By Mary Mazzoni, Triple Pundit

Sports were an underlying theme at the 2019 3BL Forum just outside Washington, D.C., this fall. As hundreds of business leaders convened to discuss what?s next in the brands taking stands movement, the hometown Washington Nationals battled it out against the Houston Astros in the 2019 World Series.

Speakers donned caps and led the crowd in cheers for the home team?and, as it turned out, it paid off. The Nats defeated the Astros on the first night of the Forum, tying the series 3-3 and forcing a Game 7 faceoff?where they came away with a decisive 6-2 win, claiming the first World Series title in franchise history.

But the Nationals? upset victory wasn?t the only reason we heard so much about sports while discussing the rise of corporate, employee and consumer activism. Sports teams, leagues and franchises are, of course, businesses?and in many ways, they have everything any business could want: unbridled fan engagement and fierce loyalty that lasts a lifetime.

?Sports, culture and the arts are true common denominators in our society and throughout the world,? Kevin Martinez, vice president of corporate citizenship for ESPN, said at the Forum.

As de-facto cultural leaders of their hometowns, often with pockets of fans that stretch across the country and around the world, sports franchises are in a unique position to leverage their clout to influence public discourse long after the final whistle. Increasingly, sports stakeholders are taking up this mantle with pride, moving beyond the game to engage fans, players and communities in making the world a better place?including support for social and environmental change.

At the Forum, Alicia Chin, senior manager of social impact and growth initiatives for the National Hockey League, shared just one of these case studies?which can serve as an example not only for the sports sector, but for any business looking to take a stand for a brighter future.

The NHL: An untold story of sustainability

It has been 10 years since the NHL began its sustainability journey in earnest, but its work remains largely under the radar. Still, taking a stand for positive environmental impact makes sense for an organization like the NHL?which depends on cold weather at a time when global temperature rise is altering when, where and how games can be played.

?People always ask us, ?Why does NHL care about the environment??? Chin said at the Forum. ?But if you think about it, our sport was born on frozen ponds, and as the climate continues to change, access to those ponds decreases. Similarly, we play in a giant refrigerator: A lot of energy is required for us to play on ice, as well as water, so we have a responsibility to reduce our impact and continue to make sure that our sport can be played for future generations.?

The NHL was the first North American professional sports league to issue sustainability reports including a carbon footprint, and it has offset that carbon footprint for three consecutive seasons.

Moving forward, the league is going beyond engagement with its professional franchises to help community ice rinks across the U.S. decrease their environmental impact and costs, ensuring longevity for the long term.

?Many of these community rinks are 20 to 30 years old. Their infrastructure is really outdated,? Chin explained. ?To help community rinks continue to stay open, we are taking those best practices that our arenas have adopted and translating them to the community rink space.?

?Particularly with the Montreal Protocol Kigali amendment kicking in, where HFCs are being phased out, refrigerants are becoming a massive issue for our industry,? she continued. ?So, we are investing in helping rink operators and owners understand how they can invest in new environmental sustainability technology.?

Through its Greener Rinks Initiative, the NHL launched a multiyear partnership with the chemical company Chemours to provide sustainable refrigerants to community rinks?and the program has already evaluated the impact of more than 4,800 rinks across North America.  ?Again, this is all about helping these rinks stay open, because our goal is to continue to increase access to our sport,? Chin said.

Can sustainability boost inclusion?

(Image: Alicia Chin of the NHL (center) speaks at the 2019 3BL Forum alongside Kevin Martinez of ESPN (right) and Roger McClendon of the Green Sports Alliance.) 

The fact that hockey is a sport historically dominated by white people is well known?and the butt of plenty of bad jokes. But Chin and her team hope that the NHL?s drive toward environmental and social sustainability can help to get new fans, players and communities interested.

?We also think about how sustainability can help hockey become a more inclusive sport,? Chin said at the Forum. As part of several initiatives aimed at increasing inclusion within hockey, the NHL?s Learn to Play program disburses used equipment and grants free ice time to families who otherwise couldn?t afford to get their kids involved in sport.

?Obviously diversity and inclusion is an important issue?particularly, I would say, for hockey. We want to reduce those barriers to our game: Do people feel welcome in the sport? Do they have access to places to play? And can they afford it??

(Image: Roger McClendon, executive director of the Green Sports Alliance, on stage at the 2019 3BL Forum.) 

What?s next for sports and sustainability?

It?s not hard to find examples of sports industry stakeholders that engage consistently with their communities around the environment and social change. But the sports sector is still only scratching the surface of the impact they can have, says Roger McClendon, executive director of the Green Sports Alliance (GSA), a convening organization for sports and sustainability.

