MNN - Mother Nature Network

What do you do when you own an NBA team and you want to reduce the carbon footprint of your arena but you don’t have the time for any major capital projects? Simple — you buy green energy.  

 

The Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena have purchased 751,544 kilowatt-hours of green energy from Georgia Power, enough to cover the power needs for the arena for the entire 2012-2013 basketball season.

 

The purchase was made as part of Georgia Power’s special events purchase option, which is a segment of the company’s Green Energy program. A total of 7,516 blocks of green energy were purchased, enough to cover the energy requirements for all of the Hawks’ home games this season.

 

"The Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena are committed to protecting the livelihood of the environment through innovative methods, and Georgia Power is helping us meet our goals through their Green Energy Program," said Bob Williams, president of Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena. "Together, we continue to reduce our carbon footprint today and for the future."  Source: Georgia Power

 

Philips Arena was the first professional sports and concert facility in the world to earn LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, setting the standard for other sports teams and their facilities.