Going Green in the Desert

University of Phoenix Stadium is host to many events in which fans sit in a section known as the red zone, located in the south end-zone seating. Now, efforts are being taken to turn the entire facility into a “green zone.”

The stadium, managed by Global Spectrum, is in partnership with the United States Green Building Council to become a leader in the area for environmental friendliness. The stadium seats 63,400 people, and with such a high number of fans at events, University of Phoenix Stadium is actively implementing better recycling habits.

For instance, tailgate parties are without doubt a customary and expected aspect at stadium events. Rather than allowing fans to fight for trash cans or letting recyclable items go to waste, guests are given recyclable bags. Parking lots are monitored to ensure that full recyclable bags are disposed of properly.

Tim Landis, director of operations with University of Phoenix Stadium, believes there has been much progress since the stadium first opened in August 2006.

“Basically, before we started being proactive and going through the parking lot and handing out bags, fans would either throw everything on the ground or find one of our trash cans and pull it into their tailgating site,” Landis says. “Now that we’re being proactive and handing out bags, they are helping us by separating bottles, glass, and trash.”

Landis is aware that, despite the efforts to recycle, some items still wind up on the ground. However, he notices a positive reaction on the part of the public to the environmental efforts at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Old phone books, junk mail, and coffee cups have all been affected by the recycling bug’s bite; the stadium’s management offices have gone green as well.
“Everybody is on board and realizing, ‘Wow, I didn’t know I could recycle that,’” Landis says. “We have definitely seen an increase in our recycling dumpster versus general trash. With the recycling containers and what we’re doing with the lot, people are proactive and are helping as much as they can.”

Recycling is not the only way for a facility to go green, as demonstrated by US Airways Center. The Center uses environmentally friendly products such as Kiavac No-Touch Cleaning Systems, EchoMop dust mops and, of course, a recycling program throughout the venue to ensure that 100 percent of the center and offices is accounted for. There’s a program for fans who purchased a ticket to an event to ride METRO light rail at no additional cost on the day of the event.
As US Airways Center is in the process of finishing a 224KW solar panel system on top of the arena parking garage, look for University of Phoenix Stadium to do more in their part in reducing a carbon footprint.

“We’re always looking for ways to try and help or curtail our energy costs,” Landis says. “You never stop looking.”

Needless to say, if the stadium truly is “the Big Toaster,” as we like to call it, the toaster certainly promises to be an energy-efficient one.

By Michael Torres