When the New York Jets and New York Giants kickoff their 2010 seasons, they won’t just have a new stadium to call home, they’ll be playing in one of the greenest venues in sports thanks to a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA and the New Meadowlands Stadium Company, the stadium’s principal owner, today signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines plans to incorporate environmentally-friendly materials and practices into the construction and operation of New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
When the New York Jets and New York Giants kickoff their 2010 seasons, they won’t just have a new stadium to call home, they’ll be playing in one of the greenest venues in sports thanks to a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA and the New Meadowlands Stadium Company, the stadium’s principal owner, today signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines plans to incorporate environmentally-friendly materials and practices into the construction and operation of New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Goals for the new stadium include cutting the stadium’s annual water use by 25 percent, making it 30 percent more energy efficient than Giants Stadium, increasing total recycling by 25 percent and recycling 75 percent of construction waste. All told, the goals of the agreement stand to save the equivalent of the emissions of nearly 1.68 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change, during the stadium’s construction and its first year of operations. That’s equal to taking more than 300,000 cars off the road for a whole year or the emissions from the energy needed to power 150,000 American homes for one year.
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Highlights of the goals established under the agreement include:
* Using some 40,000 tons of recycled steel to build the stadium and recycling 20,000 tons of steel when Giants Stadium is demolished;
* Installing seating made partially from recycled plastic and scrap iron;
* Building the stadium on a parcel of rehabilitated land, a former brownfield;
* Reducing air pollution from construction vehicles by using cleaner diesel fuel, diesel engine filters, and shortening how long engines idle;
* Using environmentally-friendly concrete in construction;
* Reducing water consumption and increasing energy efficiency;
* Providing mass transit options for fans; and
* Replacing traditional concession plates, cups and carries with compostable alternatives.
Progress reports to the EPA will quantify the environmental results of the efforts.
For more information: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/EB8BD7874DB85F38852575C8005452A8