?The power of sport, in my mind, is really under leveraged,? McClendon said at the Forum. Given the increasing social and environmental challenges we face?from the climate crisis to increasing social division that?s driving racial and socioeconomic tensions worldwide?it?s time for sports to tap into its true potential, McClendon said.

The GSA?s Playing for the Next Generation campaign focuses on fighting climate change, improving communities, and engaging youth in both sports and driving positive impact. Its 10th annual Green Sports Summit, to be held at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in June 2020, focuses on the future of the campaign?and sports and sustainability more broadly.

?There’s a lifetime loyalty with teams, but fans increasingly want their teams to do more to engage with the community and to leave a better footprint than where they started,? he told business leaders at the Forum. ?We can’t be satisfied based on where we stand today. Given the crises we’re in, we have to do more.?

Image credits: Unsplash/Jimmy Conover, Flickr/pmonaghan and 3BL Media 

Read the full article here.

The post The Sports Sector Takes a Stand For Sustainability: What?s Next? appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By GreenSportsBlog

If the Green-Sports movement is going to truly make a difference on climate change in the brief amount of time available¹, there will need to be many more Sierra Quitiquits, and fast.

She checks three important boxes:

1. ATHLETE: An accomplished, high profile freeskier, Quitiquit has been featured in popular Warren Miller extreme skiing movies.

2. CLIMATE ADVOCATE: Quitiquit is also a Protect Our Winters (POW) athlete ambassador who speaks out on behalf of climate action in a variety of forums.

3. UNDERSTANDS THE URGENCY: She is not going to accept a ?steady and quiet? approach from the sports world on climate action. I saw this firsthand during the Q&A at ?Playing On Thin Ice,? a panel I moderated during Climate Week NYC in September.

GreenSportsBlog: Sierra, talk to us about your journey to becoming a freeskier, a POW athlete and a staunch advocate for meaningful action on climate yesterday.

Sierra Quitiquit: Thanks, Lew. Skiing is definitely in my blood. My grandfather was a back country skier in Alaska. My dad was a ski racer at the University of Utah. Growing up in Park City, Utah, my brothers and I naturally became skiers.

Sierra Quitiquit (Photo credit: Field Day Studios)

GSB: Naturally! What was your specialty?

Sierra: Speed was my thing, so I became a downhill racer at first. Injuries ultimately held me back from being a top competitive downhiller. So, I gravitated to freeskiing, skiing natural terrain, not on a course. Just the open mountain. In my late teens, early 20s, I worked at a ski shop while trying to find sponsorship for my skiing. Spyder signed me on when I was 22. Then I connected with Warren Miller?s production company?

GSB: ?The producers of iconic freeskiing movies and videos.

Sierra: That?s right. From my first shoot in Iceland, the team was awesome to work with. This led to more endorsements and opportunities to build my platform by talking with media. The environment was something I wanted to talk about almost from the beginning.

A brief clip from Sierra Quitiquit?s first Warren Miller film, ?Ticket to Ride? (2013)

GSB: Why the environment?

Sierra: I?ve pretty much always been in touch with the environment. I started an organization when I was 17 called Skiers Against Global Warming ? I thought skiers should be part of the solution of climate. We didn?t get very far then but  signing on with Protect Our Winters (POW), which I did about four years ago, was a natural progression for me.

GSB: I?ll say!

Sierra: I mean it was impossible not to notice that the ski industry was being negatively impacted by global warming. Aside from the obvious problems that go with this, one thing people don?t realize is that a low snow, climate change-shortened ski season makes it tougher to get sponsorships ? which are necessary for us to compete ? especially for women skiers.

It?s also impossible not to notice how the ski industry is complicit in the climate problem.

GSB: How so?

Sierra: My job as a professional skier now is to produce media. We try to make it look like winter wonderland out there. More and more, that requires faking it because there?s no snow when we show up at a site. So we have to use camera tricks.

On one hand you want to be a good ambassador for your sponsors, the resorts and the locations.

On the other, looking at the bigger picture, by pretending we?re living in a world of abundant snowfall while global warming has significantly lessened the amount of snow is a lie.

Honestly, the whole thing has made me feel really empty.

GSB: What did you do to deal with the emptiness?

Sierra: I decided to use my platform as a freeskier to advocate for climate action through POW.

GSB: How did that make you feel?

Sierra: POW gave me the rootedness, and the passion to make a difference. Advocacy made me feel on point. And it also is something that I?ve always done ? I was student body president in high school and had been involved in fundraising too.

POW is really amazing ? they do such a great job at educating the athlete ambassadors, deploying us to maximize our impact.

It is great, through presentations in our communities, to encourage folks to take small positive environmental actions, but our biggest impact is through advocating for policy changes.

