7 minute read
Interview - Lumen Field
LEADERS
IN THE FIELD
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Zach Hensley, Vice President of Operations & General Manager at Lumen Field, about the stadium’s sustainability journey, the importance of education, and environmental initiatives within sports.
By Charlie Plumb
First opening its doors in 2002, Lumen Field is the home stadium of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, as well as the MLS Seattle Sounders FC and NWSL OL Reign soccer teams. Located in the “SODO” neighborhood of downtown Seattle, WA, the stadium seats an impressive 68,000 visitors, and takes center stage within a complex that also contains the Lumen Field Event Centre, which houses the indoor Washington Music (WAMU) Theatre. One of the founding members of the Green Sports Alliance, as well as a founding participant of sustainability toolkit PLAY, the stadium prides itself on its commitment to environmental sustainability and education, maintaining an impressive figure of over 90 percent of on-site waste going to recycling or compost.
REBUILD, REUSE, RECYCLE
“We’re not only committed to being a gathering place for the community to enjoy great events, but also to being a sustainable venue,” says Zach Hensley, Vice President of Operations & General Manager at Lumen Field. “Before Lumen Field was built, reusing and recycling were key. When we left our previous location, which was called the Kingdome, the concrete was recycled and 35 percent was used in the current stadium. So even back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, we were committed to principles of sustainability.”
Lumen Field’s approach to sustainability takes in all elements of the running of the stadium and the Event Centre. “In 2006, we found that only three percent of our waste was being recycled, so we put a plan together about the future of sustainability for Lumen Field,” says Mr. Hensley. “We invested first in installing composting equipment, and then in 2008 we began to upgrade begin to upgrade and improve energy and water usage – whether that be switching to LED lights or using low flow fixtures. In 2011, we then conducted a very large solar panel installation on the roof of our Event Centre. Attached to the south of Lumen Field, the Event Centre is 196,000 square feet in size. With that solar installation, we now have an annual energy recapture rate of approximately 25 percent for the Event Centre.”
JUMPING FORWARD
The biggest obstacle to Lumen Field’s early efforts to improve their recycling efficiency was ensuring that fans and staff alike knew how to use their improved facilities. “Starting in 2006, we implemented recycling and composting throughout the venue,” says Mr. Hensley. “As part of that, we partnered with our own communications team on fan education: being strategic about where we place the signage to make sure that they were visible, and ensuring that we were direct in how we communicate. Inside a stadium environment, there are so many different receptacles and different types of food packaging, it’s feasible that many fans won’t always know into which of the different bins they should deposit their waste. So, we designed our signage to show exactly what piece or receptacle should go in each bin, with actual pictures, showing
This advert was from our Sustainability Game in 2019 precisely what to do. That really helped in the education process.”
In 2012, the Lumen Field team identified single-stream recycling as another way to improve the efficacy of their recycling program. “That implementation saw our diversion rates jump rapidly from 70 percent, to 90 percent a year later,” explains Mr. Hensley. “That’s a very large jump, all of which can be attributed to single-stream recycling. As part of that, we eliminated landfill cans in front of house areas to reduce confusion and contamination. All of our food packaging was compostable or recyclable by that time, so landfill cans had outlived their use.”
Though Lumen Field now maintains an impressive recycling rate, the stadium is still looking for ways to improve. “In 2016, we achieved a recycling diversion rate of 96.3% by focusing on more sustainable methods of sourcing and recycling,” says Mr. Hensley. “It’s really something that we’re proud to have been able to maintain since then. In each of our programs, the biggest thing is education: being innovative and holistic overall, but also educating our fans and our staff through videos and signage throughout the stadium. We’ve been recognized for our sustainability programs both locally and nationally from the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as internationally. We pride ourselves in always doing the right thing.”
TWENTY YEARS OF SUCCESS
As Lumen Field approaches its twentieth year, the stadium continues to evolve with the times as new techniques become available. “Having opened in 2002, we’re getting very close to the 20-year mark for our buildings,” Mr. Hensley continues. “When a building gets to that age, you start to look at your systems, your components, identifying how you can re-evaluate your practices and be more sustainable. Achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is on our timeline in the next year or so, having previously made great strides prior to the pandemic, at which point we were forced to hit pause. As new technologies come aboard, whether that’s lighting, whether that’s something for HVAC, fire suppression or other building systems, that’s a key focus for us – to be able to maintain and continue to improve our sustainability program.”
“In terms of our partnership in the Green Sports Alliance, last year Lumen Field
FOOTPRINT. WE’LL CONTINUE TO USE OUR SEATTLE
became a founding participant of the PLAY sustainability toolkit,” says Mr. Hensley. “Powered by ARC, PLAY guides organizations towards net-zero carbon, zero waste, water positive initiatives, and will soon add additional leadership categories for the first years of programming, including sustainable food and nutrition, transportation and environmental justice. That’s just another way that we continue to focus not only on our own program, but on how we educate others to be able follow our best practices.”
Sustainability is a lot more than just recycling, however. For Lumen Field, it’s also about giving back to the local community. “From a sustainability perspective, we’ve seen significant innovations in food service, for instance,” says Mr. Hensley. “We’re really focusing on those systems, whether that means refrigeration, composting opportunities within the stadium, or educating others about the program. It’s not a ‘capital project’, if you will, but it’s a project that we pride ourselves on. We’ve worked with a local composting partner to take waste from Lumen Field, which is then used at a local farm to grow the same vegetables and fruits that we serve at the stadium. That’s a program we’ve run for the last three years, and one that has been extremely successful. We call it the Potato Game: every potato served in the stadium – potato chips, French fries, potato salad, you name it – comes from that farm. We’re a big believer when it comes to incorporating local produce into our menus.”
SETTING THE BLUEPRINT
With a strong presence in the sporting community, Lumen Field is using its platform to promote sustainable values. “One of our key pillars is youth empowerment,” explains Mr. Hensley. “That can involve so many different things: sports, yes – but also from a sustainability perspective, it means going out into the community and working to educate students. How do we achieve that? Through digital content, through conversations, discussing what we’ve done in the past and showcasing the thinking behind our sustainability programs. Working with Green Sports Alliance, it’s about using ourselves as a focal point. We want to be the blueprint for what other stadiums, arenas, and organizations can do to take the next step in sustainability.”
“We’re working towards that net zero carbon footprint,” Mr. Hensley says. “We’ll continue to use our Seattle Seahawks and Lumen Field outreach, telling our story about composting, waste diversion, and why we believe it’s something that we’ll continue to focus on in future years. I attribute a lot of this success to organization. Our team has done a phenomenal job, and I look forward to seeing what we continue to do in the future: how we continue to innovate and educate, and to outperform our current diversion rate, so we can continue to be one of the leaders in our field.” c
