Typology: Green Sports Alliance
By Emily Torem & Kate West, gb&d Magazine
When we talk about sporting arenas, the conversation is usually about the team’s athletic ability or if they’re going to have a good season. But now, in an era where the 2016 Super Bowl was widely touted as the greenest yet (thanks to the incredibly efficient Levi’s Stadium), the arena itself is taking the spotlight when it comes to energy efficient and sustainable practices. In this section, Kate West and Emily Torem explore how Boston’s Fenway Park, Husky Stadium at the University of Washington in Seattle, and the new Golden 1 Center in Sacramento are making headlines using state-of-the-art resources and design that combines nature and technology to create a fan experience like no other.Each of these complexes is a member of the Green Sports Alliance, an organization that “leverages the cultural and market influence of sports to promote healthy, sustainable communities where we live and play” by inspiring sports leagues, teams, venues, their partners, and millions of fans to embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling, water efficiency, and much more. GSA boasts more than 345 sports teams and venues from 20 different leagues and 14 countries. Here, we look at how three of them are using fiscally beneficial sustainable practices and setting a new standard in architectural design for large multi-purpose facilities