Sierra Quitiquit?s Instagram post from the 2017 People?s Climate March in Washington, D.C., which she attended along with other POW Ambassadors.

Sierra Quitiquit and snowboarder (and POW Ambassador) Travis Rice (Photo credit: Meg Haywood Sullivan)

GSB: What was it like for you to go from being a world class skier to climate activist?

Sierra: It was tough at first.

GSB: How so?

Sierra: The climate of social media lends itself to a lot of negativity. It?s easy for people to sit behind a screen or phone and attack others with whom they disagree or whose agendas offend them. I mean, I got some death threats.

GSB: Death threats? What did you do?

Sierra: I developed a thick skin. And I got more active, participating in climate marches. And I spoke out, calling elected officials and presenting to members of Congress on behalf of climate-related legislation.

GSB: You also spoke out from the audience at ?Playing on Thin Ice: Climate Action Through Sports,? a panel about the effects of global warming on winter sports I moderated during Climate Week NYC in September. During the Q&A, you challenged panelist Omar Mitchell, who has played a key role in the National Hockey League?s sustainability efforts over much of the last decade. Basically, you took the league to task through Omar for not moving aggressively and boldly enough on climate. What did you think about that exchange?

Sierra: Well, Omar said that ?70 percent of league carbon emissions come from energy consumption, as we play in what are essentially giant refrigerators.? And refrigerants are more carbon-intense than CO?. So, the problem is massive.

He emphasized the energy efficiency advances the league is making at their arenas and the education they?re providing to community rink operators. Those are good things but just not nearly good enough. Not when we are in the midst of a climate crisis that requires major changes from big businesses with high profiles like the NHL.

It?s such a big problem but also a big opportunity. It frustrated me that the league isn?t going big on funding solutions to their biggest emissions problem, refrigerants.

So, I told Omar the NHL needed to fund innovation of low carbon refrigerants on a big scale. There?s some great work going on at the Rocky Mountain Institute ? they need to be involved.

Think what that would look like? The NHL would be seen as heroes. Or they can continue to go slowly, and they can go out of business. I mean, why wouldn?t they do this?

GSB: I?m with you ? I think the NHL should make a significant and public financial contribution to low-carbon refrigeration research. There is no downside to it. What do you plan to do next to move the needle on climate?

Sierra: My goal is to use my platform as an athlete and also as a model to help educate the public on this important global climate crisis?and that making big changes and big bets on climate innovation are actually good business.

Read the full article here.

The post The GSB Interview: Sierra Quitiquit ? Freeskier and Climate Activist appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By College Football Playoff Foundation

The post Eckrich®, Albertsons Safeway, and Extra Yard for Teachers Team Up to Support Local Schools appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By Matthew J. Long, Penn State News

EcoReps volunteers with Penn State President Eric J. Barron and wife, Molly during the Purdue vs. Penn State football game. EcoReps help guests recycle properly in the President’s Box during games in order to achieve zero-waste. IMAGE: PROVIDED

Students have stepped up and contributed to reducing, cleaning-up and diverting waste from the landfill at Penn State football games, including inside the President?s Box.

At each football game, student volunteers from the EcoReps program help guests properly dispose of their waste in an effort to reach zero-waste in the President’s Box. The main way EcoReps help achieve this goal is by standing near labeled waste bins and guiding guests use to use the correct bin as they dispose of waste such as plates, food, utensils and napkins.

Julian Groenendaal, a sophomore majoring in architectural engineering, has been with EcoReps for two years and is the director of volunteers for the zero-waste initiative. Groenendaal finds volunteers and guides them during the game to make sure waste is being disposed of properly.

?It?s been a very positive experience; it opened my eyes to the whole waste stream at Penn State,? said Groenendaal. ?I’ve learned a lot about what goes into facilitating a zero-waste lifestyle and the amount of effort it takes to organize a team and working in that environment with high-profile guests each week.?

The EcoReps program is supported by Penn State Housing and the Sustainability Institute (SI). The program consists of roughly 60 EcoReps, student educators at University Park who communicate Penn State?s commitment to sustainability through events and outreach. For the past three years, EcoReps have been tasked with supervising waste disposal operations in the President?s Box.

?We are there to educate and go along with the mission of EcoReps,? said Groenendaal. ?We teach people sustainable practices and show how they can live their lives more sustainably.?

In his time as director of volunteers, Groenendaal feels he has made an impact on the guests who would come and watch the game.

?The general vibe is that they [the guests] are very appreciative of us because when they come up to the waste station, they feel overwhelmed by the amount of containers,? said Groenendaal. ?They are appreciative of someone assisting them and we do get a lot of questions. It?s nice to be able to explain that to them and show them how we can live sustainably. I think a lot of the guests who learn that take that with them, and try to keep that in their own life.?

