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    1. Energy Efficiency

    Five Green Destinations: Unique Places Which Embraced Energy Evolutions

    Sept. 11, 2024
    The lookback at a lighting upgrade project at the NYC 9/11 Memorial inspired us to revisit projects at four other unique facilities across the globe.
    Memorial image Photo 121247644 / 11 © King Ho Yim | Dreamstime.com
    66e1f181f309362764e34cf2 Composite

    The whole of America and much of the world is marking today’s 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, a tragic affront to national security which altogether took close to 3,000 lives. Never forget.

    Today’s site commemorating the event is considered holy ground, an emotional visual point marked by fountains which look and feel like bottomless wells of grief. It is a stunningly immediate connection for all who feel the loss of that horrible day in 2001.

    The 9/11 Memorial site, on the other hand, also is a beautifully rendered tribute place of artistic significance, designed in a way to truly mark hallowed ground. And like all environmentally sensitive sites, the memorial’s infrastructure aims for sustainable operations.

    Several years ago, EnergyTech covered a lighting upgrade at the site, where the New York Power Authority funded a project to install 3,000 LED lights to improve both visual aspects and energy efficiency. In late September, NYPA announced it had completed the LED lighting upgrade at the memorial.

    Here is our story about that project, written at the time of the 20th anniversary:

    This lookback inspired us to focus on five unique and celebrated facilities which are embracing the energy transition. Those projects range from major city arenas to soccer complexes to a Swedish cultural center high rise which is one of the world’s tallest wooden structures. And we ended with unique biofuels work going on with a Boston distillery.  

    The Customer Side of the Energy Evolution is Truly Unique and Innovative

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    Image credit White Arkitekter
    swedish_timber_tower

    1. Battery Storage at the Sara Kulturus Timber Tower

    ABB collaborated with Skellefteå Kraft on installing on-site battery power to this timber-rich 75-meter structure that contains 20 stories of museum, library and theatre space. The timber part of this is crucial, as the battery storage was designed to power the fire protection system at the cultural touchstone in Skellefteå, Sweden

    In the past, the all-critical sprinkler system was powered by backup emergency diesel generators. The update installed Northvolt battery storage and a transformer.

    Now that the cultural side of the C&I energy transition is on display bridging both sustainability and resiliency, let us now turn to sports, where passions are strong and, in some cases, no less devoted to cleaner energy connection.

    1. Rooftop Solar for KC Women’s Soccer Stadium

    CPKC Stadium opened earlier this year (image above top left) as the home of the Kansas City Current in the National Women’s Soccer League. During construction planning, the project developers decided to incorporate rooftop solar panels at the $120 million facility’s main game and team store. The KC Current are owned by a group that includes Brittany Mahomes, wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and private equity investor Chris Long.

    1. Energy Performance is Key at Houston’s NRG Park

    The complex which holds the venues for NFL’s Houston Texans and MLB’s Houston Astros is spread over 350 acres and consumes plenty of MWh while the competition is on. Johnson Controls was contracted to carry out the 20-year energy overhaul which is expected to save $54 million or more in costs over time.

    The NRG stadium park (image above, top right) upgrades include building automation systems, HVAC equipment, water conservation and lighting. The project is being carried out in partnership with Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation (HCSCC), NRG Park and Harris County, Texas.

    Image credit Beam Suntory
    distillery

    1. Cheers! RNG to Help Jim Beam Distillery Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    Developer 3 Rivers Energy Partners is partnering with Beam Suntory’s Booker Noe Distillery in Boston, taking spent distillers’ grains to convert into renewable natural gas. The work utilizes anaerobic digesters to generate RNG to partially power the distillery.

    The end-product also offers a low-cost fertilizer for nearby farmers. The anaerobic digester will reduce the distillery’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50% and support regenerative agricultural practices, once completed. It is expected to produce up to 1.3 million MMBtu of RNG annually from spent grain.

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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