Major League Baseball Goes Green

Well, not exactly, but the Washington Nationals' ballpark became the first stadium in the United States that houses any sport to get LEED certified. From lighting to water conservation to bicycle racks, the stadium picked up enough points to be certified silver. Here are the highlights:

• Built on sand filters to prevent dirty stadium water and fan waste from polluting the Anacostia river
• Saves 21% on field lighting (majority of games are playing at night)
  
• Water conserving plumbing, dual flush toilets
  
• Air-cooled chillers (to save water)
  
• 20 % of materials in construction are recycled materials
• Metro stop built into stadium, bicycle racks
• Unlike LivingHomes, the stadium is built for the masses

The design was created by HOK, a company based on sustainable design. This isn't the first "greener" sports stadium they created, only the first to be LEED certified.

Now if only something could be done with the millions of miles traveled by plane by each team each year. Teams typically travel twice a week for a 3 game series. I wrote a blog weeks ago about how NHL players buy carbon offsets to offset their carbon footprint from travel.