Slot Machine Sustainability Standard Development

Updated July 25, 2008

Need for the Standard:                  Slot machines use a significant amount of electricity and materials so a standard that makes it easy to define the sustainability of a slot machine will make it easy for manufacturers to promote and sell more sustainable slot machines and for slot machine buyers to specify more sustainable slot machines when making purchases of slot machines.

Objectives of the Standard:           To provide a frame work for market driven increase in sustainability of slot machines. This includes energy use and emission reductions as well as the use of more sustainable materials in the manufacture of slot machines.

Participants in the Development of the Initial Draft Standard:

Eric Hansel - EGM Green, Dean McClain, Paul Magno - GLI, Michael Arny - Leonardo Academy

Contest to Kick Off the Development of the Standard

Goal of Contest:                           To kick off the use the Draft Sustainability Standard for Slot Machines.

Description of Contest:                  Slot machine manufacturers will be invited to compete for recognition as the greenest slot machine manufacturer using the Draft Sustainability Standard for Slot Machines as the sustainability achievement metric.

                                                        The First, Second and Third place slot machines will be recognized.

Sponsorship Opportunities:           Media Sponsor

o   Actively cover contest and standard development process

Levels of Sponsorship: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum:

·         Slot Machine Buyer Sponsors    

o     Commit to buying 100, 200, 300, 400 of winning slot machines

o     Financial contribution: $25,50, 75, 100 k

·         Slot Machine Manufacturer Sponsors   

o   Financial contribution: $25,50, 75, 100 k

·         Other Sponsors  

o  Financial contribution: $25, 50, 75, 100 k

About Leonardo Academy:   

Leonardo Academy is a charitable nonprofit (501c3) non-profit organization dedicated to advancing sustainability, so donation to support this project are charitable contribution. Leonardo Academy is dedicated to advancing sustainability and putting the power of the competitive market to work on improving the environment. Leonardo Academy is a Think and Do Tank that helps develop new approaches, methods, metrics and standards to advance sustainability and helps companies, organizations, families and individuals implement sustainability and document their achievements. Leonardo Academy is an ANSI Accredited Standard Developer. Leonardo Academy played a central role in the development of LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) as a USGBC contractor working on LEED-EB from 2001 to the present, managing the LEED-EB pilot program and conducting all LEED-EB certification application reviews from or January 2002 to September 2007. Michael Arny, President of Leonardo Academy has worked on LEED-EB from the first development meeting in 2000 to the present. He was the Chair of the USGBC LEED^® for Existing Buildings Committee and a member of the LEED Steering Committee from 2001-2005. Leonardo Academy is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council & CERES.

I have been working for the past few months leading a team made up of some amazingly smart and incitefull people to develop an open source scale for slot machine sustainability.  Our ultimate goal is to shave 25% or more off of the energy bill associated with running slot machines.  The group is comprised of Paul Magno, VP and co-owner of Gaming Labs International….Dean McClain, a long time gaming industry professional with experience running a casino and a slot manufacturer……and finally Michael Arny, President of The Leonardo Academy( non-profit Green think and do tank).  Michael was also the chair for the USGBC’s LEED for Existing Buildings committee for 5 years.

The slot sustainability scale will be based on the LEED scales, so as to keep the scoring consistent with an allready accepted standard.   We will recruit both operators(casinos) and manufacturers as well as a media sponsor to follow the progress of the contest.

By sponsoring this contest, you are not only committing your company to sustainability at the point of sale, but you are also helping to introduce new revenue streams to the gaming industry.

I will be posting the rules and the sponsorship opportunities soon.  Please contact me with inquiries.

Have Fun!

e

Eco-Friendly Hotel in Manhatten

We have been working on something for quite a while and I would like to blog about it now.  The Eco-Poker Tour is the only Poker Tour to not only highlight the poker, but also the local natural wonders.  Each tournament will be played in a land based casino…with the Final Table taking place on location at one of the local natural wonders(ex..play in San Diego, and hold the Final Table on the beach in La Jolla).

The Eco-Poker Tour will show people how it is easy to take a family vacation with exciting things to do for all.  Casinos, and night life for the grown-ups….and Fun, inexpensive, outdoor activities for the entire family.  Whether you like horse back riding, white water rafting, scuba diving, sky-diving, hiking, or mountain climbing….The Eco-Poker Tour will show you where and how to find that fun.

