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US Green Building Council-National Capital Region Selects America’s Greenest Ballpark as Project of the Year
Members of the U.S. Green Building Council's National Capital Region presented the Nationals Park design team with its prestigious Project of the Year award at its annual awards ceremony Thursday night. Nationals Park received LEED® Silver Certification earlier this year.
"We didn’t design a green ballpark for the accolades, but it sure is nice," said Joe Spear, FAIA, HOK Sport principal in charge of the project. "With Nationals Park, we forged a new path in sports facility design. This ballpark was the tipping point – we've proven it can be done – and it's now a role model for the future."
Set near the Anacostia River, the ballpark's site dictated much of the approach to LEED Certification. The ballpark rests on soil that once was contaminated. That soil was treated and replaced. Also, six massive sand filters buried underground will keep ballpark washdown water, hot dog wrappers and other debris from polluting the river nearby. The ballpark also neighbors a variety of public transportation options, including rail, bike and bus routes.
The U.S. Green Building Council said Nationals Park was one of the most ambitious projects ever to achieve certification. The ballpark received 34 points toward LEED Certification for such green design elements as:
- Using high efficiency field lighting, which will save 21 percent over typical field lighting.
- Installing water conserving plumbing fixtures, which will save 3.6 million gallons of water per year and reduce overall water consumption by 30 percent.
- Using air-cooled chillers instead of water-cooled chillers will save another 6 million gallons of water per year.
- Placing 100 recycling bins for fan use throughout the ballpark.
- Using recycled materials in 20 percent of the ballpark's construction, and recycling 5,500 tons of construction waste.
- Planting a 6,300 square foot green roof above a concession/toilet area beyond left field to collect rain water and minimize roof heat gain.
- Creating signage around the ballpark highlighting the ballpark's environmentally friendly aspects.
More information about Nationals Park, as well as HOK Sport's other sustainable projects, can be found at www.hoksport.com/sustainable.
For further information please contact
Gina Leo at HOK Sport (Kansas City)
Telephone: +1 816 221 1500
Facsimile: +1 816 221 1578
Email media@hoksve.com