Busch Stadium launched its “4 a Greener Game” in 2008, just two years after the St. Louis Cardinals replaced their veteran stadium. At the time, running an efficient program was already part of the regime, but it wasn’t a focus – until the “green wave of sustainability” emerged in the business community, and Busch Stadium turned its attention toward the trend.

According to Joe Abernathy, Vice President of Stadium Operations at Busch Stadium, ensuring the St. Louis Cardinals stadium is running efficiently isn’t much different than running efficiently in any other business. With a few more visitors each month than most, Abernathy says “we’re just basically running a building that houses baseball games.”

IN THEIR BLOOD

“Since day one, operating this building in an effective manner as been a prime objective,” Abernathy says. “We’ve always been a proponent of continuous improvement in what we do and how we do it, and getting the workforce engaged in that process, using their help to identity potentials for our improvement and making that happen.”

For 15 years Abernathy has maintained the St. Louis Cardinal’s commercial residence, with efficiency always on his mind. Changes occurred, he noticed, when more businesses began placing a bigger emphasis in sustainable building and operation. “We caught that wave and are continuing to do what we’ve done all along as far as running an efficient operation.”

MLB OPERATIONS

Joe Abernathy wants to get one thing across – Busch Stadium isn’t the best as far as sustainable buildings go. Yet his work stands out from others in the industry because he has become such an advocate for the cause. The VP of Stadium Operations can only foresee improvements in the field of sustainability if more sports stadiums, particularly those in Major League Baseball where 20,000 audience members are reached a game, offer solutions. “If we can get other, similar buildings in the program, then we can use that data to start identifying which buildings out there are operating better than others, and maybe there are individual processes or techniques they have that they can teach the rest of us to do to,” he says.

With such a small group to work with – MLB has just 30 teams – even the most minimal sustainable efforts could make a dramatic effort. “If you can get others to participate in using the same yardstick, measuring their energy use, you can go and start comparing yourself to others to see if you’re as good as you think you are,” he continues. “I think collectively we could make a difference.”

4 A GREENER GAME

Of course, few other stadiums are as lucky as Busch. The St. Louis Cardinals’ home is a relatively recent innovation; the team replaced their 40 year old building less than a decade ago. After the team won its inaugural ballpark season World Series Championship, 4 a Greener Game was implemented into stadium operations.
Initially, the team didn’t strive for LEED certification, but in the five years since Busch Stadium was completed, opportunities have been available to install the latest sustainable technology. Though Abernathy admits that the team wasn’t initially driven by gaining LEED certification, “we took advantage of the technology that was available, which left us with some opportunity now as we seek to operate the building more efficiently.” Lighting, plumbing and HVAC technology have changed dramatically in the last five years, offering the team at Busch Stadium even more opportunities to implement additional sustainable technological updates.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ green initiative doesn’t just have a catchy title, it also represents the four key aspects to operating Busch Stadium as efficiently as possible. The stadium’s daily operations focus on four areas – energy use, water use, the solid waste management and paper consumption.

Programs executed include diverting more than 450 tons of waste from landfills and offering over 500 recycling containers throughout the stadium; the installation of compact fluorescent lamps and occupancy senses and involvement in the Business Energy Efficiency Program by AmerenUE; the installation of low flush toilets and faucet fixtures; as well as hosting various events including the St. Louis Earth Day Festival and the St. Louis Cardinals Green Week.

ENERGY STAR

Sure, the Cardinals won the Championship, but Joe Abernathy and his team were focused on other things that first year at Busch. Beginning in 2007, management enhanced sustainable operations through a partnership with Energy Star. As part of the first sports team to partner with the program, the partnership would lead Busch Stadium to see an overall energy reduction of 12 percent by 2010.

That success has come through a series of initiatives in the “4 a Greener Game” program, including the partnership with Energy Star. The federal program offers professionals to assist in the measuring and tracking of energy with suggestions on how to run more efficiently. Though a part-time energy engineer was brought on to the team to assist in similar initiatives, Energy Star, says Abernathy, are experts in development and implementation of energy management programs, providing the team unparalleled support.

“One of the things in particular that Energy Star does is their Portfolio Manager, which is a tool in which business operators can keep track or measure their energy use,” says Abernathy. “They do that in such a way that takes into account the weather, so it gives you a statistic at the end of the process that can help you gage how efficient you’re using your energy.”

THE FUTURE

In a business that attracts millions of visitors each year, Busch Stadium’s greener efforts are hardly complete. With Abernathy’s interactive approach in introducing sustainable operations to additional stadium managers, major sports stadiums will effortlessly operate efficient programs. “This is an opportunity to get this segment of the business to work on running efficiency, with the hope that we could be able to get some of that data to help the whole sports industry run more efficiently, because collectively we make a difference with how much energy is used,” he says.

With 2010’s recycling goals met, Busch Stadium’s efficiency efforts push for even higher numbers in 2011. “We look at it more as a journey of continuous improvement, rather than attaining a goal or destination,” he said.