Much more on The Eco-Poker Tour and some other cool Green initiatives throughout the casino industry.

Have Fun!

e

Just before I left Vegas last week, I had some drinks with a couple of buddies.  Jeff madsen, who finished in the top 100 of the Main Event….along with Dutch Boyd, Layne Flack, and the # 20 finisher Brandon Cantu.  We also hung out with a weathergirl and a traffic girl from the local NBC station.

Now Brandon should be psyched….he had an amazing year, and a million $ win earlier…..but when he showed up after busting out, he was just bummed out.  This is the sign of a true champion.  This guy just finished almost a week of grueling play, and no sleep…..and after busting out, all he wanted was to have finished in the final 9….always reaching for more and more.

This is a lesson that we can all take with us as we work, play, hang out with family.  No matter what, exellence!

Have fun!

e

egm_tourny-finalmsI just came back from Vegas, and wrapped up our booth at The WSOP.  As you already know, the table that we made for The WSOP, an Eco-Friendly tournament poker table, will be given to the WSOP Main Event Champion.  What most of you don’t know is that we also gave one signed by over 50 poker celebrities to The Queen of Hearts Foundation to be auctioned off at the 1st Poker Gives event.

We have also given everyone out there the opportunity to win the same table by entering at either www.executivegamingmonthly.com or at www.egmgreen.com.

You can also purchase one of these unique and Eco-Friendly casino tables by visiting www.egmgreen.com.  If you don’t see a design that you are into, just email me at eric@egmgreen.com and let me know what you want your Eco-Friendly table to look like.

Have fun,

Eric

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Gore, the Nobel Prize-winning crusader on climate change, challenged the United States on Thursday to commit to producing all U.S. electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind power in 10 years.

“Our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges — the economic, environmental and national security crises,” the former Democratic vice president and presidential candidate in 2000 told a meeting in Washington.

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“So today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years,” he said.

Gore also took aim at the Bush administration’s policies on climate change, without mentioning the president by name. Advocates of tougher measures to combat global warming caused by carbon emissions have long said President George W. Bush has done too little about climate change.

Gore, who faced a smattering of protesters rallying against big government outside the hall, likened the fight against climate change to the successful challenge in the 1960s to send humans to the Moon within the decade.

Gore, who starred in the Academy Award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” about the perils of global warming, also disparaged goals set too far in the future.

“A political promise to do something 40 years from now is universally ignored because everyone knows it’s totally meaningless. Ten years is about the maximum time that we as a nation can hold a steady aim and hit our target.”

Bush has opposed economy-wide limits on the emission of climate-warming carbon dioxide. Last week, he and other leaders of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations offered a non-binding pledge to cut emissions 50 percent by 2050 — 42 years from now.

“WE MUST MOVE FIRST”

The Bush administration and the other rich nations said they could not meet this goal without participation from developing economies like China and India.

Gore, noting that an international climate change treaty is expected to be concluded by the end of the next U.S. president’s first year in office, questioned any delay on combating global warming.

“It is a great error to say that the United States must wait for others to join us in this matter,” he said. “In fact, we must move first, because that is the key to getting others to follow; and because moving first is in our own national interest.”

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he supported Gore’s challenge, and said he would fast-track investments in renewable energy like solar, wind and biofuels if elected. “It’s a strategy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and cannot be outsourced, and one that will leave our children a world that is cleaner and safer,” he said.

Obama’s rival in the November election, Republican candidate John McCain, also backed Gore’s plan. “If the vice president says it’s do-able, I believe it’s do-able,” he told reporters.

Gore said he had had conversations with Obama, McCain, and with Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate.

CruiseCarter

 WILLLIAMSBURG — Step inside the newly rebuilt Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel and you’ll find the typical blackjack tables, slot machines and loosen-your-belt buffet. But your eyes — and nose — may detect unusual features.

During daytime, half the casino’s lighting comes from skylights. Drinks are served only in glasses: no cans or bottles. Some gamblers are smoking, but the air isn’t thick with smoke. And, outside, the roof of Bourbons 72 restaurant sports day lilies, ferns and leafy hostas.

