By Lea Mira, HTN staff writer - 8.3.2025
MGM Resorts International has begun piloting a hybrid cooling tower at the Bellagio Spa Tower in Las Vegas, marking the first such deployment on the Las Vegas Strip. The retrofit, developed in partnership with the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), combines dry and evaporative cooling processes in an effort to significantly reduce water consumption and improve operational efficiency.
According to MGM Resorts, the system is expected to reduce annual water usage by up to 21 million gallons. Roughly 18 million gallons are saved during nine months of the year by operating in dry-cooling mode, which relies on ambient outdoor air instead of evaporation to dissipate heat. An additional 3 million gallons are conserved during the summer months through a newly installed wet cooling tower that operates with improved efficiency alongside the hybrid system, reducing evaporative losses by an estimated 20 to 30 percent.
In desert climates like Southern Nevada, where water resources are under increasing strain, cooling infrastructure is a major contributor to overall consumption. Evaporative cooling is the second-largest source of consumptive water use in the region, accounting for approximately 10 percent of annual water withdrawals from the Colorado River. Conventional cooling towers, which depend on evaporation to reject heat, can consume millions of gallons annually per property. Hybrid systems aim to mitigate this impact by shifting cooling demand to dry methods when temperatures permit, reducing overall water dependency.
The Bellagio initiative is being supported through SNWA’s Water Efficient Technologies Program, which provides financial incentives to commercial and multifamily property owners who adopt water-saving solutions. Michael Bernardo, Enterprise Conservation Manager at SNWA, described the project as a foundational step toward improving water efficiency in Southern Nevada’s business sector and praised MGM Resorts for taking a leadership role in adopting conservation technologies.
For MGM Resorts, the Bellagio pilot reflects a broader approach to resource management that emphasizes piloting new technologies, forming strategic public-private partnerships, and scaling innovations across its portfolio where appropriate. The company has a long-standing commitment to environmental performance, having already conserved over 5.6 billion gallons of water through a combination of infrastructure upgrades, fixture replacements, and outdoor landscaping changes implemented since 2007.
This initiative aligns with MGM’s existing sustainability credentials. The company’s CityCenter properties—most notably Aria Resort & Casino and Vdara—were among the first resorts in Las Vegas to receive LEED Gold certification. These properties incorporated energy- and water-saving systems in both guest-facing areas and behind-the-scenes operations. However, the Bellagio project represents a new focus on HVAC infrastructure, a less visible but highly impactful area of environmental performance.
To date, no other major hospitality operator on the Strip has publicly announced the implementation of hybrid cooling systems. The Venetian Resort’s Palazzo tower earned LEED Silver certification at opening and integrates water-efficient systems, but it has not introduced a hybrid mechanical cooling system. This positions MGM Resorts as an early mover in deploying a solution that may soon be more broadly adopted, especially in light of updated regional regulations. In recent years, SNWA has prohibited the use of new evaporative cooling systems in commercial developments, further reinforcing the need for alternatives that reduce consumptive water use.
Beyond regulatory compliance and conservation benefits, hybrid cooling systems may also deliver long-term cost advantages. By reducing the volume of water used in cooling operations, operators can lower utility bills, decrease exposure to drought-related supply constraints, and improve the overall resilience of building systems. For hospitality operators managing large-scale properties with significant heat loads, those savings can be material.
MGM executives have noted that the system will require a calibration period before it reaches optimal performance. The hybrid tower uses automated controls to switch between dry and wet modes based on real-time temperature and load conditions. According to Michael Gulich, Vice President of Sustainability at MGM Resorts, the goal is to allow the controls to “learn” over time, optimizing cooling performance while minimizing water use.
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The hybrid system’s performance will be closely monitored throughout its first full year of operation. If successful, it may inform future retrofits at other MGM properties both in Las Vegas and in other markets where water conservation is a growing concern.
Although still in its pilot phase, the Bellagio installation is illustrative of a larger industry shift toward infrastructure investments that deliver both operational and environmental returns. As water scarcity intensifies and climate-related risks continue to shape business planning, the ability to manage core building systems more efficiently—without compromising comfort or reliability—may increasingly define competitive advantage in hospitality real estate.
With this project, MGM Resorts is not only testing a new piece of technology—it is also testing a new model for addressing resource constraints at scale. Whether hybrid cooling towers become standard practice remains to be seen, but this early investment could set the tone for what comes next on the Strip and beyond.