In recognition of the club’s industry-leading efforts in sustainability and environmental stewardship, the Minnesota Twins have been awarded LEED Platinum certification for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance—making Target Field the first Major League Baseball (MLB) venue to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest possible honor via the new LEED v4.1 rating system.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and an international symbol of excellence. Through design, construction, and operations practices that improve environmental and human health, LEED-certified buildings are helping to make the world more sustainable. The current version, LEED v4.1, is the most robust, flexible, and transparent rating system ever.
Since opening Target Field in 2010, the Twins are the first and only MLB club to achieve five separate LEED certifications: LEED Silver for New Construction (in 2010, the second MLB team thus honored); LEED Silver for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (in 2011, making the Twins the first professional sports franchise to earn Silver for both construction and operations); LEED Gold for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (in 2017, becoming the first organization in pro sports to attain Gold in this category); LEED Gold recertification (in 2019); and now LEED Platinum.
Target Field is also the nation’s first sports venue to earn three levels of LEED certification through Arc, the state-of-the-art digital platform that uses real-world data to help benchmark, measure, and improve sustainability performance. Arc is the first of its kind to track progress through a performance score, enabling projects to make more informed decisions when it comes to sustainability.
“Our organization-wide commitment to sustainability, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility is more than a guidepost—it is a belief in the power of creating positive change that is engrained into the ethos of the Minnesota Twins,” said club President & CEO Dave St. Peter. “From the moment we began designing Target Field, we set out to create and maintain a world-class facility that, as the forever home of Twins baseball, would have a positive influence on our city, state, and region. I am incredibly grateful to our dedicated employees, fans, and community and commercial partners for sharing our vision and contributing each and every day toward our continued efforts to ensure that Target Field remains the ‘Greenest Ballpark in America.’”
The Twins’ many environmental stewardship efforts include a custom-designed rainwater recycle system provided by Minneapolis-based Pentair, helping the organization capture, purify, and reuse nearly 20 million total gallons of rainwater at Target Field to date; aggressive recycling and waste-to-energy programs in partnership with Ecolab, Marsden Services, and Republic Services that have kept nearly 13,000 tons of waste out of local landfills since 2011—including 4,190 tons of trash being sent to the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC), 4,743 tons of waste being recycled, and 3,796 tons of organic materials begin composted and diverted; a shared initiative with Delaware North Sportservice to partner with Rock and Wrap It UP! Inc. to deliver more than 63 tons of food to local charities; LED fixtures for field and canopy lighting; and a long-term partnership with Eco-Products to provide the ballpark’s compostable cups, plates, trays, utensils, and straws.
“The Minnesota Twins’ fifth LEED certification at Target Field demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Peter Templeton, Interim President and CEO, USGBC. “LEED was created to make the world a better place and revolutionize our buildings and communities by providing everyone with access to healthy, green, and high-performing buildings. Target Field continues to be a prime example of how the innovative work of project teams can create local solutions that contribute to making a global difference.”
Source: Minnesota Twins