The program began in 2013 when Judd Michael, professor of agricultural and biological engineering in the College of Agricultural Sciences, received a grant from the Sustainability Institute to make Penn State?s Intercollegiate Athletics more sustainable. Michael worked with the Green Sports Alliance and Intercollegiate Athletics to create this program, unofficially titled the ?Athletics Zero Waste Initiative,? that allows students to educate guests and promote sustainable behavior. Since the creation of this program, the President?s Box has achieved the status of zero-waste.

Read the full article here.

The post EcoReps Help President?s Box Guests Achieve Zero-Waste During Football Games appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By GreenSportsBlog

The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the most exciting teams in the NFL. They lead the AFC West, thanks in large part to the often spectacular play of quarterback Patrick Mahomes II, the 2018 league MVP. 

The greening initiatives at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs? 47 year-old home, while not as dazzling as a Mahomes look-away pass, have been substantive and innovative. 

GreenSportsBlog spoke with Brandon Hamilton, the Chiefs? VP of Operations, about the history of Arrowhead?s sustainability programs and where things might go from here.

GreenSportsBlog: My second favorite team is the Kansas City Chiefs¹ so it?s a pleasure to talk with you. How did you get into the operations department at Arrowhead?

Brandon Hamilton: I worked in construction for many years, including for three and a half years on the Arrowhead Stadium renovation from 2007-2010. We gutted the building to the skeleton and then built it back up.

My role was as the liaison between the contractors and the Chiefs, managing the budget for all of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing. I had studied stadium systems over the years and was well versed in their operations. When the opportunity to join the Chiefs facilities and operations team presented itself, it felt like it was a natural next step for me.

Brandon Hamilton (Photo credit: Steve Sanders)

GSB: When did the Chiefs get involved with the sports greening movement and what was the catalyst?

Brandon: Our efforts really started in 2011. But our team president, Mark Donovan, joined the Chiefs in 2009 from the Philadelphia Eagles as the club?s chief operating officer. He of course was very familiar with the Eagles? Go Green program, and that?s how the discussions really began to ramp up?

GSB: ?The Eagles, thanks to minority owner Christina Weiss-Lurie, were one of the true Green-Sports pioneers, launching Go Green in 2004.

Brandon: That?s right. And 2011 was also the year the Green Sports Alliance launched, so the stars were aligned for the Chiefs to get involved. In fact, we became a charter member in 2011.

GSB: How did you feel about the green initiatives back then?

Brandon: I?ve always had a love and appreciation for the outdoors, so I was on board from the beginning. I studied geology and geography at Northwest Missouri State so, I guess you could say I had the right mindset for Green-Sports.

GSB: What were some of the first greening programs you and the Chiefs undertook?

Brandon: We actually went with composting at the beginning?

GSB: That?s unusual. Most venues I?m aware of take on a whole host of greening measures before getting to composting. Why did you go that route?

Brandon: We were already measuring our food waste in the kitchens. And we had a top quality commercial composting facility nearby. Everything lined up and so we started back-of-house and front-of house composting at Arrowhead in 2011, then added The University of Kansas Health System Training Complex which is next door.

Missouri Organic Recycling turns a compost windrow of Chiefs compostable materials (Photo credit: Brandon Hamilton)

GSB: How did composting go over with the fans?

Brandon: It?s been very positive. Early on we won a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for recycling and composting receptacles throughout the concourses and the suites. The fans are used to them by now.

Our concessionaire partners, Aramark for the concourses and Levy for the suites, are all in. About 95 percent of what Aramark uses and 100 percent of Levy?s materials are either recyclable or compostable.

Our staff does a great job post-game. They go through every aisle in the 73,000 seat stadium, picking up recyclables and compostables. Our diversion rate, which varies from 40 to 50 percent, might not sound that great, but the reason it hovers in that range is that we include the tailgate areas which are very hard to control, especially when you consider the parking lots cover a 135 acre area.

Another thing that depresses our numbers is that China is not taking nearly as much of our recycled material as before. It?s made recycling more of a challenge and we?ve had to find new partners to recycle with.

Arrowhead Stadium staff picks recyclable materials out of the seating bowl (Photo credit: Brandon Hamilton)

GSB: That has to be hurting every venue, not just Arrowhead. You guys certainly have been early composting adapters. The Chiefs also have been innovators, pioneering compostable chip bags. How did that come about?

Brandon: It started in 2013. BASF gave a presentation at the Green Sports Alliance Summit in Brooklyn about a compostable peanut bag. I thought to myself, ?we need to get these bags at Arrowhead.? Jami Leveen of Aramark, our concessionaire, connected us with BASF and the conversation began between them and our composter, Hampton Farms.

