.
State Museum (under construc- launch events. He is responsible Savings
tion), educational trails, and build- for the Preferred Parking program Energy Reduction: 20%
ing centers dedicated to environ- and for promoting the many bene- Process Water Reduction: 42%
mental and historical education fits of joining Club Ride to Lexus % of Waste Recycled: 87%
specific to the Las Vegas valley. of Las Vegas employees. Highlights
LLV employees volunteered over Recycling  First LEED EB Gold building cer-
4,000 man hours clearing, planting LLV earned three points for their tified in Nevada.
and weeding at a site selected by recycling plan. Lexus of Las Ve-  First LEED EB Gold Lexus Divi-
the Springs Preserve chief ecolo- gas maintained a 97% (4,524 cubic sion of Toyota.
gist. The Lexus Restoration Site yard) reduction in volume of waste  Earned 53 points overall.
has both the Las Vegas creek (now sent to landfill. One reason this  8 Optimize Energy Points (EAc1)
dry) and the Mormon trail running number is so large is that prior to  2 Points for Land Restoration done
through it. All the plantings are the implementation of the recy- at the Springs Preserve.
native and receive limited, tempo- cling plan cardboard boxes were
 4 Points for the Alternative Trans-
rary irrigation. Beyond the two not flattened and consequently
portation Commuting Plan.
points earned, the LLV employees took up a large volume in each
 Earned all 16 M&R Points.
gained a new sense of community dumpster. Lexus of Las Vegas has
incurred a 10% decrease in cost  Earned Innovation point for proc-
and made a significant contribu-
for waste removal since the imple- ess water use reduction.
tion to future generations.
mentation of the recycling pro-  Earned Innovation point for reduc-
tion in waste transit.
Alternative Transportation gram. In 2007 Republic Services
The LLV Alternative Transporta- made over 312 trips to Lexus to
tion Plan earned four points. Ap- pick up waste. By installing a 16
cy container for recyclables and keep-
ing just one three cy container for trash,
Lexus was able to reduce the number of
transits for hauling to 143 days per
year. That equates to 54% fewer trucks
on the road.
Club Ride Springs Preserve
Sustainable Energy Solutions, LLC
620 S. 18th Street
Sparks, NV 89431
Tel 775-324-3338
Fax 775-324-3398
www.sesnv.com Savings