Sustainability Process in the Design of Construction of Sports VenuesIn the United States, the construction and operation of sports stadiums create certain numbers of environmental problems. The construction projects including the sports projects consume 60% of the U.S. raw materials yearly. Moreover, the physical facilities in the United States consume 14% of the country's potable water, responsible for 38% of CO2 emissions, 30% of waste output, and 72% of electricity consumption. In most cases, construction of sports projects fails to integrate sustainable protocols in their design strategies during and after the constructions leading to the environmental degradations. Many products used to construct the facilities exteriors and interiors after or during the construction affect the environment negatively. Over the years, the U.S. government introduces series of legislations such as the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Clean Air Act (CAA) mandating the sport events stakeholders to integrate sustainability into the design of the sports facilities to minimize the impact of the environmental pollution and maximize sustainability. (Grant, 2014).
The objective of this report is to investigate the strategies architects can employ to design the sports venues to maximize sustainability to make the venues be environmentally friendly.
Method Architects Can Employ in Designing Sports Venues to Maximize Sustainability
Horne (2011) argues that architects are instrumental for the design of the physical layout of the sports facilities. Several strategies architects can employ in integrating sustainability in the design protocol. First, architects should design the sustainable power generating plants for the sports stadiums using the solar panels to reduce the amount of energy used to power the sports events. Compared with the traditional methods of generating the electricity, the solar energy is sustainable in nature and its environmental impacts are minimized....
Aquino, & Nawari, (2015) point out architects should consider integrating the solar power in the designing process. The National Stadium in Taiwan built in 2009 for World Game is one of the best stadia that integrates sustainability in the design process. The Japanese architect who designed the stadium used 8,844 solar panels that produced nearly 1.14 million KWh per year. Typically, the solar power provides 100% of the electricity used in the stadium, and the power meets 80% of the electricity used by the surrounding neighborhoods. The sun is the most important sustainable energy source. The major benefit of the solar energy is its cleanliness and is remarkable renewable. The solar panels should be used to reduce the need for the traditional electricity. The report also suggests using the materials that are 100% reusable to design the sporting facilities. Moreover, architects should integrate the dual-flush toilets, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and native landscaping in the design process to reduce the water use by 40%. The strategy is to use the multiple and composite recycling containers to enhance sustainable water use.
In the master plan of the architectural design, the design should take a renewable approach. Typically, it is advisable to use less steel to design the stadium by using the recycled materials for the construction. For example, the ring beam to design the roof should be made from the reclaimed gas pipes using the PVC as opposed to the traditional method of steel and concrete. The strategy will assist in reducing the weight and the green gas emission making the stadium more recyclable.
Architects should also include the water harvesting systems in the design process utilizing non-potable water for multiple uses. The water-harvesting systems will assist in reducing the demand for water by reusing the harvested rainwater to flush toilets, and irrigate fields. The biking paths, ecological park, and sports parks should…
