With its unique, oculus-shaped retractable roof, the massive new Mercedes-Benz Stadium is downtown Atlanta's latest architectural landmark. The stadium is home to the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League and Atlanta United, the city's Major League Soccer franchise. In 2019, the facility will host Super Bowl LIII.
From the earliest stages of planning, Georgia Power worked closely with design and construction consultant Darden & Company to help the facility achieve LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This was accomplished in part through the installation of solar panels and 19 electric vehicle charging stations throughout the campus. Platinum is the highest level of LEED certification, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium is the only LEED Platinum professional sports stadium in the United States.
Georgia Power installed a 1-megawatt solar facility at the stadium, including canopies over the parking deck, surface parking lots and the security gates. Georgia Power's solar installation will generate 1.6 million kilowatt–hours of energy annually, which will help offset approximately 10 percent of the stadium's energy consumption–an amount of power roughly equivalent to the energy consumed at nine Falcons or thirteen Atlanta United games.
"The opportunity to collaborate with Georgia Power was a real highlight of our work on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium project," said Chris Holdsworth, senior director, Darden & Company. "Their contribution to facility design played a significant role in helping to achieve our sustainability goals."
The Atlanta Braves also introduced a brand-new state–of–the–art venue in 2017, SunTrust Park, together with The Battery Atlanta, a 60–acre mixed–use residential and entertainment complex that surrounds the ballpark.
As the Official Electric Energy Partner of the Braves, Georgia Power has installed more than 60 electric vehicle charging stations inside the parking decks around SunTrust Park and The Battery Atlanta, and outfitted the stadium with LED lighting as part of the facility's power reduction initiative. In fact, SunTrust Park is the only facility in Major League Baseball to use all LED lighting. Georgia Power continues to work closely with the Braves' operations staff to provide for all the energy needs of the entire complex. SunTrust Park is certified LEED Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council.
"This is quite a sophisticated facility that consumes a lot of energy," says Eric Perestuk, senior vice president of engineering for the Atlanta Braves. "In our first year of operation, SunTrust Park consumed approximately 22 million kilowatt–hours of energy. That amount of energy could potentially power a small town for an entire year. To ensure optimal energy efficiency, we maintain an entirely automated energy management system, including an all–LED lighting system that Georgia Power helped design–with no light switches!"
"We now consume about 25 percent less energy than the Braves' previous ballpark," added Perestuk. "I don't think we could have accomplished this without Georgia Power. They were instrumental from day one, before the first brick was laid."
