When Co-op Live, the latest arena from developer Oak View Group (OVG), opens in Manchester, England, in April, it will look a little different to most UK venues of a similar size.
Inside, it will offer an ultra-modern offering: the UK's largest arena concert capacity, an acoustically efficient infrastructure and a star-studded concert line-up including Stevie Nicks, Olivia Rodrigo and Nicki Minaj. But outside, the innovations of the space will be more visible. Co-op Live, located on Manchester's Ship Canal, is surrounded by a 'biodiversity ring' — over 29,000 square feet of green landscape that provides a natural habitat for local wildlife and a surrounding green wall to attract the bees. A mile-long boardwalk partially along the water will encourage more environmentally friendly travel to and from the 23,500-capacity venue.
Since OVG launched at Co-op Live in 2021, president/CEO Tim Leiweke has often walked this route to the arena, which was built by local suppliers to reduce material transportation, and is powered entirely by electricity for eliminating the use of natural gas on site and still collecting rain to water his plants and flush his toilets. “Co-op Live will be the most sustainable arena in the UK and one of the most sustainable in the world,” he says. Advertising sign. “It is our intention, our ambition and our commitment to be carbon neutral, but it takes a year to become certified” with an “excellent” rating from the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method, run by the UK agency BRE Global accreditation.
A veteran of the live industry — specifically of innovation in arena construction — who once served as president of AEG, Leiweke is known for his enthusiasm for ambitious new projects like Co-op Live and Green Operations & Advanced Leadership (GOAL), a sustainability program developed by the founding members of OVG. State Farm Arena and its NBA sports tenant the Atlanta Hawks. Fenway Sports Group; and green building specialist Jason F. McLennan for arenas, stadiums, convention centers and other venues. “I love GOAL. It's the most important thing we've done for sustainability,” says Leiweke. “Getting other people in the industry to commit to GOAL is extremely important. This is one of [OVG’s] higher priorities”.
Building Co-op Live is just the latest milestone in OVG's commitment to creating more sustainable concert venues that began with the four-year renovation of Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena (formerly Key Arena), which reopened in late 2021. Now OVG works to deliver sustainability in each of the more than 400 buildings it owns, operates or collaborates with.
“As an industry, we're a lightning rod of attention,” says Leiweke. “Can we use this platform that has such a high profile to be an example of how to address this issue and do the right thing?”
A rendition of the UK venue Co-op Live, where a pedestrian walkway encourages walking into the arena.
Courtesy of Oak View Group
During the renovation of the Climate Pledge Arena, OVG floated its iconic roof in the air for protection—Seattle designated Key Arena's exterior a municipal landmark in 2017—and retrofitted the 60-year-old building to consume zero fossil fuels, use solar panels for 100% renewable energy power and uses a “Rain to Rink” system that harvests water from the roof to help create ice for NHL tenant the Seattle Kraken. Naming rights partner Amazon chose the new arena's name based on that Commitment to the climate with the environmental advocacy group Global Optimism. Today, it's a zero-waste space with no single-use plastics — and was the first space to achieve the International Living Future Institute's Zero Carbon Certification, meaning it's energy-efficient, combustion-free and powered entirely by renewable resources.
After partnering with OVG on the Climate Pledge, Amazon provided its web services software to track the site's performance on sustainability measures such as energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions and waste management. In October 2021, OVG and other founding members launched GOAL to provide resources to venues exploring how to operate more sustainably.
“You don't need to be a Climate Pledge Arena, and chances are you won't be, at least not at first,” says Kristen Fulmer, OVG's head of sustainability and director of GOAL. “It's important to meet operators where they are and make incremental improvements over time.”
Take OVG's newly built Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California, for example. It's surrounded by drought-tolerant plants, uses electric Zambonis to maintain the ice used by AHL team the Coachella Valley Firebirds, runs on solar panels that cover its parking lot, and is sunk 25 feet below grade to limit its exposure. of its external facade and thus reduce HVAC dependence. Parking lot lights turn on sensors from dusk to dawn, the lot composts, and prepaid parking reduces the time cars spend idling.
“When you open a space that already has all these elements designed, [sustainability] it becomes part of your daily process,” says Acrisure senior vice president John Page. And GOAL provides a “tracking system that allows us to assess on an ongoing basis how we can reduce our carbon footprint” and achieve a goal of carbon neutrality by 2025.
As with Acrisure, GOAL's approach to sustainability often uses creative solutions to regional issues, a practice facilitated by the data it collects from its 50-plus members. (Leiweke plans to double that number by the end of 2024.) “No one does a better job than State Farm Arena at recycling,” says Leiweke. “We brought them in and said, 'Great, write the book.' And then we bring in all the other people in our industry who we think are best in class for green and sustainability and say, “Great, write this book.” “
Even with the best practices he's collected, Leiweke says, “Oddly, a lot of people dismiss [GOAL] because they say it will cost too much money, which is ridiculous. How much do you think it would cost to replace the Earth?” It's true that upfront costs are higher in OVG's sustainability-tricked spaces — but, Leiweke insists, GOAL's energy monitoring and operational data will prove they save money in the long run. “It's usually about how long you look at the budget,” says Fulmer, “and it will usually pay for itself.”
In the meantime, there are ways to cover the cost. Corporate partners, Fulmer explains, are often willing to contribute funding for environmental causes, promote their own sustainability programs, or both. GOAL helps those who want to support specific measures – for example, funding a venue's transition from plastic to compostable cups – partner with venues in exchange for branding or on-site activations.
As artists calculate the carbon footprint of upcoming tours, GOAL venues and partners can provide numbers, as well as initiatives and suggestions, to reduce the impact of a tour.
“Do I think it makes a difference that Billie Eilish will play my venue when she has a choice because she knows how committed we are to sustainability? 100%,” says Leiweke. “But that's not the only reason we did it. We did it because we all should.”
This story will appear in the March 30, 2024 issue Advertising sign.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/touring/oak-view-group-arenas-venues-sustainability-1235642902/
