Facebook/Bleutech Park Las Vegas
- Las Vegas is set to get the world’s first "smart mini-city."
- The mini-city, called "Bleutech Park" after the real estate investment trust that’s funding it, will break ground in December and cost $7.5 billion.
- Bleutech Park will run exclusively on renewable energy sources and is expected to take six years to complete.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Sin City is about to get a little smarter — and greener. The world’s first "smart mini-city" is coming to Vegas, baby.
Dubbed Bleutech Park, the $7.5 billion real estate project is scheduled to break ground this December and will take approximately six years to come to fruition. Funded by real estate investment trust Bleutech Park Properties Inc., the mini-city will run on renewable energy sources — which means it’s 100 percent grid-independent — and feature net-zero buildings that are comprised of energy-generating and breathable materials: The façades will utilize photovoltaic glass, which converts light into electricity, while the flooring capitalizes on the energy produced by people for things like heating and cooling.
The cutting-edge structures will be balanced by a network of "supertrees" which promise to reduce imported water consumption by 95 percent and also improve biodiversity. The mini-city will boast on-site water purification and waste treatment, as well as localized air cleaning. The company describes Bleutech Park as a "new high-tech biome" in the desert valley that aims to change the future of design with "amazing technologies."
Bleutech aims to push the envelope when it comes to construction of the city itself. Unmanned drones will tackle those hard-to-reach places, and construction workers will don wearable tech. Meanwhile, robotics and biometrics will inform the state-of-the-art security system.
"Bleutech believes in the rise of digitization and robotics in construction as this will increase productivity and efficiency. Wearable technology will increase workplace safety, particularly in heavy lifting and repetition," said Bleutech executive Bertrand Dano. (The company plans to create more than 25,000 positions for the project — so no need to worry about robots stealing jobs just yet).
Green technology and innovation aside, Bleutech said it is also tackling the affordable housing crisis. In addition to the luxury housing, offices, retail spaces, hotels and entertainment venues — the mini-city will also include "Workforce Housing" for people who serve the community (nurses, teachers, firemen, police officers etc.).
While it may seem too good to be true — indeed many of the proposed technologies are still in their infancy — we suspect someone thought the same thing about Las Vegas before it was built.
NOW WATCH: Most hurricanes that hit the US come from the same exact spot in the world
See Also:
- 8 of the most elite golf clubs in the New York City area, where the wealthy pay as much as $1 million in joining fees
- The wealth gap between generations in the US has nearly doubled in the past 20 years — and the Great Recession, an unaffordable housing market, and astronomic student-loan debt are to blame
- Celebrities from Mark Wahlberg to NBA star Anthony Davis are obsessed with a diamond-studded, $96,900 rainbow Rolex — and its value has tripled since last year’s release
DON’T MISS: The 7 biggest misconceptions people have about Las Vegas, from someone who lives there
Source: Business Insider –