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The Eagles might not be the most popular team in the NFL, but its 11,000 solar panels and 14 wind turbines have made it the greenest. I'm actually surprised this hasn't garnered more press. This is a huge deal, one that cities known for their green ideals have only dreamed of.
Eagles President Don Smolenski calls the turbines the "eye candy," while the solar panels are the real power. But that isn't the only way Lincoln Financial Field is the future stadium that we should be bragging about.
Here are some of the stats listed by Sandy Bauers on Philly.com:
- 30% of the stadium's power is generated by the turbines
- 99.8% of the stadium's waste is recycled
- Fryer oil is converted into biodiesel and reused in house
- Food waste is composted
- Since February 8th, 720,000 kilowatts of power has been generated
They aren't done yet. They are looking into innovations designed to capture rainwater to flush toilets and water the fields.
On the Eagles opening day in September of 2011, Lincoln Financial Field could be the greenest stadium in the world. The addition of 100 wind turbines, 2500 solar panels, and a power plant capable of running on bio-diesel will easily power any game. Additionally, any extra power will be fed back into the city's electrical grid.
The Eagles will save $60M in energy costs in the next two decades. Owner Jeffrey Lurie is committed to proving environmental friendliness can can also be a wise financial decision.
Dragon Stadium in Taiwan and Stade de Suisse arena in Bern, Switzerland get 100% of their power from the sun, so The Linc will have some competition if it wants to truly call itself the greenest in the world. NASCAR's Pocono Raceway is currently the world's largest solar powered sporting facility.
100 wind turbines and 2500 solar panels will be added to South Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field fully powering the facility with additional power fed back into the city's electrical grid.
As a city nationally synonymous with its litter and oil refineries, Mayor Nutter is committed to making Philadelphia America's greenest city. Most outside the region probably wouldn't equate Philadelphia with environmental friendliness but it isn't unheard of. Compared to a lot of America's largest cities, we're not doing so bad.
West Coast states tend to set the rules for Going Green, but their headlines are made by retrofitting mass transit systems in cities built for the car. Pennsylvania and the region have an historic reputation as the region's Rust Belt, but the densely populated Northeast has never had enough room to submit to freeways and commuters the way California, Oregon, and Washington have. Inadvertently, we've always been green.
We don't take subways, buses, and trains because we want to, we take them because we have to. Adding a few elements of the green kitsch that West Coasters get off on would easily put an insular city like Philadelphia over the top even as Sunoco's fires continue to burn.
It looks like the Eagles are making Philadelphia green in more ways than one.
