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The Washington Nationals’ gleaming new baseball park that opens tonight is the first green professional stadium in the United States.
The Nats’ stadium received a LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification from the council for its energy-conserving and environmental design.
To earn the certification, the ballpark was outfitted with energy-saving light fixtures, water-conserving plumbing, drought-resistant plants, and a green roof over the concessions area.
It was also erected on a restored brownfield that once had contaminated soil, and it has special systems in place to keep stormwater runoff from polluting the nearby Anacostia River.
“One of the things that really strikes me about stadium facilities is that they directly touch millions of people over the course of their existence,” the council’s Brendan Owens said.In preparation for Sunday’s inaugural game against the Atlanta Braves, construction workers bustled past photographers and camera crews on Friday to add touches of blue paint to seating and decor to the restaurant overlooking center field.
Construction cranes swept through the skies at building sites nearby — signs of the development the stadium has inspired in the surrounding area.
Now, can they bat the size of their hat all season long? They beat the Orioles 3 – 0, last night.
I’ll be impressed when they make buildings and facilities that are so energy thrifty that they generate more energy than they consume 😉
wonderful… all at an amazing expense to the tax payers and no one mentions how it’s one of the least accessible and friendly parks around. Oh, it will also house the worst team in baseball.
They could have made it even greener by not building the junk.
Well, we spend tax money on theaters, arts and other “culture” crap, why not stadiums?
i can’t tell if the photo is average cg rendering or that newfangled ultra-realistic hdr photography
The greenest ballparks are Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, because they haven’t generated any construction debris in a very long time. Yankee Stadium would be in there too, but the Yankees are tearing it down.
#5 – Actually, it’s the architect’s rendering.
I was in Brazil the end of Feb. and the first of March attending an International Water conference. After a hard day of talking about water pollution we would head out for another kind of pollution and the subject of **green** projects came up. While drinking many beers with actual scientists and enviromental experts from all over the world I discovered that these experts think so-called **green** projects are bullsh*t.
Oh, they save 40 second’s worth of power or a few gallons of water but basically they are just feel good projects to make people think goverment or business is really trying to be responsible.
It’s like hybrid cars….especially the battery/gas ones, are a joke. When you realize what it takes to produce one of those wonderful cars, you suddenly realize that they are worse for the enviroment than a desiel or gas car that is produced to get high mileage in the regular way.
I also spent some time (several days)living in a tree in the rain forest….now that will teach you some serious enviromental lessons. 🙂
For real “Green” Playing Fields, check out your local Little League – a grass field, a few benches and backstops, and nothing more !!! Of course, no one can make MILLIONS OF DOLLARS at it, so it doesn’t get much PR !!!