The Dallas Cowboys' new football stadium is attempting to become the first stadium of its kind to gain recognition in the EPA’s National Environmental Performance Track Program. The thought in trying to achieve this is to make a point that if a huge stadium like this can achieve going green, then other smaller companies, schools, and people can achieve it too. Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones knew that this would cost more initially but now he’s realizing that spending money to “go green” will save him money in the future on energy and water costs.Here are a few of the ways the stadium is going green.
1. The first green savings feature was already incorporated in the design of the stadium and that is the retractable roof which has a translucent material which allows a lot of natural lighting. It’s feasible that you could do a lot of events under natural lighting in the daytime and not have to turn on the power for the lights.
2. The retractable end zone doors are another example. Wind studies show it will be very easy to open up the end zone doors which would allow natural ventilation.
3. There are 30 acres of permeable pavement, structured-grass pavement that people can park on that would otherwise be concrete or asphalt. The permeable pavement allows you to absorb a lot of rainwater run-off and the grass acts as a filter to filter the impurities of the water that runs off a parking lot. That allows you to save underground drainage and piping that you would otherwise be putting under your parking lot.
4. Almost 90% of the waste material from Manhattan Construction is recycled. So they’re making an effort in conjunction with us to make this an environmentally-friendly project.
Jones remarked that “We are committed to maximizing the impact of the world’s most recognizable sports franchise and use those forces as a powerful means to enhance our community and the world around us,” Jones says in summation. “We believe we have a strong obligation to transfer that championship tradition and the magic that it creates toward the bigger purpose of making a difference.”