It turned out to be a long product development process ? the supply chain for compostable bags is convoluted to say the least, from resin to film to printing to packaging. A key challenge was for BASF to be able to develop a product that had a six-week shelf life to meet the standard of the industry.

We finally were able to launch the product in 2017 ? the transition was seamless ? and have been very satisfied with it.

GSB: I imagine the compostable bags cost more than their traditional counterparts. How much of a price increase was passed on to the fans? Is Arrowhead looking at other products for this same type of packaging?

Brandon: There is a cost increase of five percent, which Aramark chose to absorb. We expect that the cost difference will drop as we gain scale by adding more compostable products to our roster.

Aramark gave BASF a list of all the vendors from which they buy products for Arrowhead and asked how many could be converted to compostable packaging. Wings and hot dogs are under consideration, but it could be that coffee filters could be next. A compostable coffee filter/packaging already exists, but it needs to be introduced into our market.

GSB: I look forward to hearing what?s next on the compostable packaging front at Arrowhead. Turning to renewables, have the Chiefs looked into on-site solar? 

Brandon: We?ve been looking at solar for years ? we love the Eagles? installation at Lincoln Financial Field, what the Redskins have done at FedEx Field outside of Washington D.C., and others. The Chiefs have installed some solar panels at both Arrowhead Stadium and The University of Kansas Training Complex.

Because our price of grid electricity is so low, it?s hard for solar to compete right now and thus difficult for us to expand our solar footprint. But this could be changing; we will continue to monitor the situation. Our utility company, Evergy is building wind farms in Kansas ? we are looking into the potential of purchasing some of our energy that way.

One thing we have done is become much more efficient with the electricity we do use. All of our heating and cooling equipment is Energy Star certified.

And we?ve got an automated ?load shed? program through Automated Logic, our building management system (BMS) provider. December is when we use the most electricity at Arrowhead ? everything in our building is powered by electric, including the heat. So, on very cold days when electricity usage hits a certain level, the Automated Logic system lowers the thermostats by 1° F. We save energy and money and reduce our carbon emissions.

GSB: Kudos to you and Automated Logic. Now, imagine it is 2024 and we?re talking again. Don?t worry; the Chiefs won a Super Bowl during that time. What would you like to say happened between 2019 and 2024 at Arrowhead from a greening perspective?

Brandon: The Chiefs will have continued to increase their waste diversion rates by improving their process inside and outside the stadium along with increasing partnerships with new recycling and sustainability minded businesses.

Read the full article here.

The post The GSB Interview: Brandon Hamilton, Helping to Green Arrowhead Stadium, Home of the Kansas City Chiefs appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By MLB News

Twins honored for outstanding contributions to green building and sustainability in the sports industry

In recognition of the Minnesota Twins? outstanding contributions to green building and sustainability in the sports industry, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today announced that the Twins organization has been named a 2019 Leadership Award recipient. The Twins, heralded as a ?model for sustainability in the sporting world,? join 19 other corporations, individuals, cities and communities, specific projects, and organizations who are using green building and sustainable practices to improve quality of life for those around them. This year?s recipients will be recognized at the USGBC Leadership Awards Ceremony taking place on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019 during the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo.

?Our Leadership Award recipients remind us that taking action ? big or small ? has the power to change lives and promote a higher living standard for us all,? said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of USGBC. ?Each of these awardees made commitments to improve our world through the power of green building. Their actions are an inspiration and show us that our collective efforts can lead to meaningful change that moves us closer to our vision of buildings, communities and cities that regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life.?

The Twins were the first professional sports franchise to earn LEED Silver for both new construction and operations and maintenance, receiving those distinctions in 2010 and 2011, respectively, following the opening of Target Field and the team?s first two seasons in their home ballpark. In 2017, the Twins became the first to attain LEED Gold for operations and maintenance of their facility, an honor for which the club was recertified in 2019.

Target Field — the ?Greenest Ballpark in America? — is also the nation?s first sports venue to earn three levels of LEED certification through Arc, the state-of-the art digital platform that uses real-time data to help benchmark, measure and improve sustainability performance. Arc is the first of its kind to track progress through a performance score, enabling projects to make more informed decisions when it comes to sustainability.

?The Minnesota Twins organization is honored to receive the USGBC?s 2019 Leadership Award,? team president and CEO Dave St. Peter said. ?Sustainability continues to be a high priority for the Twins, our employees and our fans. The ballclub remains committed to setting a high sustainability standard with a belief that it?s the right thing for our community and our business, now and into the future.?

