Stadiums Their Abhorrent Consumption of Resources

Stadiums are the gathering places for multiple events all over the world. Some countries are diligently working at lowering the operation costs as well as remaining environmentally friendly. These efforts are born out of necessity when stadiums such as Razorback in Arkansas exceeded 500,000 in one year. They use LED lights as much as possible but the bills keep climbing higher and higher averaging nearly 40,000 for two games.

The new Dallas stadium, which at times consumes 10 megawatts of electricity, is said to use three times more electricity than Liberia can even produce according to reporter Nicholas Kristof. The electric company refuses to provide the exact amount of resources demanded at peak moments in Dallas, but representatives admit it uses as much as a medium-sized American city. To put it in proper perspective, this is the largest stadium in the world with a dome. It took 73 acres of land, nearly 2 billion dollars to build and hosts 80,000 people watching the biggest video screen anywhere. But is there a better way?

Systems are necessary to support an entire host of energy grabbing processes like the lighting, the scoreboards, communication systems and data networks, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Will They Start Making Stadiums Greener

MCG, the largest cricket stadium in the world, has recently upgraded their apparatuses and technological systems to save energy and be kinder to mother earth. Some of the new changes include exchanging halogen lights for LEDS with motion sensors and installing a mechanism to slow the air conditioner fans. Those few steps are enough to reduce energy consumption by half.

Coming soon is Perth Stadium, with a seating capacity of 60,000. It is under contract- however, the approved costs of $1.277 billion include transportation and a sports precinct that surrounds it. It also contains a maintenance contract extending for 25 years. Don’t worry about the exorbitant price- they want you to know they saved $324 million by using the DBFM.

Other than the decision to use LED lighting the energy demands at Perth sound expensive. It will host 1000 televisions, two giant video screens, hot and cold spas and 70 food vendors. That doesn’t take into account the electrical requirements to support the scoreboard and communication systems. There is no mention of going green here, but perhaps they just haven’t completed the plans.

There are a number of stadiums that have implemented greener methods to create sustainable energy sources. The world’s friendliest stadium is Lincoln Stadium in Pennsylvania. They use solar panels and wind turbines to produce renewable power in excess of 3MW. Brazils’ National Mane Garrincha football Stadium utilizes the sun, rain collecting and recycling, and LED lighting to save energy. The list goes on, and they function quite well, so why not harness the power of the earth to save it?