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Back to Facility Manager
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By Scott Jenkins We are experiencing a social awakening to the fact that we must change the way we conduct ourselves to reduce the environmental impacts we are having on our local and global communities. As facility managers in highly visible and publicly subsidized facilities, we need to take full advantage of this new business climate. Going green makes good financial sense in that it reduces operating expenses and builds a socially responsible brand. Besides, consumers and government are starting to demand that we operate in environmentally responsible ways.  It Makes Financial Sense If it’s not your nature to be green at home or work, then let me try to convince you that going green is a self-serving thing. It’s in your best interest to decrease operating expenses, attract new business, increase the value of your brand, and reduce your impact on the environment. It’s time to start adopting sustainable business practices by engaging our entire facility team. This includes event staff, security, engineering, food service providers, cleaning crew, and even our guests. It’s a perfect opportunity to do something meaningful that will focus the entire operations team on becoming more efficient and socially responsible. Over the past year at Safeco Field, a 48,000-seat retractable roof ballpark, we have reduced our natural gas bill by 36 percent and our electric bill by 18 percent, resulting in an annual savings of $250,000. This has been accomplished primarily by paying attention to how we operate the ballpark in addition to a small amount of investment to improve domestic hot water controls ($6,200). Green Suggestions Other things that can be done include buying green power from your local utility, producing green power by installing solar panels, or entering into a marketing agreement with your local utility to promote renewable energy. Take full advantage of building automation to control HVAC equipment and lighting. Local utilities provide free energy audits to identify potential energy conservation measures. Water and sewer bills can be reduced by installing water saving aerators on faucets and replacing old plumbing fixtures. Look for opportunities to improve weather stripping and keep doors and windows shut tightly. Get your service partners involved by adopting green procurement policies, participating in recycling programs, and energy conservation. Food service providers can buy serving products and disposables that are environmentally friendly. Napkins can be bought that are 90 percent post-consumer recyclable content. Purchase cups that are 100-percent biodegradable and made from renewable resources. Implement food waste composting to reduce trash removal costs by collecting food waste in kitchens and concessions. Imagine the reduction in landfill costs by sending all the seating bowl waste to the compost instead of the landfill. Food service provider holds the key to unleash this opportunity by choosing compostable food containers. Unplugging refrigerators, turning off pilot lights and appropriately controlling exhaust fans can greatly increase the useful life of equipment while saving some real money on utilities. Ask your cleaning company to use green cleaning chemicals that are less harmful to the environment and reduce packaging and waste. Train your cleaners to be part of your energy conservation team by having them turn out lights and secure doors and windows as they work around your facility. Make sure that you’re collecting as much of the recyclable waste stream as possible. Do you separately pick plastic beverage containers in the seating areas following an event or provide recycling containers on the concourses and in suites? If you’re interested in learning more about sustainable business practices, please join us in St. Louis on May 15-17, 2008, for the International Stadium Management Conference. The themes for the conference will focus on greening operations and delivering exceptional customer service. Industry experts will be presenting on topics on best practices that include energy conservation, LEED building certification, recycling, and green procurement practices. It will provide a great opportunity to share experiences with suppliers, service providers and our peers that will get us heading down the road to sustainable business practices. Going green is good for business and good for you. Hope to see you in St. Louis. fm Scott Jenkins is vice president ballpark operations for SAFECO Field/Seattle Mariners. |
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2002-2007
International Association of Assembly Managers635 Fritz Dr. |