NY Mets Fans Rejoice As Citi Field Gets Green Electricity
The New York Mets baseball team has some good news for all you Mets fans out there (disclaimer: includes self) who are looking for a bright spot in the season. It looks like the next time you go to the team’s home turf, Citi Field, you’ll get to enjoy the game, the hot dogs, and the new experience of a 100 percent alternative energy offset for the facility’s electricity use, all the way through June 2016.
That’s just the latest in a string of green upgrades for Citi Field, so let’s take a look under the hood and see what’s cooking out there in Queens.
Green Electricity For The NY Mets and Citi Field
The latest NY Mets news was announced yesterday by NextEra Resources, which is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy.
NextEra Energy has been quite busy of late, with a new IPO closing earlier this interest after reporting strong interest. As of last year its solar energy portfolio totaled 1100 megawatts, including 500 due for completion by the end of 2016.
For this particular project, NextEra teamed with the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions for the purchase of 58,500 renewable energy certificates (RECs) to offset electricity use at Citi Field. The RECs are certified through the organization’s Green-e program.
More Green Goodies To Cheer About
The REC initiative is just the tip of the green iceberg for Citi Field and the Mets. Did you know that Citi Field was built under an official agreement between the New York Mets and the US EPA, which pledged the team to practice environmental stewardship?
No, for realz. Here’s the squib from a March 2013 EPA update on green initiatives at Citi Field (breaks added for readability):
On March 13, 2008, the New York Mets signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the construction and operation of CitiField, pledging to become an environmental steward by implementing a number of green initiatives that would reduce its carbon footprint and further improve our planet’s environment.
This partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York Mets – CitiField Stadium has resulted in reducing energy, water and solid waste production across their entire operations.
According to the 2013 report, the Mets reduced their carbon footprint over the past five years by 46,517 metric tons (measured as carbon dioxide equivalent). Also motivating the effort: a reduction in operating expenses by an estimated $3.8 million.
Until this year, most of the savings has come from improvements in supply chain and energy conservation, with waste management (here’s a bit more on that angle from Chicago) and green energy bringing up the rear. Green landscaping has also been playing a significant role.
On the supply chain front, procuring compostable flatware and post-consumer recycled paperware has played a big role.
Some of the more interesting projects as of 2013 include food waste and grass clippings composting in partnership with Action Carting Environmental Services and ARAMARK, and an on site biodiesel refinery that re-uses waste oil from every food operation in Citi Field. The biodiesel is used by the grounds crew to run landscaping equipment.
Also did you know that there is an 11,000 sf green roof at Citi Field? Where would they put it, you might ask, since Citi Field is an open air stadium.
The answer is, it was installed on the field’s administration building by Green Living Technologies, using locally grown planted modules, btw.
With the new REC initiative, it looks like green energy is going to play a bigger role in Citi Field’s sustainability profile in the future.
Now, all they need is some nice solar panels…a wind turbine…maybe a little rainwater harvesting…a winning season would be a good thing, too.
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