The Twins? many environmental stewardship efforts include a custom-designed Rain Water Recycle System provided by Minneapolis-based Pentair, helping the organization capture, purify and reuse more than 19 million total gallons of rainwater at Target Field to date; aggressive recycling and waste-to-energy programs that have kept more than 10,870 tons of waste out of local landfills since 2011; a shared initiative with Delaware North Sportservice to partner with Rock and Wrap It UP!, Inc. to donate more than 10 tons of food to local charities each season; LED fixtures for field and canopy lighting; and, a long-term partnership with Eco-Products to provide the ballpark?s compostable cups, plates, trays, utensils and straws. In 2019, the Twins installed Major League Baseball?s first ?living wall? batter?s eye at Target Field; the structure?s 5,700-plus sea green juniper plants are self-irrigated through the Pentair Rain Water Recycle System.

The 2019 Leadership Award recipients represent some of the best of USGBC?s nearly 10,000 member organizations, a network of committed professionals with more than 204,800 LEED credentials and community of local leaders across the United States and throughout the world. With more than 99,800 commercial projects and more than 159 cities and communities currently participating in LEED, space in all 50 states and 176 countries and territories, the efforts of the award recipients stand out as exceptional examples of sustainability leadership among a strong and growing network of projects, companies and individuals. For more information or to register for Greenbuild, visit: greenbuild.usgbc.org.

Read the full article here.

The post Twins Selected to Receive a 2019 Leadership Award for Outstanding Commitment to Advancing Green Building appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By USGBC Community

Sports tourism is a growing industry, and many fans have a goal on their bucket list to watch a game in every Major League Baseball (MLB) or National Football League (NFL) stadium in the country.

By some estimates, this industry will grow from its current value of $1.41 trillion to $5.72 trillion by 2021, positioning cities with professional sports stadiums to improve the game-day experience, while showcasing the benefits of sustainable design.

One city making the most of this opportunity is Baltimore, Maryland, where the Maryland Stadium Authority?s (MSA) commitment to green building is evident at the LEED Gold venues Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, home to MLB?s Orioles and the NFL?s Ravens, respectively.

Given they receive a lot of attention nationwide, the MSA says these stadiums are more than just a venue for fans to see games. They serve as a channel for sending a positive message to the public.

With sustainability practices such as recycling, composting and energy conservation now common in the average home, MSA?s commitment to sustainability reinforces these practices, validating the homeowner?s individual efforts. The MSA calls this “walking the walk,” according to David Abell, Manager, LEED for Cities and Communities.

Phil Hutson and Jeff Provenzano of the Maryland Stadium Authority share about the LEED certifications of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. Photo credit: Ana Ka’ahanui.

Cleaning up the grounds

One accomplishment the MSA is especially proud of is removing unsightly cigarette waste from sidewalks and subsequently diverting this potentially toxic waste from landfills and waterways. They accomplished this by placing nine cigarette receptacles near the B&O Warehouse, which is near Oriole Park at Camden Yards and receives a lot of pedestrian traffic from both Orioles and Ravens fans on game days.

Moreover, the MSA partnered with a company that collects the cigarette waste and processes it into plastic pellets for use in a variety of recycled products, while the remaining tobacco is composted.

Similarly, the MSA enlists the help of several nonprofit organizations to engage tailgaters in sustainable practices such as recycling of bottles and cans.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Certified LEED Gold under Existing Buildings in 2018

According to the MSA, Oriole Park at Camden Yards has achieved impressive results from its sustainability initiatives. The stadium?s low-flow water fixtures have reduced water usage by 27%, and energy-efficient equipment upgrades have led to usage 45% better than the national median. Moreover, 59% of the materials purchased for upgrades were sustainable, and 74% of the construction waste was recycled.

One especially important, ongoing practice is the use of materials containing low VOCs during remodeling projects. Workspaces are also subsequently flushed out with fresh air, protecting indoor air quality and creating a healthier environment for fans and stadium employees alike.

M&T Bank Stadium

Certified LEED Gold under Existing Buildings in 2013; Recertified in 2019

Photo credit: Lorax Partnerships, LLC.

Similarly, the Ravens? home stadium has achieved noteworthy results. Low-flow water fixtures reduce usage by 43%, and the stadiums saves over 3 million gallons of water annually with waterless urinals and other high-performance restroom fixtures. The structure is also 27% more energy-efficient than the national average and recycles 31% of its regular waste.

Encouraging the use of public and alternative transportation is one of the most notable features improving the experience for fans and employees. Currently, 10% of game-day visitors use a light rail service, and another 2% use buses through the ?Ravens Ride? program. In addition, 38% of M&T Bank Stadium employees use alternative transportation getting to work.

Beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions, these sustainability practices allow easier access for all visitors by reducing the number of vehicles on-site./p>

Both stadiums have additional sustainability features that are not as visible, including state-of-the-art building automation systems for energy management and sustainable purchasing.

