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The Rose Garden earns top environmental certification

The Rose Garden, home to NBA team the Portland Trail Blazers, has achieved LEED Gold status. The certification, awarded by the US Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental programme, rewards best practices for a building’s energy, water and natural resource performance. Local partners in the effort to achieve certification included Green Building Services, which performed a carbon footprint and sustainability analysis, and Energy Trust of Oregon, which helped enable key energy audits and secure funding for building retrofitting.

“The announcement by the Portland Trail Blazers that the Rose Garden has achieved LEED Gold certification is an authentic milestone in the greening of professional sports,” said Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist and director of the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Sports Greening Initiative. “Never before has any major league sports arena or stadium achieved LEED Gold status, and it represents an accomplishment with likely consequences well beyond professional basketball.”

The 20,000-seat multipurpose Rose Garden opened in Portland, Oregon, USA, in 1995 at a cost of US$267 million. It is part of The Rose Quarter, which is owned by an affiliate of the Portland Trail Blazers and managed by AEG Facilities. The Rose Quarter also includes the 12,000-seat Memorial Coliseum, 6,500-seat Theater of the Clouds, 40,000ft² Exhibit Hall and the Rose Quarter Commons, which can accommodate up to 5,000 people for outdoor events.

The Rose Garden’s sustainability initiatives include ensuring that more than 60% of its waste is diverted from local landfills, including strategies such as post-event sorting. Extensive recycling stations for visitors and a food-waste composting programme with vendors help divert more than 800 tons annually.

The arena, which benefits from a central urban position, also offers good transportation choices for visitors, with more than 30% of attendees choosing public or alternative transportation. The team subsidises transit passes for staff, and uses bikes and electric vehicles for on-site operations.

In addition to installing energy-efficient lighting and low-flow plumbing fixtures, the Rose Garden partners with Pacific Power and NW Natural for the purchase of 100% renewable energy programmes for the arena. The venue’s efforts also include forging partnerships with suppliers to further develop sustainable purchasing, including more than 95% compostable food and beverage serving containers and materials, 100% recycled content trash liners, and replacing disposables with reusable commodities. The Trail Blazers, AEG Facilities and Ovations (food and beverage concessionaire for The Rose Quarter) are committed to using environmentally friendly cleaning products and equipment, and offer guests a line of locally made food and beverage alternatives.

“We are excited about today’s achievement, but understand that the drive for greater energy efficiency and sustainable operations is an ongoing process,” said AEG Facilities’ Chris Oxley, general manager of The Rose Quarter. “We will continue to look for opportunities to further engage and involve our employees, guests and partners.”

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