Since the first plans for the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2007 the NHL franchise Atlanta Falcons wanted to create a building that would be state of the art in one of the most important areas: Sustainability.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium is on target to meet the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ certification, the industry’s internationally-recognized rating system for environmentally conscience developers and setting the bar for environmental responsibility for venues around the world.
“Arthur set a goal. He said ‘I want this building to be LEED certified. I want it to be LEED certified at least at a gold level.’ It was initially described to us as potentially not doable,” says Falcons President & CEO Rich McKay.
After Stadium General Manager and Chairman of the Green Sports Alliance Scott Jenkins cam onboard, that goal was shifted even higher. Now the Falcons chase for LEED Platinum.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium is designed to:
- Save 29 % in energy usage compared to a typical stadium design
- Has 4,000 solar panels generating around 1.6 million kilowatt hours per year of renewable energy – enough to power 160 households in Atlanta; more than nine Atlanta Falcons home games or 13 Atlanta United home matches
- Electric car charging stations
- Onsite edible landscaping
- 680,000-gallon cistern used for water recapture and reuse for land irrigation
- 1 million gallon cooling tower
These efforts also led to the White House Office of Science and Technology recognizing Mercedes-Benz Stadium on the newly formed Green Sports Day on October 6, 2016.
“It’s the right thing to do and we believe that most things we do, we do for the right reasons and worry about whether the economics make sense later,” says Falcons Owner Arthur Blank.
Jenkins agrees. He spent years working on Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia Eagles), and Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers), but those pale in comparison to the project he encountered with Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“We benefitted by Arthur’s vision and commandment to this project and that is unusual to have someone to care that much about sustainability and put their money where their mouth is,” says Jenkins. (Stadiaworld, 17.03.2017)
