Vegas PBS Educational Technology Campus

Very cool building! Came here for two days of professional development with CCSD.
The focus was on tech, which was fitting for the location seeing as how it also houses the virtual high school.
Unfortuantely, throughout our visit we had several tech issues: wifi was spotty, laptops we were provided had major login issues, and devices generally experienced a lot of delays. This was especially frustrating as the training is to prepare us for going one-​to-​one with devices with our students– this was a good exposure to the many issues that can derail tech-​based teaching.
That being said, staff here were exceptionally helpful and friendly, attentive to the difficulties and attempting to repair or alleviate them as needed.
Building itself is LEED gold certified, which is impressive. Information is posted in halls to read up on it, but the building itself is attractive and functional: exterior is nice, many windows, reserved parking for hybrid vehicles, and greenery and plant landscaping between buildings and in nooks/​courtyard spaces.
Bathrooms feature low-​flow toilets with the green flush handles to specify liquid or solid waste. Was surprised that the bathrooms had papertowels rather than relying on Dyson blade dryers, or some similar product.
Overall pleasant experience. Interested in touring the PBS section of the building on a future visit.
More LEED building info from posters in the hallway:
–building designed so 75% of people inside are able to have a view/​natural light
–parking lot, roof, and exterior done in white/​off white colors to lessen «heat island effect»
–Uses dolphin water filtration system (whatever this means)
–water can be harvested from the roof?!

I’ve attended multiple meetings and networking events here as a participant and as a vendor. The facility is very nice, clean and has an excellent balance of technology and practicality. Parking is ample and the staff has always been more than helpful and professional.

I had the chance to have lunch and take a tour of the Vegas PBS Educational Technology Campus yesterday and the pace is amazing. This is the most green PBS building in the US – LEED Gold. The technology involved in the building is fascinating. A concrete parking lot instead of blacktop to reflect the sun and keep the area cooler. Medium sized mesh metal screens about 2 feet away from the window glass. This allows lots of light to come through, but keeps the rays from heating the glass and making cooling of the building harder. Louvers on the windows to reflect sun away from the building – at an angle specifically placed for this latitude – again allowing light through but helping keep the building cooler.
The building is divided into two sections. One side is the Clark County School District’s Educational Media Services (EMS), Vegas Virtual Online Education and Clark County School District’s Virtual High School. The other half of the building is for the Vegas PBS studios and their support for various community programs. There’s also a section on the PBS side that has a computer center that has all the blueprints for every public school in Clark County so emergency personnel could access that information in a crisis. It’s a fascinating set up.
The building was designed to withstand a magnitude 6 or 7 earthquake that comes along every 10,000 years or so in Las Vegas. The studio side is built in four distinct parts and the stairs all have reinforced cables attached in several directions. All this is one reason why it took 10 years to plan, design, and raise the money to build and complete the facility. It is fascinating!
Finally, we got into the studios. It’s one large area with several sets for different programs that originate from Vegas PBS. We then went into the control room where all of this comes together and saw the adjacent sound room.
Whenever I watch programs on PBS, I’ll remember the tour and it will bring back memories of where the program originates.
Vegas PBS is outstanding both for the services to the Clark County School District and for its programming. Great tour, Tom! Thanks!