Levi’s Stadium Scores LEED Gold

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The 49ers’ new 69,000-seat home turf is now the first professional football stadium to be LEED Gold certified.

Levi’s Stadium announced last week it achieved the rating thanks to its green efforts, which include almost 1,200 solar panels, a 27,000-square-foot green roof, convenient bicycle parking, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, recycled materials and an extremely sophisticated building control system. The living roof atop the suites tower contains native California species and is shaded by nearly 20,000 square feet of solar panels.

“The Bay Area is a world leader in sustainable efforts, and achieving LEED Gold certification for Levi’s Stadium is another example of our desire to showcase all that is special about the region,” said San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York in a statement. “Our design team, partners and contractors have helped Levi’s Stadium become the environmentally responsible building we had envisioned.”

The stadium plans to power itself through PV-electricity generated from three NRG Energy solar-paneled pedestrian bridges and a solar-paneled roof deck called the NRG Solar Terrace. The stadium’s intricate solar energy system allows the venue to achieve net zero energy performance, enabling all the 49ers home games to be completely powered by the year-round collection of solar energy.

“Achieving this LEED Gold certification, a first for a stadium in the U.S., is a sterling achievement that demonstrates remarkable leadership in environmental design and construction for Levi’s Stadium, the San Francisco 49ers, NRG and all other parties involved,” said David Crane, resident and CEO of NRG Energy, in a statement. “It is the latest example of how the use of distributed solar power can deliver both environmental and economic benefits to customers of all sizes, connecting them to the growing trend of sustainability in our society.”

With construction costs at $1.2 billion, the stadium also invested a considerable amount of time determining where it could make the most out of resources. For example, all of the wood used for the Citrix Owners Suites is reclaimed wood from a local airplane hangar at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif. Also, about 85 percent of the stadium’s water is recycled for both potable and non-potable uses such as irrigation. The type of grass used, Bermuda Bandera, requires up to 50 percent less water than other types used in the surrounding areas.

The stadium’s concessionaire is also focused on working with local suppliers to fulfill its farm-to-table menus and will be composting and recycling when possible.

Designed by HNTB, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., and constructed by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Turner/Devcon, Levi’s Stadium will play host to Super Bowl 50 in 2016. The venue boasts a wide variety of multimodal transportation options to reduce emissions, including buses, VTA light rail, ACE trains and Amtrak.

Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of USGBC remarked in a statement that, “Levi’s Stadium’s LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership. The urgency of USGBC’s mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and Levi’s Stadium serves as a prime example with just how much we can accomplish.”