When you think of the Las Vegas strip with its miles of neon lights and huge television screens you wouldn't associate it with being green. However things on the strip are changing. The Palazzo resort opened at the end of 2007 without a lot of fanfare. That changed last week as the US Green Building Council presented the developer Las Vegas Sands Corp. with a Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certificate at an award ceremony, making the Palazzo resort the largest “green” building in the world. The $1.9-billion resort is more than four times bigger than any other LEED certified building to date.

The Las Vegas Sands Corp. also received "The Energy Innovator's Award" which recognizes energy-efficient and/or renewable energy technologies, services, or policies pertaining to new construction at the same ceremony.