LEED Silver Certified
by Ally Evander, Allied Member, ASID
Did you know that Target field is LEED certified? For anyone who doesn’t know, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Buildings must follow strict requirements relating to energy usage, emissions levels, water efficiency and resource stewardship in order to be granted a level of LEED certification. Here are some of the things that make the new ballpark sustainable:
Target Field has highly efficient plumbing fixtures such as dual flow toilets that save about 4.2 million gallons of water per year. A water storage system captures rain water to be used for watering the field. About 30% of the materials used to build the park have recycled content. Local materials were used to cut down on shipping costs. The ballpark itself is located on the light rail line to encourage fans to use more environmentally friendly forms of transportation. All of these things contribute to earning LEED points.
It might surprise you that the cost of enacting these green initiatives was only 0.5% of the cost of the ballpark. And the reduction in usage of resources will cut down on operating costs in the long term.
