FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts:
Kevin Heaney
Pocono Raceway
570-643-7180
kheaney@poconoraceway.com

LONG POND, Pa. (September 4, 2020) ? Pocono Raceway?s solar farm celebrated 10 years of producing clean and renewable solar energy on Tuesday, August 25, 2020.

?It is incredible to witness the progress our solar farm has made since going online 10 years ago,? said Pocono Raceway CEO, Nick Igdalsky. ?This project was our first venture into sustainability and was the foundation for our ongoing green successes. We sincerely thank all who helped us start this project and who have played a role in maintaining it through the years. We will continue to invest in our solar initiatives, as well as the robust recycling, composting and waste diversion programs we add annually. Pocono Raceway wants to ensure we remain one of the most sustainable motorsports and entertainment facilities in the world.?

Pocono Raceway is recognized as the world?s first, privately-owned solar powered sports facility.

BY THE NUMBERS – POCONO RACEWAY SOLAR FARM DATA

• Size: Pocono Raceway?s 25-acre, three megawatt solar farm currently ranks among the top-10 largest solar-powered sporting venues in the world. Pocono In 2018, the Raceway was ranked fourth among the world?s top 50 largest solar stadiums and sporting venues behind Indianapolis (Ind.) Motor Speedway, TT circuit Assen (Netherlands) and Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, Pa.,) as a result of an independent study.^[1
• Solar Panels: Pocono Raceway?s solar installation consists of 39,960 American-made photovoltaic modules, otherwise known as solar panels.

• Energy Disbursement: Pocono Raceway?s solar farm produces enough energy to power the track?s daily operations and provides electricity to over 300 local homes and businesses each year.

• Total Energy Produced: Pocono Raceway?s solar farm has produced a total of 37,042,235 Million Kilowatt hours (kWh.)

• Energy Equivalents and Offsets: The energy produced by Pocono Raceway?s solar farm is the equivalent of 1,074,224 propane cylinders or approximately 3,000,421 gallons of gasoline. It also equals the reduction of carbon emission of over 26,190 metric tons, the carbon dioxide offset from 666,759 trees or the greenhouse emissions from 5,658 passenger cars driven for a year.

(Note: All numbers are approximate and reported as of 12 p.m. ET on September 3, 2020.)

HISTORY ? POCONO RACEWAY SOLAR FARM MILESTONES

• May 2010: Construction of Solar Farm Begin
• July 30, 2010: Pocono Raceway Solar Farm Dedication Ceremony

• August 25, 2010: Solar Farm Activated and Online

• December 9, 2010: Energy Production Milestone ? 1 Million kWh

• December 26, 2011: Energy Production Milestone ? 5 Million kWh

• April 7, 2013: Energy Production Milestone ? 10 Million kWh

• July 23, 2014: Energy Production Milestone ? 15 Million kWh

• January 7, 2017: Energy Production Milestone ? 25 Million kWh

• March 9, 2020: Energy Production Milestone ? 35 Million kWh

AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS

• 2010: Pocono Raceway receives  The Citizens? of Pennsylvania ?Green Power: Make It? Award, Great Pocono Chamber of Commerce?s ?Bizzy Award for Best Green Marketing Campaign? and Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau?s ?Valued Partner Award? in recognition for its solar power initiative
• 2011: Pocono Raceway honored with ?Excellence in Renewable Energy Award, Readers? Choice Award? during Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo and as one of the recipients of the Pennsylvania?s Department of Environmental Protection?s ?2011 Governor?s Award for Environmental Excellence.
• 2012: Pocono Raceway joins Beyond Sport. Beyond Sport is a global organization that promotes, supports and celebrates the use of sport to address social issues in communities around the world. We do this through convening, supporting and advising the worlds of sport, business, government, and development on how sport can be used as a tool to achieve both social and business objectives

• 2013: Pocono Raceway joins Green Sports Alliance. The Alliance inspires professional sports leagues, sports governing bodies, colleges, teams, venues, their partners and millions of fans to embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling, water efficiency, safer chemicals and other environmentally preferable practices.

• 2013 and 2015: Pocono Raceway receives NASCAR Green Awards in recognition of valued contribution to green innovation.

• 2017: Pocono Raceway, in partnership with Penn State University, becomes first NASCAR track to release sustainability report detailing solar farm, recycling efforts, waste diversion and additional green initiatives.

• 2018: Pocono Raceway?s sustainability report is updated.

• 2019: Pocono Raceway eclipses 30 Million kWh and achieves 75% waste diversion, whereas waste is diverted from landfills to be recycled or composted.

The Raceway?s solar farm is located along Long Pond Road, adjacent to the storied 2.5-mile triangular shaped track. To learn more about Pocono Raceway?s sustainability efforts, including a real-time look at solar farm production and 2018 sustainability report, please visit www.poconoraceway.com/green.

