San Francisco 49ers $1.2bn LEED Gold stadium opens in U.S.

The San Francisco 49ers American football teams new Levi’s® Stadium has become the first in the U.S. to receive LEED Gold certification and is being billed as a possible turning point the countries approach to sustainability.

The new US$1.2bn facility opened on Friday and besides a 400kW photovoltaic (PV) installation, it uses 50 per cent less water and recycles 85 per cent of the overall water consumed.

Recycled or reclaimed building materials were used when possible in the venues construction and the stadium features a 27,000-square-foot green roof.

The LEED Gold certification is the first for a U.S. sports venue and has capacity for nearly 69,000 fans.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and is the leading programme for improved environmental performance.

San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York said: “The Bay Area is a world leader in sustainable efforts, and achieving LEED Gold certification for Levi’s® Stadium is another example of our desire to showcase all that is special about the region. Our design team, partners and contractors have helped Levi’s Stadium become the environmentally responsible building we had envisioned.”

The Levi’s® Stadium has achieved LEED certification for implementing sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

LEED Gold status is earned by accumulating 39 to 51 points on the rating system and Levi’s® Stadium had registered a total of 41 upon opening.

Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of USGBC, said: “Levi’s® Stadium’s LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership. The urgency of USGBC’s mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and Levi’s Stadium serves as a prime example with just how much we can accomplish.”

More than 60,000 projects are currently participating in LEED, making up 11.2 billion square feet of construction space in more than 154 countries.

Designed by HNTB and constructed by Turner/Devcon, the stadium has over 1,000 solar applications and was designed to achieve net zero energy performance, enabling the 10 home games that the San Francisco 49ers play per season to be completely powered by clean energy sources.