Marlins Park

Summary

A first-class ballpark owned by Miami-Dade County, Marlins Park is located on approximately seventeen acres in the Little Havana section of Miami. With an aggressive waste management recycling program, the use of locally manufactured materials and low volatile organic compounds (VOC) in its construction, a minimizing of artificial light and the incorporation of energy efficient systems, the ballpark has become the first professional sports facility with a retractable roof, in the world, to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

The Challenge

With millions of South Florida residents and visitors, the Miami Marlins potential for economic success is great. In the past, however, frequent rain and high afternoon temperatures discouraged many fans from including a ballgame in their entertainment plans. To draw more attendance, Miami-Dade County moved forward with plans to build a retractable roof ballpark. The state-of-the-art roof would eliminate rainouts and weather delays, and ensure the comfort of fans. When conditions are favorable, the roof can be opened to allow visitors to enjoy the Florida sunshine. In the event of inclement weather, the roof can be closed to keep guests safe and comfortable.

In building the facility, Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami required that its sustainability objectives were met, and asked the Marlins to deliver a ballpark with LEED Silver certification. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas: site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. "Optimizing energy performance was the most difficult benchmark because of the retractable roof," said Claude Delorme, Executive Vice President, Miami Marlins Operations and Events. "For us to maintain a comfortable temperature for our local guests and out-of-town visitors, we had to be very efficient with all our systems."

The Solution

Having worked with Trane on several projects in the past, Hunt/Moss, A Joint Venture called on Trane to provide the energy efficient equipment to help the project achieve its sustainability goals and earn LEED certification points. With extensive ballpark project experience, Trane understood the requirements of cooling a large open space, and the added challenge of optimizing energy performance with a retractable roof.

Creating a cool, comfortable environment

Two energy efficient Trane 3,200-ton CenTraVac™ chillers and one Trane 400-ton air cooled rotary chiller were installed to help the ballpark maintain the venue’s seventy-five degree average temperature requirement, as well as optimal ventilation and humidity levels. To remove heat from the ballpark, chilled water is piped to fifty air handling units, which service the entire facility. The air handlers are designed with energy recovery and variable frequency drives to monitor motor speed and load, helping to minimize energy consumption and maximize energy savings.

Controlling systems and costs

Variable-air-volume terminal units continuously monitor the amount of delivered airflow and communicate this information to the Trane Tracer Summit® building automation system (BAS). The BAS system provides integrated building control through a dedicated PC workstation. Building engineers use the BAS to program and manage the chillers and cooling towers to ensure that all systems are running efficiently to control energy costs and fan comfort.

Systems and services

• One 400-ton air cooled rotary chiller
• Two 3,200-ton Trane CenTraVac™ chillers
• Thirty-one dehumidification air handling units
• 358 BCHC blower coil units
• Thirty-nine variable-air-volume terminal units
• Trane Tracer Summit® building automation system

The Results

The new Marlins Park has received the prestigious honor of a LEED Gold certification, the first professional sports facility in the world with a retractable roof to be awarded this certification. Environmentally conscious construction practices met LEED requirements including a 52 percent reduction in water use, 98 percent recycled construction waste and 50.9 percent recycled building materials content, with 48 percent of the materials used during the construction obtained within 500 miles of the jobsite. The energy efficient Trane HVAC solutions helped the ballpark achieve the LEED energy efficiency credits necessary for certification.

“This was really a collective effort,” said Delorme. “It wasn’t the Miami Marlins saying we want a green building. It was everyone—the community, the owners, the construction firm—all stepping forward wanting to be a part of it, with benefits for everyone.” With the retractable roof and the reliable Trane HVAC system with Tracer Summit BAS, the environment at the ballpark is always sunny, cool and comfortable for local fans and visitors. Rainouts and rain delays have been eliminated and fans are assured that games will start on time.