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About Pocono Raceway

Pocono Raceway, also known as ?The Tricky Triangle,? is family-owned and situated in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. In business for over 50 years, the Raceway hosts multiple, national motorsports events including two NASCAR Cup Series, one NASCAR Xfinity Series, one NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and one ARCA Menards Series events each year. The facility?s calendar also consists of over 200 events including a wide-range of car clubs and racing schools. Pocono Raceway is recognized as the world?s first, privately-owned solar-powered sports facility. Their 25-acre, three-megawatt solar farm provides the energy needs of the Raceway, as well as, adds electricity to the local power grid. Each member of our raceway staff is committed to creating exciting experiences and lifelong memories. For more information, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.

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By Emily Kaplan, ESPN

The NHL laid out a comprehensive plan on Thursday to “fight against racism” and issue “the mandate to make our sport and our league more welcoming and inclusive.”

Among several initiatives, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have planned mandatory inclusion and diversity training for all players during training camp for the 2020-21 season. League employees will have their own inclusion training, led by Bill Proudman from White Men as Full Diversity Partners.

The league also formed an Executive Inclusion Council, co-chaired by Sabres owner Kim Pegula and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, as well as three other committees. The Player Inclusion Committee is co-chaired by Devils defenseman P.K. Subban and NBC analyst Anson Carter, and will include current and former NHL players as well as women’s national team players. The Fan Inclusion Committee and Youth Hockey Inclusion Committee “will each develop action-oriented solutions that positively impact the access, opportunity and experiences that underrepresented groups have in the game — and in the business — of hockey.”

“Under the leadership of NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs Kim Davis, the League’s longstanding work in these areas has been refocused over the last three years and accelerated over the last six months,” Bettman said in a statement. “The initiatives we are announcing today are the result of that recommitment to making the NHL more inclusive and welcoming — and to using the privilege of our platform to fight racism.”

The NHL is a predominantly white league. In January, Davis told WDET in Detroit that 43 players of color appeared in a game this season — which represents about 5% of players in the league.

In June, several prominent BIPOC players in the league formed the Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA), whose mission is “to eradicate racism in hockey at all levels.” Members of the HDA were instrumental in holding conversations with players in the bubble, persuading them to take a two-day pause from the playoffs last month in solidarity with other sports leagues protesting racial injustice and police brutality.

On Thursday, the NHL and NHLPA announced they would work with the HDA to establish a “first-of-its-kind grassroots hockey development program” that would provide mentorship and skill development for BIPOC boys and girls in the Toronto area. The NHL said it would look to pursue a similar pilot program in the United States.

Avalanche center Nazem Kadri, a member of the HDA, said he was able to review the NHL’s plan earlier Thursday.

“That’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Kadri said. “Being a part of the HDA, we tried to lay out certain policies and initiatives that affect the grassroots program and the whole education process. One of the first things we need to do is start educating the youth, the players, the staff. So it’s certainly a step in the right direction.”

The HDA had asked the NHL on July 14 to sign an eight-point pledge, asking for specific policies and items of support. Some of the requests — like anti-racism education — were covered by policy released on Thursday. Others weren’t covered as specifically as they were in the pledge: The HDA suggested percentage targets to be established on the hiring of black executives and hockey and non-hockey personnel, as well as ensuring that 10% of all the league’s procurement expenditure for the 2020-21 season come from Black-owned or operated suppliers. The league’s policy mentions working to establish hiring targets “on a realistic timetable while commissioning an outside audit of these efforts” and “building a more diverse business pipeline.”

A few action items from the HDA pledge weren’t addressed by the policy at all, including “a zero-tolerance policy towards racial discrimination and abuse” and a promise not to “support, partner with or accept support from any organization that has engaged in, promoted or failed to appropriately respond to racist conduct in their organization.”

The NHL also said it plans to collaborate with two nonpartisan organizations focused on voter education and increased voter participation in the U.S. that will connect with teams as appropriate. The league said it will designate 2020 U.S. Election Day and future general election days in both Canada and the United States as companywide off days.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski contributed to this report. Read the original article here

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By Carmen De Alba Cardenas

A group of Arizona State University students proposed practical sustainability projects to be tested on ASU campuses to reduce waste this spring, and several of the projects are moving on to implementation this fall.

In the fall of 2019, Kendon Jung, program manager for Zero Waste and former coordinator for Changemaker Central @ ASU, proposed the idea of introducing an interdisciplinary course that would attempt to change behaviors by addressing social or structural barriers. This is how the Sustainable Behavior Psychology Lab was created.

At the start of the spring 2020 semester, an iteration of the Psychology Lab was introduced to the School of Sustainability with implementation of interventions as an end goal.