Onward and upward

Even though the MSA has already made a significant contribution to sustainability, its environmental team remains focused on continuous improvement. As a catalyst for maintaining a climate where industry can flourish and contribute to the community that supports it, the MSA also takes pride in doing its part to build a greener, cleaner world for all of us.

Read the full article here.

The post Baltimore Walks the Walk with Greener Stadiums appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By Xcel Energy Center

In September 2019, Xcel Energy recognized Saint Paul RiverCentre and Xcel Energy Center with the 2019 Recognition of Excellence Award for their commitment to innovative energy solutions and for demonstrating outstanding achievements in saving energy and reducing carbon emissions in 2018 and 2019.

In 2018-2019, the campus of Saint Paul RiverCentre and Xcel Energy Center:
– Upgraded over 4,000 fluorescent lamps to LED
– Replaced exterior signage with more efficient and attractive LEDs
– Swapped out two areas of interior lighting to higher-efficiency models
– Signed onto the Community Solar Garden program, which means that soon nearly all of Saint Paul RiverCentre?s power needs will be covered by locally produced solar electricity.
– Purchased renewable energy through Xcel Energy?s WindSource and WindSource for Events programs for many events, including all Minnesota Wild home games.

The facilities were presented with their award at the Energy Solutions Expo on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Read the full article here.

The post 2019 Xcel Energy Recognition of Excellence Award Presented to Saint Paul RiverCentre and Xcel Energy Center appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By GreenSportsBlog

Football/soccer fans the world over are keenly aware that, about a third of the way into the 2019-20 season, Liverpool currently sits eight points clear of Leicester City in the race for the top of the table (aka standings) of the English Premier League, the world?s most popular sports league.

If Claire Poole ? founder of next spring?s Sport Positive Summit at London?s Wembley Stadium ? has her way, fans will someday closely scrutinize the Premier League Sustainability table that she and her team recently developed. The initial table, which is being released today, ranks all 20 current Premier League clubs on eight sustainability metrics.

GreenSportsBlog spoke with Poole about the birth of the sustainability table idea, how it became a reality, what teams are doing best at the outset, and where things go from here.

GreenSportsBlog: Creating a Premier League sustainability table is a terrific idea. How and when did it percolate?

Claire Poole: Thank you, Lew! As you know, I?ve been working in the sports-sustainability world for the last five years and sustainability more broadly for over a decade. Through this work, I?m of course incredibly interested in what the top teams in the world across all sports are doing on sustainability.

The idea for not just a Premier League sustainability table, but open source information across many leagues, really started to crystallize earlier this year. At that time, I had completed initial work for UNFCCC in regard to the development and rollout their Sport for Climate Action Framework and I was also starting to organize the first Sport Positive Summit, which will take place at Wembley Stadium in London next March. It was clear across these projects and other work I was doing with sports organizations, that although there is an incredible work happening in this space globally, it?s quite difficult to easily access information outlining what exactly organizations are doing, in an easy and digestible format.

Claire Poole (Photo credit: Sports Positive Summit)

GSB: So, how and when did you start turning this idea of ranking 20 English Premier League teams on sustainability, which would take an incredible amount of work, into reality?

Claire: Well I have to credit the initial legwork to my research assistant, Rob Ellinson. He basically spent his summer digging into the publicly available sustainability data on all 20 EPL teams¹, from Arsenal to Wolverhampton. Rob also began to compile information on clubs in Germany?s Bundesliga, Spain?s La Liga and others.  We are in the process of compiling tables for all of the top football leagues around the world and going forward plan to cover other sports leagues.

I had tasked him with the categories on which to find information and Rob was able to put together a decent database through his dogged internet research this summer but there were patches that need to be filled in. So, I picked up the baton in September and reached out to each club directly get the questions answered.

GSB: How did that go?

Claire: It took a while, but it went well. I was pleasantly surprised about how responsive the clubs were for the most part. The vast majority were open about disclosing the missing information, curious about how their competitors were doing and highlighted how they planned to do more. Not one club reacted negatively ? ?why are you bothering me with this?? ? nothing like that. There were a couple of stragglers in terms of timeliness, but we finally were able to fill in the remaining few blanks over the last couple of days and so now we?re ready to announce the first English Premier League Sustainability Table!

GSB: What metrics did you include and did you weigh one metric more heavily than another?

Claire: Eight categories make up the EPL Sustainability Table. They are:

1. Clean Energy
2. Energy Efficiency
3. Sustainable Transport
4. Single Use Plastics
5. Waste Management
6. Water Efficiency
7. Plant-Based, Low Carbon/Local Food Availability
8. Communications

For now, we?ve kept the scoring simple. Each category is weighted equally, with one point awarded for positive activity in each of the eight areas and a half-point if plans are being developed but have not yet been fully realized. This has led to a clustered table, with many clubs having a similar number of points.