Turtle Creek, near Traverse City, bills itself a “green” casino, designed to make the lightest possible footprint on the landscape without sacrificing profitability. Its owners, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, are among a growing number of casino builders and operators interested in environmental stewardship.

Even in an industry closely identified with devil-may-care gluttony, going green makes business sense as consumers increasingly demand sustainable products and services, said Stephen Knowles, principal designer for Turtle Creek. His Minneapolis-based firm has worked with a number of tribes on casino projects with eco-friendly aspects.

The trend is reaching even casinos in Las Vegas, long criticized by environmentalists for its extravagant use of natural resources.

In April, the Palazzo Las Vegas resort became the world’s largest building project to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certificate from the U.S. Green Building Council. CityCenter, a resort complex under construction in Las Vegas, is among at least 10 casino-related projects nationwide seeking certification.

Tax incentives and the prospect of lower electric bills were big motives, said Gordon Absher, spokesman for MGM Mirage, which is developing and co-owns CityCenter.

“And from a social perspective, it’s the right thing to do.”

The 360,000-square-foot, $116 million Turtle Creek opened Tuesday and replaces a smaller casino that will be torn down and mostly recycled.

“As native people, we feel an obligation to protect Mother Earth in everything that we do,” said Robert Kewaygoshkum, chairman of the nearly 4,000-member Grand Traverse Band.

Going green boosted the price of developing Turtle Creek about 10 percent, but tribal leaders expect to save money in the long run.

“The sustainability mind-set is affecting all kinds of choices, including what places you want to visit for entertainment,” said designer Knowles.

For instance, in nearby Petoskey, when the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians opened a casino resort a year ago in previously open farmland, it planted prairie grass and native tree species and preserved wildlife habitat on the property, tribal chairman Frank Ettawageshik said. The long-range plan is to power the resort at least partly with wind or solar energy.

Casinos typically face a big obstacle to LEED certification: the need to satisfy customers who smoke. LEED requires separate smoking areas and systems to contain and remove smoke and monitor air quality, said Ashley Katz, spokeswoman for the green building council.

Absher said those requirements make the casino the only section of the 76-acre, mixed-use CityCenter project that MGM doesn’t expect will qualify for LEED certification, despite the casino’s other sustainable features.

“We will meet all the other standards,” he said. “But we cannot overcome this. Smoking is something that is very important to our customer base at this point.”

It’s especially hard to limit tobacco use in a tribal casino, given its iconic status in American Indian culture. But Turtle Creek developers tried to do the next best thing by installing a purifying system.

Outdoor air is pumped continuously into the gambling area through vents in the raised floor. Smoky air rises to the ceiling and is piped through filters, cleansed and sent back outside.

“When you’re standing next to someone who is smoking, you’ll smell it a bit,” said Steven Feringa, tribal architect. “But the majority of the smoke is going to shoot up and away from you.”

Whether Turtle Creek qualifies for LEED or not, the tribe used the green building council’s checklist for guidance.

Senior construction manager Andrew La Pointe noted slot machines that use half the electricity of conventional models, roads and parking lots made from recycled materials, and low-energy, long-lasting light bulbs.

“With a little luck, I’ll be close to retired before we need to change them,” said LaPointe, 47.

The resort has its own well and a sewage treatment system that purifies 90,000 gallons daily before returning the water to the ground almost as clean as before.

It also uses nature’s cleanup crew: trees and other plants. The 2,400-square-foot “green roof” over one section of the building will filter storm water contaminants and provide insulation. In slight depressions on the grounds will be about 100 black willows. They’ll be clones of an ancient giant black willow in Traverse City. The species absorbs toxins from runoff before it reaches the groundwater, says David Milarch, founder of the Champion Tree Project.

If the trend catches on, green casinos could be ideal showplaces for environmental stewardship, said Anne Woiwode, director of the Sierra Club’s Michigan chapter.

“One of the challenges with energy efficiency and green technology is showing people how doable and beneficial it is,” Woiwode said. “You’ll likely be getting that message through to a heck of a lot more people in an entertainment setting than you will in a green office building

ResortPalazzo Palazzo  Hotel Casino named largest LEED-certified project in the world. Will the Luxury Condos be “green” like condominium properties at CityCenter?