With funding from the Swette Center and University Sustainable Practices, the Interventions for Sustainable Consumption on Campus course and the Sustainable Consumption Lab was created to address the local, behavioral and engagement issues that come with the idea of a sustainable campus.

Daniel Fischer, assistant professor for the School of Sustainability, and Jordan King, sustainability graduate student, were instructors of the lab and led the students in their research and education.

?The idea was to make the ASU campus a living lab for intervention research education, using what we know about behavior change to effect sustainable change in front of our own house door,? Fischer said.

The class teamed up with Zero Waste and Aramark, ASU?s official food service provider, to collaborate on how student consumption behavior could be changed through different approaches.

Ultimately, four groups of students tackled four different intervention prototypes: promoting reusable coffee cups, increasing composting, reducing food waste and improving awareness about the benefits of plant-based meals.

Due to COVID-19 and classes being moved to a virtual setting, the students were not able to implement their interventions but instead presented their ideas in the form of video pitches for future implementers to take away the key points of their approaches and to use what they have researched as resources.

Reusable Coffee Cups

Team Coffee Cups addressed how the production and usage of single-use cups have a negative environmental and economic effect and how the P.O.D Market inside of the Memorial Union could help change behaviors.

Through their research they discovered that forgetting to bring a reusable cup and lack of awareness were the main barriers that students experienced.

Jacob Ivy, 26, a graduate student studying sustainability, discussed how their three-fold approach would knock down those barriers.

?In order to bring awareness and change behavior, we use messaging, QR codes and [proposed handing] out free reusable cups to students who purchase a drink at the P.O.D.,? Ivy said.

Through signage and opt-in reminders from QR codes, students would become aware that single-use cups are damaging to the environment and allow them to break that barrier of forgetting their reusable ones. Giving away free cups would also encourage students to use them when purchasing a drink at the market.

Using their experience and through observing behaviors in student lifestyle, the group determined that this approach would generate positive outcomes.

?I had discussed with friends outside of the sustainability realm about their barriers and then I also thought about my own barriers when it came to reusable cups, and they aligned with what we had observed,? Ivy stated.

Composting

The composting team discovered that a lack of awareness likely contributed to low utilization and high contamination of the compost system around the MU retail dining areas.

In order to change this behavior and increase the participation of the compost system, the team set out to create a signage system that would be effective in raising awareness.

A graphic table tent sign with informational text and imagery would be placed on every table within a retail dining area inside of the MU. The signs are meant to capture the attention of students, communicate a social norm to encourage composting and illustrate the compost bins locations.

Shea Alevy, 29, a graduate student researching environmental justice activisim, realized that the lack of awareness was what had to be changed.

?We recognized that the average time students were spending at the table was 20?30 minutes, when the reality was that the average amount of time spent at the waste stations was less than 10 seconds,? Alevy said.

Most of the time, all food waste is going straight to the landfill because there was not enough knowledge about what item should go where. Even if food waste is correctly composted, high contamination rates can cause Aramark staff to throw the whole bin into landfill.

This is why the group believed it would be more effective to place the intervention on the tables, where students would spend more time. The table tents were meant to inform and educate students before they get to the waste bins.

?Much of what is being consumed in the MU can be composted, so we saw this as a missed opportunity, which is why we structured the intervention this way,? Alevy said.

Food Waste

According to this team?s research, one third of the world?s food supply is wasted every year. With the ASU population growing every year, the goal to change wasteful behavior on campus will reduce the negative social, economic and environmental costs.

The problem behavior they addressed was the excess generation of food waste at dining halls either due to grabbing too-large portions or choosing food that they ended up not liking.

In order to change this behavior, the team decided that signage that encouraged smaller portion-taking, would be placed above sneeze-guards and above the plates at each station in the dining halls in order to decrease food waste.

Recent graduate of the School of Sustainability with a master?s in sustainable solutions Braedon Kantola, 21, discussed how signage would only be successful depending on the reception of the target audience.

?Our research showed varying results of signage success but being strategic and using what we did know would help change the behavior of everyone eating at the dining halls,? Kantola said.

Because they were looking for a change in behavior and not a change in values, using signs as an approach was the route they took.

The way they would measure the success of the signs would be during the proposed intervention, where they would weigh a day?s food waste before and after the signs would be displayed to see if there is a decrease. They were also interested in conducting interviews with diners to see if they noticed the signage and if it had an impact on their behavior.

Plant-Based Meals

According to the group?s research, the meat industry contributes to a large percentage of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts like deforestation and water scarcity.

The goal was to encourage people eating at the Barrett dining hall to choose a plant-based meal by visiting the Daily Root, the vegan meal station.

The team discovered that students have a desire to eat healthy and could take that into consideration when deciding on what to eat.

