Explainer
How Will Climate Pledge Arena Live Up to Its (Boring) Name?
They don’t net any goals for an original moniker, but the partners behind the city’s new green dome will get plenty creative to nullify its carbon emissions.
And will we ever get to sit this close together?
Image: Courtesy Amazon
Zestless, impersonal…sounds suspiciously like something Alexa came up with, right? When Amazon announced its name for the new home of the Storm and Kraken (now that’s original), some locals deemed the monotonous moniker another example of big tech sapping the city of its creativity. Others called Climate Pledge Arena straight-up greenwashing, given Amazon’s contracts with fossil fuel companies, among other climate shortcomings.
But the partners behind Seattle Center’s new green dome—Amazon, the Kraken, and developer Oak View Group—have released a plan, complete with an electric Zamboni, that could become a blueprint for sustainable stadium building around the world. The group will ultimately try to nab a net Zero Carbon Certification from nonprofit International Living Future Institute, which would be the first time an arena has achieved that environmentally friendly status. “We wanted to go beyond anything that had been done,” says Jason F. McLennan, the project’s sustainability lead and CEO of green consulting and architecture firm McLennan Design.
Here’s how they’ll maintain a carbon-neutral zone when the puck drops in 2021.
Even the Zamboni machine will run on electric.
Image: Courtesy Zamboni
An Electric Atmosphere
Forget about the, er, Krakheads erupting pregame. The arena will run entirely on renewable energy—no fossil fuels. That’s basically unheard of. Off-site solar and wind farms, as well as arrays atop the parking garage and entry pavilion, will guarantee that the building is all-electric, all the time.
Shooting for Zero
A massive construction project can’t promise total decarbonization in 2020 with a straight face. So the arena’s builders will “offset” emissions through investments in forestry projects that sequester carbon, aiming to reach a “net zero” footprint. The arena’s goal, and its name, descend from the Climate Pledge, a pact Amazon cofounded to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. That’s a decade ahead of the global target set forth by leaders on climate.
Traffic Beat
Storm and Kraken tix will double as free public transit passes to tamp down tailpipe pollution, one attempt to offset a game’s total carbon cost.
Taking Out the Trash Cans
Fans will only find compost and recycling bins in the concourse, and the arena will phase out all single-use plastics by 2024 as part of the center’s commitment to net zero waste.
Green Ice
Not literally. But the Kraken will skate across a surface directly derived from our soggy environment. Cisterns will store rainwater reclaimed from the building’s sloped roof. Electric filtration and dehumidification systems will ensure the resulting freeze meets NHL standards.
Image: Courtesy Amazon
A helicopter may have hauled away its glowing logo, but the old KeyArena roof will remain intact atop the new building. It’s not just for nostalgia’s sake. Keeping the roughly 44-million-pound historical landmark in place will reduce the structure’s embodied carbon, or the emissions tied to its construction and materials.
A Pledge Isn’t a Guarantee
Amazon’s own climate journey shows just how fraught one can be:
