Scoring with Sustainability

There’s no denying that sustainability offers not only a winning strategy for environmental protection but for the reduction of operation costs as well. As such, many sports organizations like the NFL and MLB have put their own colors aside in recent years to jump on board with the “green team” and renovate America’s stadiums to feature a variety of technologies for clean energy.

 
Most recently, plans were announced this week for a solar installation at FedExField, home of the Washington Redskins. Design firm DLR Group and NRG Energy will collaborate to install 8,000 panels across 850 spaces in the stadium’s Platinum A1 Parking Lot—which will generate up to two megawatts (MW) of electricity—and about 200 translucent solar panels will be placed on the exterior of the NRG entry plaza at Gate A pedestrian entry ramp. The plaza entrance also will house two sculptures of football players created with thin film solar technology to produce even more energy for the stadium.

Additionally, 10 electric vehicle charging stations from NRG’s eVgo^sm charging network will be added to the grounds and kiosks in parking lot A1 and the NRG entry plaza on the west corner of FedExField will provide fans with information about renewable energy and NRG clean energy solutions. The project will be complete this September in time for the 2011 NFL football season.

 
Also set for a September completion is an energy-saving endeavor which will allow Lincoln Financial Field, home to the Philadelphia Eagles, to become the world’s first sports stadium to fully convert to self-generated renewable energy. Solar Blue will cover the stadium’s façade with 2,500 solar panels, set 80 20-foot wind turbines atop the stadium rim, and operate a 7.6 megawatt onsite dual-fuel cogeneration plant to save an estimated $60 million in energy costs. All of the technologies will be controlled via an executed monitoring and switching technology.

 
The Seattle Seahawks announced in May that they are striving to decrease their carbon footprint, too. Solyndra solar panels will be installed by McKinstry to the roof of Qwest Field. The thin-film, tube-shaped CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, and selenide) solar cells will cover 2½ acres (80 percent) of the stadium. Light reflecting off the stadium’s existing “cool roof”—which serves to reduce heat absorption—should add to the production of electricity as it is captured by the new panels. Qwest Field’s utility costs are expected to shrink by 21 percent. The project expects completion sometime this summer.

 
Solar Blue has also held a relationship with the Boston Red Sox. GroSolar installed a solar thermal system manufactured by Heliodyne Incorporated on the roof of Fenway Park’s fifth floor media level in 2008. Thirty-seven percent of the gas used for heating is offset by the system, avoiding 18 tons of CO2 emissions. (The amount of emissions conserved can be compared to not driving a car for 43,611 miles!) Solar Blue is now considered the official energy conservation partner of the baseball team and Fenway Park.

 
Across the country from the Red Sox lies the first existing ballpark to attain LEED Silver status, San Francisco’s AT&T Park. In 2007, Solar Design Associates was commissioned by the Giants baseball team to install 590 Sharp solar panels to supply energy to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers in the San Francisco area. The stadium’s Diamond Vision scoreboard also is sustainable—it uses 78 percent less energy than the ballpark's original scoreboard.

It’s great to see that sporting venues are picking up the pace on sustainable design, especially since they hold such a prominent spot in the public eye. But it seems that these types of projects still have a long way to go when it comes to transitioning to the greener side of the fence. Why do you think stadiums have been so slow to renovate to decrease their carbon footprint? What can designers do to encourage facility managers and team owners to invest in green design?

--Raysha Armbrustmacher

Checking In: Beijing Water Cube Water Park Project

After Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympic Games in the uniquely designed “Water Cube,” some of our readers wondered about the future of this mammoth National Aquatic Centre. As Contract magazine previously reported in February, the Water Cube is being re-designed as an entertainment destination, and the multi-feature construction is poised to open in August as "The Happy Magic Watercube Waterpark."

After some thorough follow-up digging, Contract discovered a few new tidbits to satisfy our readers’ design-hungry appetites:

The redesign is by Canadian firm Forrec, internationally known for theme parks, water parks, and other venues. Forrec is one of several top industry suppliers and consultants weighing in on the project, including Australian waterpark veteran Alan Mahony. The design features top-notch and even some "first-ever" attractions, notably the RideHouse play structure, by industry leader ProSlide Technology. This structure will accompany China’s first AquaLoop looping waterslide, by WhiteWater West; a water Tornado; tube slides, body slides; lazy river, wave pool, and other attractions. Additionally, more than one-third of the over 100,000-sq.-ft. Watercube was pre-planned for conversion into a recreational waterpark at the time of its original construction.

“The client has been wonderful to work with,” comments Forrec vice-president Anthony Van Dam in a statement. “They have very high expectations and are focused on quality and innovation. Although the company and its leadership are humble and have made an effort to remain anonymous, I expect you will be hearing much more of them in the coming years.”

Yet, despite all this, an aura of mystery surrounds the opening of the Happy Magic Watercube Waterpark. A representative at ProSlide Technology shared a possible reason: the language barrier. Although this exciting new design should hold international interest, few non-Chinese-speakers are hearing about it—until now. (Trying to track down additional plan details and facts proved to be quite the feat!)

Once the park operations are underway, I'm sure more English-speakers will hear about it and visit with rave reviews. “This promises to be one of the leading indoor waterparks in the world,” says Van Dam. “It will provide enjoyment for many families and, thanks to the unique design, offer two very different but memorable experiences by day and night.” He refers here to the unique bubble design on the building's exterior, which glows from within at night. But so far, Contract magazine seems to have the only scoop on this project.

Have you found any other reports? Share with us by commenting below.

--Lillian Civantos

Recycled Skateboards for Retail

Creativity is truly a form of genius. Recently, I came across one of the coolest design ideas ever. And when I say “ever” – I mean in, like, the history of the world (insert valley girl accent here).

Art of Board (AOB) is merging recycling with design by using scraps from broken skateboard decks for retail design. What?! Recycled skateboards for retail? Seriously, these people are brilliant.

In addition, AOB launched I Ride I Recycle, the first-ever skateboard deck recycling organization. The new organization is approaching skateboard shops, manufacturers and skaters themselves to ask for donations of broken or unwanted decks. So, not only is AOB filled with creative geniuses, they’re saving the planet, too. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing better.

Designs include everything from picture frames to mirrors, coasters, tables, mosaics or the recently designed kitchen backsplash for a LEED-certified recording studio in Hollywood and a wall surface in a hip surf shop in Ocean City, Md.

Imagine the uniqueness of every design, not to mention the bragging rights of saving the planet and looking cool while doing it.

I’m consistently amazed, impressed and in pure awe of what people are capable of when it comes to giving our planet love. Something as simple as old skateboards has now morphed into an ultra-hip way to design our spaces and keep our landfills less full. Divine!

Tell us about designers you know who are equally talented. Leave your comments here!

--Heather Strang, Display & Design Ideas

Olympic Proportions: World’s Largest Glass Skis Designed by Architect

By Stacy Straczynski, Assocaite Editor

If anyone in Vancouver missed that the 2010 Winter Olympics were underway (Pretty hard to believe right!), they’ll get a huge artistic reminder when they see these 16-ft.-tall skis that were installed outside architectural glass artist Joel Berman’s Vancouver-based studio, Joel Berman Glass Studio. The pair of blue, white, and red skis were commissioned by K2 Sports, a Seattle-based snow ski and snowboard manufacturer, are the largest all glass skis in the world and features new glass-on-glass color printing technology on fused colored glass.

   

The skis will be on display in the downtown Vancouver entertainment epicenter through Feb. 28, after which they will be moved permanently to KI’s 3 00,000-sq.-ft. headquarters facilities.