Their intervention was to table right outside of the dining hall and target those who rarely visited the vegan station and get them to verbally commit to visiting the Daily Root. At the table, information would be given out about the health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Those who verbally committed would be observed to determine if they actually visited the vegan station in the dining hall. Afterward, the participants would be interviewed and ask about their experience at the tabling and whether or not they acted upon their verbal commitment.

Sustainability graduate student Julia Silver, 22, has been plant-based in her personal diet for five years and wanted to fully understand the benefits it has on the environment.

?I was interested in knowing the social and environmental impacts a plant-based diet would have because it has been such a big part of my life,? Silver said.

Many of the influences and barriers when it comes to diet, has to do with each individual. Some choose their meals based on health, culture or religion.

?People?s decision-making processes are very personal and deeply rooted. The major thing that I learned is that we have to work with people; so we framed our intervention on what people care about, which is health, so if we work with what they want, we will create sustainable behavior change,? Silver said.

The lab has received grants for continuing the efforts to have these four interventions implemented on campus this fall 2020 semester.

With the help of the School of Sustainability and the students who created these interventions, the Sun Devil community has the resources for making ASU a more sustainable campus.

If you would like to get involved with the implementation of the interventions or the Sustainable Consumption Lab, contact Jordan King or Kendon Jung for more information.

Read the original article here

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By NBA.com

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers, STAPLES Center, AEG and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk have announced that STAPLES Center will serve as a Vote Center in the upcoming Presidential General Election. Voters can cast their ballot at STAPLES Center beginning Friday, October 30 through Election Day, November 3. STAPLES Center will also act as a Vote by Mail Drop Box location for those who prefer to drop off their voted mail-in ballot in an official drop box provided by the L.A. County Registrar’s office.

?The Lakers organization is extremely pleased to be able to partner with AEG and the County of Los Angeles to open up STAPLES Center to provide a safe and easily accessible location for people to vote,? said Jeanie Buss, Lakers Governor. ?For our democracy to function, all citizens need to be able to vote in a secure and safe way ? and we?re very happy to be able to play our part in ensuring that they can.?

?We are proud to partner with the Los Angeles Lakers, the State of California and the County of Los Angeles in support of all of our residents who are guaranteed a safe and secure location to exercise their right to vote and have a voice in our democracy,? said Dan Beckerman, President and CEO, AEG.

?For more than 20-years, STAPLES Center has been the heart and soul of Los Angeles and hosted some of the most iconic events our fans have attended, watched or participated in.  It?s the right decision at this critical time for our Country that once again we provide a safe and convenient location for our fans to come together, this time to exercise their right to vote,? said Lee Zeidman, President STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE.

?In 2020, Angelenos can vote with a Mamba Mentality,? Secretary of State Alex Padilla said. ?The Lakers are taking action to meet the NBA Players Association and NBA?s commitment to create a more equitable democracy. Larger venues like Staples Center are at a premium to provide safer voting options during the pandemic. A vote center at Staples Center is a slam dunk for Los Angeles voters. I am thankful for the collaboration between elections officials, the Lakers, and AEG to create a meaningful partnership that will help more citizens have their voices heard and stay safe.?

?Partnering with the Los Angeles Lakers, AEG, and STAPLES Center to act as a Vote Center in the upcoming Presidential General Election speaks to the organization’s commitment and spirit of enfranchising Los Angeles County voters. Hosting a Vote Center at STAPLES Center provides voters with a safe in-person experience while ensuring access and opportunity for voters who might otherwise face barriers to participate,? said Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.  ?In these uncertain times, this collaboration strengthens the civic health and vitality of the nation?s largest electorate.?

?I would like to extend my gratitude to the Los Angeles Lakers and Staples Center for their partnership with Los Angeles County in opening a vote center for the November General Election,? said Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis.  ?As the players of the Lakers and the NBA as a whole have shown, now is the time to be active in voicing our values for real change. This partnership will serve to uphold our most sacred democratic institution?the right to free and fair elections.?

Read the original press release here

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By  Ben Arthur, SeattlePI

Photo: Gregory Bull, AP

The Seattle Mariners announced Friday that T-Mobile will be a partner in a club program dedicated to promoting more diversity in baseball.

T-Mobile is donating $50,000 to the Mariners’ On BASE Hometown Nine program, which was unveiled this year “to help under served youth from communities of color continue to play baseball and softball and advance their education from eight grade through their senior year in high school,” according to a team press release.

“Through the On BASE Hometown Nine, the Mariners hope to advance the goal of increasing diversity in high school, collegiate and professional baseball and introduce youth from marginalized communities to positive career mentors,” said John Stanton, Seattle Mariners Chairman & Managing Partner, in a statement.

