There will be more than just shining stars on display when the 87th annual All-Star Game is played July 12 at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. There also will be bright lights — really bright lights — as this will be Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game held under LED lights.
“Besides saving energy, there’s much better light quality, financial savings and enhanced broadcast quality because it’s brighter and more uniform,” said Mark Guglielmo, vice president of ballpark operations and general manager of Petco Park.
This season, the Padres became the second MLB team to utilize LED lights on the field; Seattle was the first. The Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees also debuted LED lights in 2016. Other teams have installed LED lights in areas such as concourses, concession stands and offices, and eventually may add them to the field.
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LED lighting is just the start of sustainable activity for the All-Star Game in San Diego.
Photo by: Ron Gee / Musco |
“Each ballpark will save 250,000 kilowatt hours [per year] by using LED lights,” said Paul Hanlon, MLB’s director of facility operations.
The Green Sports Alliance, founded in 2011, has motivated pro and college teams and leagues to promote and practice environmental sustainability. MLB and the NHL are the first two major leagues to become league members of the GSA, and have all of their teams as members as well.
The GSA encourages leagues, teams and venues to set an example of environmental responsibility by embracing such initiatives as renewable energy, recycling, water efficiency and safer chemicals.
Thus MLB and the Padres are making a big push for sustainable practices at the All-Star Game, including:
■ Offsets: To cut the environmental impact of All-Star Game events, MLB will use renewable energy certificates, water restoration certificates and carbon offsets.
■ All-Star Walking Path: Fans will be encouraged to walk, not drive, between the FanFest at the San Diego Convention Center, Petco Park, hotels and San Diego Metropolitan Transit System stations. Green markings on the sidewalk and signage will highlight the path.
■ Recycling: The All-Star Green Team will collect recyclable materials and talk about recycling with fans at the game and other events. The Padres are one of the many teams to recycle their waste; in 2015, the team turned 53.5 tons of used cooking oil into biodiesel and composted 247.2 tons of food.
■ Organic waste diversion: MLB and the Padres will collect uneaten food to help local people in need. In 2015, the Padres donated 10.1 tons of leftover food.
■ Materials: The paper used for All-Star invitations, media guides and other collateral is 100 percent Sustainable Forestry Initiative certified paper. Also, paper towels and toilet tissue are made from 70 percent recycled fibers.
■ Awareness: The FanFest will include a display about MLB’s and the Padres’ environmental efforts. MLB also is working with the University of San Diego and other schools, providing a two-credit course on environmental stewardship at events.
“When we opened Petco Park in 2004, we were very proactive and focused on developing a green initiative that implemented recycling, waste management, energy efficiency and water-conservation projects,” Guglielmo said.
The Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Indians are among the teams that draw some concession stand ingredients from their own gardens. And MLB holds a monthly conference call to talk about the latest green practices.
The biggest benefit of all this work? “Really, the awareness,” Hanlon said. “It’s the participation of the fans, and we want everyone who comes to the ballpark to understand how easy it is to do this at home, realize what you’re utilizing.”
Fan engagement also is important to the NHL. The league learned from a 2014 study that its fans were 11 times more likely to recycle and 19 percent more likely to donate money to environmental causes compared to the overall population, according to Omar Mitchell, the NHL’s vice president of corporate social responsibility.
The NHL’s interest in green practices goes back to the game’s roots.
“We’re concerned about this because our sport, unlike many other sports, is unique because it’s tied to the environment,” Mitchell said. “We need cold weather; we need fresh water for folks to play the game in its most natural setting.”
The NHL has learned that 75 percent of its carbon emissions came from energy consumption in the arenas, thus it encourages teams to follow green initiatives such as installing LED lights on the ice (most of the 30 arenas are using LED lights in at least some areas, and six shine them on the ice as well). California-based teams use fuel-cell technology for energy efficiency and many arenas have switched to waterless urinals. During the 2015-16 season, teams donated a combined 100 tons of food to local food banks, good for 120,000 meals. All arenas are recycling or composting materials, and there’s more use of green cleaning supplies.
The league is looking forward to the September debut of Rogers Place, the LEED-certified new home of the Edmonton Oilers. The arena, which will seat 18,500, not only boasts the latest in green practices but also is integrated into a redeveloped area of the city that will encourage fans to walk to the arena. Rogers Place is part of the Ice District, a sports and entertainment development spread over 25 acres that also includes office and retail space, a hotel, residential units and a 75,000-square-foot public plaza.
“We designed Ice District to be integrated into the city, with really excellent pedestrian corridors to Rogers Place, the Royal Alberta Museum and the civic precincts,” said Tim Shipton, vice president of corporate communications and government relations for Oilers Entertainment Group. “Walkable pedestrian corridors were very important because we’re bringing a lot of people into downtown’s core. We’re very well-connected to public transportation.
The light-rail transit stops within walking distance. And there are charging stations for electric cars.”
Other Rogers Place sustainability highlights:
■ Low-flow plumbing and fixtures will reduce water use by 35 percent compared with the Oilers’ current arena.
■ Energy efficiency will be boosted by a dashboard that provides real-time information about energy consumption.
“It enables you to better decide when to light … when not to do it,” Shipton said. “It can give enormous savings.”
■ The highly insulated building envelope enables the arena to capture heat and not release it into outside air — important in northern Alberta. That saves energy and money.
■ Construction crews have recycled or repurposed 3,000 tons of waste that won’t be going to a landfill.
“It will be one of the top buildings with environmental sustainability in mind,” Mitchell said. “It’s quite an extraordinary building.”
Bruce Goldberg is a writer in Denver.
