Good work by the FL teams as reported by The Sun Sentinel. We'll cover this over two days:
Heat, Marlins, Magic lauded for green initiatives
"Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena and Marlins Park, and Orlando’s Amway Center are among the venues cited as figuring prominently in the green movement in pro sports in a report released Wednesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council, in collaboration with the Green Sports Alliance.
The report, Game Changer: How the Sports Industry is Saving the Environment, reveals the collective impact the industry is having on advancing environmental protection in North America, documenting innovative and cost-effective steps taken across all professional leagues.
The Miami Heat’s Triple-A became LEED-certified for existing buildings in 2009. The report quoted Jackie Ventura, the Heat’s operations coordinator, as saying the project resulted in $1.6 million in energy saving within the first year. It cost $73,384 to make the changes needed to obtain the certification.
“We also attracted about $1 million in new corporate sponsors, which include Home Depot and Waste Management, who aligned with our greening efforts as sponsors of our LEED initiative,” Ventura said in the report. “Being environmentally conscious improves our brand’s image so that we now talk with companies that never would have approached us before, such as Johnson & Johnson and Georgia Pacific.”
Marlins Park in May became Major League Baseball’s first LEED Gold-certified new ballpark. Among the ballparks green features, efficient plumbing innovations are designed to reduce water use by 52 percent, saving six million gallons of water each year compared to the national average for similar stadiums.
The Orlango Magic’s achieved that distinction among NBA arenas in 2010. The arena uses approximately 25 percent less energy and 40 percent less water than arenas of similar size and type, saving the team nearly $700,000 annually in energy costs.
“The motivation for sports to engage in greening is simple; the games we love today were born outdoors, and without clean air to breathe, clean water and a healthy climate, sports would be impossible,” said Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, director of NRDC’s green sports project. “A cultural shift in environmental awareness is needed in order for us to address the serious ecological problems we face, and the sports industry, through its own innovative actions, has chosen to lead the way.
“Pro sports are showing that smart energy, water and recycling practices make sense. They save money and prevent waste. That’s as mainstream and non-partisan as it comes.”
Some highlights from the report, whichcan be viewed at the NRDC site..."
Some highlights from the report, whichcan be viewed at the NRDC site..."
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