On BASE is a five-year commitment to nine incoming eighth graders in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties. Through the program, participants will have their fees for baseball/softball training and equipment covered, and mentorship sessions with Mariners players and front office staffers.

During the summer, The Ms unveiled other efforts to support the fight for social justice. Among them are Community Impact Grants, where the team will invest $1 million over the next five years to organizations that promote racial equity through policy and initiatives. The Mariners also hope to hire at least two candidates from diverse backgrounds per year in several areas ? communications, finance and legal among them ? through their Diversity Fellowship program.

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In 2020, football fans all over the world got a taste of what things would be like if their favourite sport was put on hold. Thankfully, live competition returned behind closed doors to entertain supporters watching on televisions all over the globe.

But what if a world without football became a permanent reality?

That is exactly what faces us as we look to a future where drought problems impact our daily lives so much that even something like football could be at risk.

To highlight the harsh truths of the global water crisis, Manchester City have teamed up with water technology provider Xylem to create a short film which aims to educate one billion fans about urgent water challenges.

The latest UN data estimates that almost five billion people globally could be living in areas of water scarcity by 2050, with the UK Environmental Protection Agency projecting that parts of England could run out of water by 2045 due to increased demand, ageing infrastructure and climate change.

The ‘End of Football’ video by Xylem and Manchester City brings this message home by showing just how something as simple as being complacent about water consumption can lead to huge waste, as three billion litres of water is lost to leakages every day in the UK.

This future is just one generation away and today’s supporters, such as the young girl whose journey is captured in the film, will feel the effects of water shortages in their lifetimes.

As well as producing the film, Xylem has partnered with Manchester City to deliver clean water towers, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) education, and sports and leadership training to communities around the world.

In less than two years, the innovative partnership has already directly provided access to clean water and WASH education to more than 10,000 children across India, Thailand, China, Australia and the United States.

Patrick Decker, Xylem President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Water sits at the heart of human health and the sustainability of our planet.

“Through our partnership with City Football Group, we?re focused on mobilizing the global community to actively join us in safeguarding this precious resource. Together, we have a powerful opportunity to turn the tide on challenges like water scarcity and flooding and build a water-secure future.”

Pete Bradshaw, Head of Sustainability at Manchester City, said: “Xylem is doing incredible work to address water sustainability issues and Manchester City is proud to support them in this new campaign.”

Read the full story on Yahoo! Sports here.

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August 14, 2020
By Kristen Fulmer & Aileen McManamon & Monica Rowand & Madeleine Orr

Since the mid-2000s, the sport sector has made fast and widespread improvements in environmentally sustainable practices. They include the adoption of LED lighting and energy-efficiency systems, installation of solar panels, implementation of zero-waste plans, installation of low-flow water system upgrades and local food sourcing, to name a few. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has temporarily halted live events and may stymie progress toward sustainability goals.

It is clear that the health risks of the coronavirus must be immediately addressed to avoid exposing fans to unnecessary or additional risks or compromising on safety standards. At the same time, facility managers have a rare opportunity to align pandemic response efforts with sustainability strategies to proactively address climate-related threats, recommitting to the triple bottom line.

In other words, efforts to make the stadium cleaner and safer for fans can be achieved through the use and implementation of sustainable products and practices. The result would be a greener, safer, more sustainable and healthier environment for fans when they return to live events, while generating revenue that otherwise would be foregone in stadium shutdown.

Across all sectors, the call is resounding to #BuildBackBetter. In the rush to return to live events with in-person spectators, the urgency of addressing health and well-being may cause sport organizations to backslide where sustainability is concerned.

For instance, single-use plastic disposables may be adopted in lieu of current durable food serviceware or environmentally harmful chemical products may be used for cleaning, as these sometimes are perceived as more effective at removing bacteria from surfaces.

A recommitment to the triple bottom line is necessary: Fans expect organizations to take care of people (fans, athletes, staffand community); planet (through sustainability efforts); and profits.

Indeed, in many ways the triple bottom line objectives are synergistic: Environmentally sustainable solutions are also typically healthier for humans (less-toxic cleaning materials, less traffic pollution, etc.) and produce long-term cost savings. A recent Shelton Group survey confirms the need to adopt a triple-bottom-line approach after finding that 86 percent of Americans expect companies to exist for more than just profit objectives.

All moments of challenge present opportunities for growth and evolution, and though the scale of tragedy of COVID-19 has been catastrophic, this moment is no different.

The Sustainable Sports Agenda: Opportunities for the Sports Industry to #BuildBackBetter (PDF), from the Sustainable Sport Research Collective (SSRC), is a collection of opportunities to integrate environmental sustainability into the reopening of sports venues, including in public transportation, entry and security, concessions, custodial services, communications and brand partnerships.

