Just the other day I read a story about the Twins new baseball stadium and its LEED Certification. Pretty good timing too as the regular season has just begun and attention is now being shifted to the diamond. Not only is the field LEED certified, with a silver rating and higher points total than Nationals Park in D.C., but it is also the newest park in the league. Global design firm Populous handled the design and pushed the project to completion.

There are some amazing details regarding the project and environmental initiatives they put together for it. First off, the Twins entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to offset 70 percent of their energy consumption over a two-year period. This is equal to over 8 million pounds of CO2 being saved, or taking around 700 passenger cars off of the road. The field lighting is all high efficiency and over 60 percent of the building exterior is made from regionally sourced limestone. For a large space such as a sports arena it's difficult to go completely green as they are usually large consumers of electricity and water. The good thing is, the park also has a stormwater management plan that captures and treats 90 percent of average rainfall runoff.

I'm glad to see the LEED system branch out in terms of the types of construction it is being used to certify. The Minnesota Twins have made efficiency and environmental stewardship a part of their whole organization and I hope to see other teams take up these causes as well.