Safeco Field Installs Energy-Efficient Scoreboard

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Adding its name to a roster of "green" sports stadiums, Safeco Field, home to the Seattle Mariners, is replacing one of its largest electronic display boards with an energy-efficient version that uses one-tenth of the electricity, according to the Seattle Mariners. The installation will be completed by mid-March.

The old out-of-town scoreboard, consisting of incandescent bulbs and a cooling system that operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, used about 1.2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) each year. The new board is expected to consume significantly less at about 130,000 total kWh per year, while providing full-color animation.

In addition to the energy efficiency, the LED scoreboard -- at roughly the same size (99-feet, 4-inches wide by 11-feet, 6.5-inches high) of the previous board -- will also be more reliable and longer lasting than incandescent lights.

A recent survey released by ProGreenSports finds that eighty percent of North American professional sports teams plan to increase their environmental sustainability programs, and nearly 60 percent have formed an internal "green team."

The board, which will be installed by ANC Sports Enterprises, features Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision and ANC's VisionSoft operating systems.

ANC Sports Enterprises and Mitsubishi Electric also have upgraded signage displays at Portland's Rose Garden, which has earned a LEED Gold rating; Washington Nationals ballpark, which was one of the first ballparks to install "Fan Can" recycling receptacles; Washington DC's Verizon Center, which also implemented energy conservation technologies in August last year, the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and Sommet Center in Nashville.

Environment + Energy Leader