SSRC is a collaboration among four established sustainability professionals exclusively focused on the sports industry. With strong knowledge of venue operations, environmental sustainability, social responsibility and fan experience and engagement, the group recognized the need for insights into fans? primary concerns ? and latent trepidation ? in returning to large public gathering spaces. As advisors and practitioners working regularly with sports league and team executives, we?ve established a robust survey method, including a novel virtual focus group, representative of the broad demographics of sports fans.

Rallying and inspiring

For corporations, especially consumer brands committed to accelerating and advocating for the green economy, this is an outstanding time to focus on the most visible and loudest messaging platforms in their marketing arsenal: their sports presence.

In times of crisis, sports continue to become a touchstone that rallies and inspires communities towards positive change. As companies, together with public-sector stakeholders and NGOs, work to #BuildBackBetter, novel solutions and community-centric business models can leverage the prominent stage and high profile of the sports industry, itself a credible messenger in advancing climate action.

Historically, teams have a decades-long history of responsible resource management and other sustainable operations strategies. Today, facilities compete to best LEED Platinum Mercedes Benz Stadium as the most sustainable venue and the recent richest-value naming rights deal done for “Climate Pledge Arena” in Seattle.

The opportunities explained in the report include:

Transportation/urban mobility: Transportation accounts for the largest portion of the sports industry?s footprint. Great strides were being made prior to the pandemic with teams addressing both fan and team travel, directly and via offsets. While public transportations systems are taking tough hits around the globe, for the moment, fans aren?t going anywhere. There are some novel and real revenue-generating opportunities to be deployed, including bike valets, embedded transit tickets, offsets for team travel and EV options for player transit.

Stadium logistics: With the trend toward building out entertainment districts around arenas and increased sponsored activities outside the gates, game day can extend forward several hours ahead of kick-off or opening pitch. Even so, the crush at the gates begins 15 to 20 minutes prior to game time, making ingress a perpetual challenge for stadium operators and a scrum for spectators. While there are many pressing issues, new protocols to be addressed and modifications to be made inside the venue, this is a critical occasion to fully explore a healthy, safe and hassle-free arrival at the front gate. Early considerations include providing reusable PPE, accessible waste-free sanitation and no-touch health check points.

Concessions: Stadium operators will be required to use enhanced hygiene protocols to instill confidence among fans. Food and beverage operators must balance the challenges of reducing wait times to prevent crowded concession areas, avoiding an increase in waste and protecting venue staff. Opportunities to consider may include hands-free cutlery and condiment dispensers, expanded in-seat service and healthier, more sustainable menu choices

Waste management: In sports and live events, waste diversion is one of the more visible elements of sustainability practices. Although many collection points are fan-facing, waste handling behind the scenes is a critical point for progress in landfill diversion and a topic of conversation post-COVID-19. Recommendations for venues to reduce their waste to landfill include leveraging the hiatus to upgrade fan-facing disposal points and retraining staff on protocols to safely reduce and site-separate waste.

Brand partnerships: Every opportunity described above has an associated opportunity for purpose-driven companies to align values, achieve real sustainability outcomes and promote themselves as a brand committed to a better normal.

Click here to read the full article on GreenBiz.

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Click here to read the full article on Cision PR Newswire.

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By Richard Walsh, GreenBiz

The arena in Seattle is the first in the world targeting net Zero Carbon certification by the International Living Future Institute.

I can distinctly remember the first time I read about the Green Sports Alliance. I was working in consulting right out of college with a focus on sustainability and renewable energy and seemingly out of nowhere this alliance was formed. What a perfect marriage of two of my favorite things ? sustainability and sports. The possibilities were endless.

Along with some colleagues, I attended the first Green Sports Summit in 2010 in Portland, Oregon, and went on to attend the next five in cities all over the country. At this summit and many to follow the experts would trumpet an ostensibly troubling, yet paradoxically encouraging statistic that about 13 percent of our society follows science while about 71 percent of society follows sports. The logic was if the science and climate conversation could infiltrate the sports dialogue, the world?s climate problems could be mitigated.

What became increasingly obvious to nobody?s surprise was that the greenies and science folks failed to understand the facilities and sports folks and vice versa. And almost everyone involved failed to understand how to create mainstream awareness about the importance of sustainability, renewable energy and climate change.

The excitement, at least mine personally and many of my friends and colleagues at the event, eventually waned and transitioned to a cynical, case-study fatigued, “are we really going to hear about composting and recyclable materials again this year?” attitude. To reach the masses, you must add value and create awareness.

The shift to more farm-to-table concessions and recyclable materials became the expectation. Every arena should use recyclable materials if available. Every ballpark should recycle and compost. Sports facilities and the industry in its entirety deserves credit for shifting the baseline and increasing expectations. Some of the greenest buildings in the world are sports arenas and credit should be given to the likes of Mercedes Benz Arena, Levi?s Stadium and several others. Even so, it is doubtful that any fan stomping out of the net-zero, zero-waste Levi?s Stadium after the San Francisco 49ers lose to the Seattle Seahawks is paying any mind to the composting efforts.

