Green, a Great Color for Sports

Today’s favorite planet? Earth. Earth’s favorite color? Green; and in a time when everybody is looking to go green, Denver is excelling with many programs in place to advance the metro area’s green initiatives. With the NFL in its playoff season, people everywhere are in a sports mode, and what better time to look at green initiatives in place at our own sports stadiums? The Pepsi Center, Sports Authority Field and Coors Field all have great “green” programs in place.

The Pepsi Center was the first sports venue to join the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders Program, and claim 100% “green” status. Termed “Play Clean,” the Pepsi Center’s green initiatives began in July 2007. In this time the facility has installed giant downdrift fans, a cardboard recycling baler, replaced lights in the building’s two club-level restaurants, and purchased renewable energy certificates. The Blue Sky Grill, a popular restaurant located in the Pepsi Center, installed 52 solar power panels on its patio roof, which produce 13,000 Kilowatt hours (KWhrs.) of energy annually, and powers the restaurant’s interior lights for the year.

In one year, the Pepsi Center saves 40,000 KWhrs., recycles 100 tons of cardboard and cuts green house gas emissions by 8,000 metric tons of CO2. Impressive, considering the facility is home to over 200 sporting events and concerts each year, not to mention the Democratic National Convention, during which the venue was a part of Xcel Energy’s Windsource program which provides enough wind power to offset energy used during the convention.

As charter member of the Rocky Mountain Region Greener Venues Partnership, Sports Authority Field at Mile High is also green. Since it’s implantation in 2007, “Game Plan Green” has put in place many eco-saving programs. Coming into their fifth year, Sports Authority Field has initiated a stadium-wide recycling program, installed a cardboard baler, and began compositing in the main kitchens. In 2008 the venue partnered with Johnson and Whales University to create the Green Team who distributed free trash bags to tailgaters in the parking lot prior to football games.

The organization also created its own Energy Management Program, which has executed 300 lighting retrofits, installed 23 motion sensors and 16 in-ceiling fans to assist with temperature control, reducing the venue’s energy use by 11%. Sports Authority Field also participated in Xcel Energy’s Windsource program during the 2011 season.

Being the oldest of the three venues, Coors Field does not have the green resume that the other two do, but with its open-air design the venue is already cutting cost by not having to light day games. With the assistance of Xcel Energy, the field had solar panels installed on the Rockpile that generate 40,000 KWhrs. annually, enough to power the Rockpile scoreboard all season.

Along with the installation of eco-friendly products, the Colorado Rockies also do their part to encourage fans to go green by organizing programs like “bike-to-the-game” and “Games of Green,” in which fans can purchase a $20 “Green Pack,” consisting of two tickets and a $5 donation to “Wood for Wood,” a program that plants one tree for each homerun hit during the green games.

With each of our major sports venues pushing green initiatives, it is hard not to get involved. Each facility has lists of energy-saving tips posted on their websites encouraging fans to get involved with the green movement. In a day full of hybrid cars and energy-saving light bulbs, out professional sports venues are showing people nation wide that green is also a great color for sports.