State Farm Arena, the renovated and renamed home of the Hawks and numerous other events, recently received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a widely used green certification rating system for the design, construction and operation of buildings. Gold is the second highest of four levels of certification.
Among the factors that led to State Farm Arena’s certification: recycling 12,500 seats that were removed and replaced during the building’s extreme makeover last year; upgrading to LED light fixtures for a 41% reduction in lighting power use; installing more efficient plumbing fixtures to save 540,000-plus gallons of water annually; and becoming a 100% smoke-free campus within the arena’s property lines.
Steve Koonin, CEO of the Hawks and the arena, said in a statement that “creating a responsible, sustainable building for our employees, fans and community was of the utmost importance” in the arena makeover.
The downtown Atlanta venue, formerly known as Philips Arena, reopened last fall after a $200-million renovation.
Credit: Terence Rushin
Credit: Terence Rushin
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LEADOFF NOTES AND LINKS
> Secondary ticket marketplace SeatGeek recently surveyed 8,000 MLB fans about several aspects of their local stadiums. SunTrust Park ranked No. 1 … in bathrooms. Pittsburgh's PNC Park was No. 1 in atmosphere and the Chicago White Sox's Guaranteed Rate Field No. 1 in food. SunTrust Park ranked No. 11 in both atmosphere and food. See all of the survey results here.
> The Braves' announced attendance (defined by MLB as tickets sold) for the weekend series against the Phillies totaled 126,423, the most for a three-game series at SunTrust Park. That included a stadium-record 43,593 for Saturday's game, 2,509 more than STP's official seating capacity (41,084). Standing-room-only tickets were sold.
> After winning two of three from the Phillies, the Braves continue NL East play this week. They open a three-game series against the Mets tonight at SunTrust Park and play a three-game series at Washington starting Friday. Tonight's pitching matchup: Mike Soroka (7-1, 1.92) vs. Zach Wheeler (5-4, 4.87). The Mets enter the series 7-1/2 games behind the Braves in the division.