Broadly speaking, the leagues’ efforts up to this point are noteworthy, and these improvements and initiatives are fueled in no small part by the Green Sports Alliance and its incredible leadership from folks such as founding member and board chair Scott Jenkins, who also serves as general manager at the very green Mercedes Benz Stadium.

The National Basketball Association previously dedicated an entire week to green initiatives (“NBA Green Week”), which created notable awareness during an already-crowded Earth Week. While at Sterling Planet, I was fortunate to be a part of helping the NBA offset all emissions associated with electricity usage during that week. This was valuable and the best it could do, but still intangible and hard for the average fan to understand.

The other professional sports leagues also have done their part. The National Hockey League was the first league to build out a focus on sustainability, hiring a sustainability director and creating NHL Green. Major League Baseball recently announced a partnership with the Discovery Foundation around Earth Day and highlights best practices on its website. Within the green sports community, the National Football League is usually thought of as a laggard, but it does an incredible job with greening the Super Bowl and its host community on an annual basis.

Over the years, the initiatives have shifted to more tangible projects. NRG should be lauded for spearheading solar onsite at sports venues such as FedEx Field, Levi?s Stadium and Reliant Stadium, among others. While at WGL Energy, I was fortunate enough to be a part of an onsite solar installation at Nationals Park, and we worked with Monumental Sports and Entertainment to power the Capital One Center (Verizon Center at the time) with offsite solar.

The physical, tangible installations created awareness for those that happen to notice the unsexy steel and infrastructure at a stadium. And sure, those that charge their EVs at Levi?s Stadium receive some value from the green sports movement. But anyone who has an EV is likely already part of the climate conversation.

So how does sustainability in sports leverage its broad reach to engage the non-greeny sports fan? How does it engage the mainstream about the importance of renewable energy and lowering emissions to prevent further climate change?

Anecdotally, I remember watching the NBA Playoffs in 2018 when Coors Light ran an ad about renewable energy and one of my buddies saying “Hey Walsh, did you see that? Solar and beer. That?s pretty cool!” And he was right, almost. Solar, beer and SPORTS is even cooler. And a commercial is nice, but it is not a permanent fixture.

So how does the industry provide this long-term permanent awareness and leverage the eyeballs of sports fans to drive dialogue about climate change? How about naming a brand new, state-of-the-art arena after the most ambitious pledge to curb climate change?

Yes, that is the answer. Amazon recently secured naming rights to an arena under construction in Seattle and elected to name it “Climate Pledge Arena.” The arena will be the home to NHL Seattle and the WNBA Storm. The fact that it will be the first net-zero-carbon arena in the world, produces zero waste and will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy is second fiddle. That every fan, sponsor, announcer, player, coach, owner and passerby will see “Climate Pledge” when an event is taking place there is what really matters.

Amazon?s climate journey has been labyrinthine to say the least. It has been criticized by everyone from Greenpeace to its own employees (see Amazon Employees for Climate Justice). These organizations drove Amazon to create aggressive sustainability and renewable energy goals. While Amazon got off to a slow start regarding sustainability and certainly still has its shortcomings, its progress of late is nothing short of impressive.

Amazon is committed to operating with 100 percent renewable energy by 2025 and reaching net-zero carbon by 2040. It boasts close to 100 renewable energy projects worldwide totaling almost 3 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and more than 7 million megawatt-hours of annual generation, more than the entire state of Delaware. Having personally worked with the Amazon renewable energy team to complete multiple projects, I can say they have some of the smartest people in the industry working on these initiatives. And while they may be difficult to deal with, their recent success is noteworthy.

On top of the success and initiatives at Amazon, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos recently announced a $10 billion Climate Pledge to fight climate change via the creation of the Bezos Earth Fund. Naysayers will point to the fact that $10 billion is a small relative amount of Bezos? net worth. They will ask when Amazon will stop supporting the oil and gas industry or when it will halt support for climate-denying organizations such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The world needs these said naysayers to continue to push the envelope.

In addition to playing watchdog and urging the world?s most powerful company to improve its sustainability initiatives, we should also look at the glass half-full. The world has $10 billion more available to fund climate initiatives than it did before. The sports world, by way of Amazon, is taking the climate conversation blatantly mainstream. These efforts will help accelerate the shift to a cleaner world powered by renewable energy.

