Seattle’s Key Arena reopened last Oct. 19 as Climate Pledge Arena, the 74-acre multi-sports facility dubbed as Seattle’s most ambitious green building project. The former Key Arena accounted as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions coming from building operations in Seattle. In 2018, the city-owned arena underwent redevelopment to become the first ever, net-zero carbon sports facility in the US for a whopping cost of $1.15 billion.

 

So far, goals to maintain a massive multi-purpose sports palace, in which no fossil fuel is being used and with little to no waste, have been achieved. It also aims to attain a no single-use of plastic by the year 2024.

 

Local climate advocates are impressed with the climate measures incorporated in the building and have expressed hope that those are representations of other excellent features to come.

Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena Achievements and Other Related Projects in Progress

 

Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena has already seen action when it hosted Seattle Kraken’s first Home Game for the National Hockey League (NHL) last October 23, 2021.

Visitors and hockey fans who walked through the south entrance were mesmerized by the one-storey digital waterfall gushing from a forest scene displayed above the atrium escalators. On the west concourse of the sports arena, some 8,500 variety of plants from 24 species rooted in recycled plastics that constitute the “living wall” of the section. A team of horticulturists are assigned to take care of the wall garden.

The frozen playing surface of the skating arena came from rainwater drained from the roof that was filtered and frozen, whilst using lithium-powered ice resurfacing machine franchised by the hockey team from Zimboni.

 

A related offsite project to generate renewable energy in partnership with the city’s local utility Seattle City Light is currently in the planning stage. This renewable energy project will ultimately enable the arena to provide 100 percent zero-fossil fuel electrical provisions. One of the sustainability consultants working on the project said that they are adding renewable energy to the grid that the building remains zero-carbon through all times.

The management of Climate Pledge Arena said that by October of next year, they plan to apply for a zero-carbon certification from the International Living Future Institute, an independent sustainable building institution, whose auditor will verify whether the sports palace meets the requirements.

The executives of the arena and of the different resident sports teams are looking to promote their lofty green building ambitions to overcome skepticism; whilst steering a green building movement among other greenhouse emitting stadiums across the nation