Mar 30 2008

Take me out to the greenpark

I've been looking for a clean green energy peg to mark the start tonight of the Major League Baseball season (I'm not counting the two-game Boston-Oakland series in far-off Japan last week) and the National League Washington Nationals have delivered. The National's shiny new yard in southeast Washington has received LEED Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the first major stadium in the country to achieve the certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

The 41,000-seat park's green elements include:

• High-efficiency field lighting saving 21 percent over typical field lighting.
• Water-conserving plumbing fixtures saving 3.6 million gallons of water per year and reducing overall water consumption by 30 percent.
• Air-cooled chillers instead of water-cooled chillers to save another 6 million gallons of water per year.
• 100 recycling bins for fan use throughout the park.
• Recycled materials in 20 percent of the park's construction and recycling 5,500 tons of construction waste.
• A 6,300-square foot green roof of plants above a concession/toilet area beyond left field to collect rain water and minimize roof heat gain.
• Signage around the ballpark highlighting the ballpark's environmentally friendly aspects.

The new park may be the brightest part of the Nationals' 2008 season; the club - formerly the Montreal Expos - is tipped for 4th or 5th in the five-team National League East. Their opponent tonight in the nationally-televised opener is the Atlanta Braves, forecast for the middle of the division behind the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Here's a "sneak peek" video tour of the park with ESPN.com's Amy Nelson:

Back home here in San Francisco, the Giants' AT&T Park will mark its second season with a solar power system of up to 120 kilowatts of green energy installed last year by PG&E in a green power partnership with the Giants. The solar energy system connects the solar panels into San Francisco's power grid to help the city achieve its goal to become the greenest city in the nation.

Play ball!

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