The National Hockey League reduced its greenhouse gas emissions 28 percent, from 533,433 metric tons in 2011-12 to 385,912 metric tons in 2012-13, according to the NHL’s 2014 Sustainability Report.
The report, produced with the Natural Resources Defense Council, is the first of its kind by a professional sports league.
The NHL says it will continue to work with its teams to further shrink their carbon footprints and make arenas more energy efficient.
The report also highlights individual teams’ efforts; for example, Pepsi Center, where the Colorado Avalanche play, installed an energy-efficient ice plant that captures excess heat energy, which is then used to boil water. The facility also uses passive cooling and has installed 52 solar panels on its restaurant, saving 13,641 kWh annually, or 9.42 metric tons of carbon emissions.
Additionally, the SAP Center At San Jose, home of the San Jose Sharks, was the first NHL arena to use solid-oxide fuel cell technology to supplement its electricity: two 200kWh servers replaced about 90 percent of the electrical-utility power needs at the arena during nonevent hours and about 25 percent of electricity needs on a Sharks game day.
The installation will help the team reduce its carbon footprint by 4.8 million pounds of CO2 over a 10-year period (equivalent to taking 427 cars off the road).
The NHL also participates in the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge. Organizations joining the program must commit to at least a five percent increase in at least one of the three food diversion categories: prevention, donation or composting. Or alternatively, they can commit to a combined five percent increase across all three food waste diversion categories.