Read the GreenBiz article here

The post The green sports movement finally hits mainstream appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

By Kristen Fulmer

In recent months, COVID-19 has amplified the importance of air and water quality, effective communications and signage, equitable design and many other critical facets of the healthy buildings movement. The larger ?sustainable design? industry has leveraged this momentum and has begun to address healthy, safe, and sustainable strategies for the reopening of buildings that have been temporarily closed.

As research emerges and procedures evolve from recommendations to mandatory protocol, the green buildings movement is working in real time to validate that the protocol is healthy for all building occupants and will remain applicable to future-proof the operational resiliency, while promoting sustainable best practices.

The drive to reopen spans all industries and though the reopening of office, dining, and retail space has been a primary focus, the sports industry is also hard at work. As one of the last public spaces to reopen, these venues, arenas and stadiums have tremendous opportunity to leverage the #BuildBackBetter movement, integrating safe, resilient, and sustainable strategies into an enjoyable re-welcoming of fans back to stadiums. Of course, the balance to guarantee safety and health, including security, sustainability, and ease of enjoyment is not a simple task.

Historically, sustainability professionals have been advocates for the integration of healthy, sustainable strategies in building design, construction, and operations. A subset of those subject matter experts have been largely focused on the sports greening movement, which is the intersection between sustainable buildings, sustainable events, and the powerful platform of the sports industry. The Green Sports Alliance (GSA) is one of the largest networks of professional and collegiate-minded sports organizations, sustainable vendors, and sustainability professionals and has recently been heavily focused on supporting their members to reopen safely and sustainably.

In early June 2020, the GSA partnered with USGBC?s Arc?s Re-Entry Platform, as an effort to provide their members with an actionable tool to consolidate best practices and track industry movement towards them. Following the announcement of the partnership, the Green Sports Alliance sourced a team of experts within their network to form a ?Ready to Play? Working Group. In the last two months, the select collection of venue operation managers, green sports consultants, and various subject matter experts, worked diligently to tailor the Arc Re-Entry Toolkit into a Playbook of best practices, recommendations, references, and standards for the sports industry.

As a contributing member to the ?Ready to Play? Working Group, our group discussed nuances and unique qualities of the sports industry, shared resources that we had seen that may be applicable to reopening sports, and split into groups to address the three pillars of Arc Re-Entry, including Facility Management, Occupant Experience, and Indoor Air Quality.

Some critical takeaways in applying Arc Re-Entry to the sports industry include:

• While live sports continue to be paused, the larger sports industry has a tremendous opportunity to reopen safely while promoting environmental sustainability, social equity, and the other critical components of a sustainable building. The ?Ready to Play? Working Group discussed this opportunity to #BuildBackBetter at length, and approached the collection of recommendations with the interest of integrating all facets of sustainability into the reopening plan. This is evident in the framework of the Playbook, which is designed to address holistic implications of the virus.
• Unlike other more standard real estate typologies, each sports venue is uniquely designed. Some are indoors and some are open-air; some were built to accommodate large seated crowds and others are built to facilitate more active participation; some are home to professional sports that have much higher operational budgets than others; and of course, each venue is part of a larger community, which has experienced COVID-19 quite differently. To ensure that the ?Ready to Play? Playbook was inclusive of all live stadium types, the ?Ready to Play? Working Group collected a variety of applicable resources and best practices and included notes to support GSA?s full network of members. 
• The return of live sports will probably be phased to reduce the concentration of crowds. The team assumed that the stadium will not be sold out the first day it is open, but will instead increase the sale of tickets over time, to ensure a safe and enjoyable return of fans. To support event teams? comprehensive roll-out, the ?Ready to Play? Working Group addressed strategies that could evolve over time, including facility management best practices and policy updates, periodic air quality testing protocol, and recommendations for addressing occupant feedback. 

Last week, Green Sports Alliance released the first version of the ?Ready to Play? Playbook. Over time, the Working Group will continue to iterate this Playbook to accommodate the additional research that will emerge about the virus generally, and will integrate lessons learned and case studies from live events that have since opened to the public.

The ?Ready to Play? Playbook provides a framework that is complementary to a variety of other tools, standards, and set of recommendations. Other valuable resources include the Sustainable Sport Research Collective?s ?The Sustainable Sport Agenda: Opportunities for the Sports Industry to #BuildBackBetter?, Oceanic Global?s COVID-19 Guidelines; and other third-party validation tools, including IWBI?s WELL Health & Safety Rating and ISSA?s GBAC Star Certification.

Kristen Fulmer, Founder of Recipric, is a sustainability expert, focused on maximizing performance and promoting occupant health and wellbeing within the built environment. At Recipric, she applies this passion to the sports industry, integrating holistic sustainability strategy into sports organizations and their brand partners to ensure measurable, impactful positive impact. 

Read the original article here

The post ‘Ready to Play’ is the sports industry’s Arc Re-Entry appeared first on Green Sports Alliance.

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