by Shane Henson — April 6, 2012—Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers since 2001, impressed its fans when it became the first stadium in the nation with a retractable roof. Now, fans have something just as great to brag about: Miller Park recently became only the third Major League Baseball stadium to become Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified in the category of Existing Building Operations and Maintenance.
Johnson Controls, a global leader in delivering solutions that increase energy efficiency in buildings, is the facilities manager for the stadium and coordinated the LEED process. The company was able to meet the special energy and ventilation requirements presented by the retractable roof. Only two other Major League Baseball stadiums have achieved LEED recognition for Existing Buildings: AT&T Park in San Francisco and Target Field in Minneapolis, and both are open-air facilities, notes the company.
According to Johnson Controls, new improvements and initiatives contributing to the certification include:
- A new high-definition scoreboard using 49% less energy;
- Upgrades to HVAC systems, equipment and controls, plumbing, electrical lighting and power systems, expected to reduce 1,153 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. This is reportedly the equivalent to taking 220 cars off the road each year;
- Replacement of old water fixtures to help save an anticipated 5.2 million gallons of water annually;
- Addition of more than 140 new recycling containers, averaging 10 tons of waste recycling each game;
- More than 50% of cleaning products meet sustainability criteria as “green cleaning” products;
- Smoking areas moved 25 feet from doors, windows and ventilation systems to preserve the indoor air quality for occupants; and
- Donation of more than 7,000 pounds of food to area food banks and shelters in the last half of the 2011 season, providing 5,300 meals.
- Upgrades to HVAC systems, equipment and controls, plumbing, electrical lighting and power systems, expected to reduce 1,153 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. This is reportedly the equivalent to taking 220 cars off the road each year;
Johnson Controls managed the entire LEED project at Miller Park, which included helping the Milwaukee Brewers identify ways to become more sustainable and to draft policies to help stadium service providers and vendors adhere to sustainability goals. Johnson Controls also provided sustainability training and conducted a waste audit by physically sorting through trash from Miller Park at Waste Management’s Orchard Ridge Landfill in Menomonee Falls.
Johnson Controls has helped its customers to secure green building certification for more than 15 million square feet of building space worldwide. Johnson Controls also “walks the talk” at its own global headquarters in Glendale, Wisconsin, which represents the largest concentration of LEED Platinum buildings (four) in the world.