This is a good start but, as we go forward, we expect the scoring will become more complex and nuanced, with weighted scoring per category.

GSB: What would an example of going from simple to complex scoring look like?

Claire: Good question. If you look at the plant-based, low-carbon/local food availability for example ? in our current scoring system, a team with one plant-based food option on the concourse gets the same one point as a team with perhaps three or four plant based meal options. It might be that we weigh it differently in the future, if there is demand to do that. However, our main focus is to provide a repository of accessible, open-source information for those within industry and others who are interested.

GSB: Before we get to the future, let?s look at the here and now ? at the first English Premier League Sustainability Table. Who are the teams at ?the top of the table? and who needs to up their games? 

Claire: There are four clubs that are doing great work across all eight categories; Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. From the likes of zero waste to landfill, water recycling systems, multiple vegan food options and locally sourced food, as well as communicating with their fans on their efforts, they all have done ? and continue to do ? great work.

However, there are also many clubs that may not have reached this level yet but have made huge progress and have incredible initiatives that we didn?t know about before, so they must be applauded too.

All of these clubs (and sports organizations generally) are on a journey. In some cases, can there be increased ambition? Of course. Is it always as easy as that?no. All of the clubs have the desire to do more and have plans in place ? so our main aim is to support them on that journey.

GSB: I only wish my team, Tottenham Hotspur, was doing as well on the pitch as they?re doing in the sustainability table. How often will the table be updated?

Claire: Ahh, well I?m sure many fans feel like that about their team at one time or another ? hopefully the sustainability table gives you, and them, another reason to be proud of your team.

GSB: I?d be prouder of them if they could?ve beaten Sheffield United at home?

Claire: In terms of updating the table ? we will do it as much as is needed, so hopefully quite frequently when new initiatives are launched! Clubs can advise us of their work, and we will update the table, in as close to real time as is possible. The table updates will always be date stamped, so readers can easily see when the last update took place.

GSB: How are you getting the story out about the Sustainability Table? And where can people find it?

Claire: BBC Sport posted an article featuring the table on its website today. Thanks to them also, as they helped over the last few weeks to get the last bits of data to fill out the table.  Your readers can see the table at www.sportpositivesummit.com/epl-sustainability-table/ and the BBC Sport article at https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50317760.

GSB: Congratulations, Claire! Finally, I?m sure there were several great stories that stood out as you were compiling the data that became the Premier League Sustainability Table. Can you share one? 

Claire: Well, there are a few broader things that stood out to me first of all. Such as the fact that every single club is reducing its single-use plastic and has a sustainable transport initiative. Or that 14 of the 20 clubs have vegan food options available on the concourses ? how great is that?

When it comes to a single story, it?s hard to pick just one: but I love that seven top-flight footballers from Burnley FC clubbed together to buy a minivan to drive to training every day!

Read the full article here.

The post The GSB Interview: Claire Poole of Sports Positive Summit, On Creating a Premier League Sustainability Table appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By  Front Row News: The IAVM Industry Blog

AtmosAir Solutions, which provides clean indoor air technology for commercial, industrial and residential buildings, teamed with Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland with the installment of its Bipolar Ionization (BPI) air purification technology.

AtmosAir indoor air treatment technology was included in the venue?s recent $185 million renovation that has transformed the publicly-owned building into an updated and modernized world-class sports and entertainment showplace for Cleveland and the entire Northeast Ohio region.

AtmosAir was a more sustainable alternative to the maintenance intensive carbon filters that were installed in the older HVAC systems serving the venue?s bowl air handling units. Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse now features some of the latest cutting-edge technology around building controls, automation, and sustainability.

?We are thrilled to announce our installation at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse,? stated Steve Levine, president and CEO of AtmosAir Solutions in Fairfield, CT. ?This didn?t happen overnight. We know every technology they installed in the building was thoroughly vetted as the architects and operations personnel have been working on this investment for years. We are happy to play a small part. AtmosAir technology will create a better experience throughout the building, but also help the city and venue save money right away by reducing load and reducing filter maintenance costs.?

?We?ve touched every aspect our venue as part of the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse transformation project, including updating the operational facility systems that ensures that the air inside our building is clean and healthy,? said Antony Bonavita, CVE, executive vice president, venue operations of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. ?We?re proud to partner with AtmosAir to not only do just that, but also reduce our carbon footprint, which is very important to us.?

Read the full article here.

The post Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Turns on Clean Indoor Air Technology appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

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