Climate impact of the proposed CSU stadium
Overview
The proposed stadium is a major public project by CSU and is located in a city committed to rapidly reducing climate-related emissions. As such, it is important that all aspects of the proposed stadium be committed to meeting high expectations and standards for environmental sustainability and climate friendliness. At every stage, the project should exemplify a new understanding and comprehensive approach to sustainability, with full commitment to minimizing climate impact as the centerpiece.
Construction and operation of the proposed CSU stadium will have a significant climate impact. Design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed CSU stadium will result in significant consumption of direct and indirect energy, materials, and water, all of which have climate impacts. Careful analysis and planning is required to minimize and mitigate these impacts, and to avoid increased future costs from failing to address climate issues at the outset. Dealing with these issues now will improve the resilience of the structure to climate change, reduce long-term costs, possibly reduce longer-term facility insurance costs, and demonstrate that CSU and the City are serious about addressing climate change.
It is proposed that CSU and the City commit to a binding agreement that the proposed stadium will be "climate neutral" during construction and operations, will achieve LEED v4 Platinum certification upon completion, and be fully compliant with CSU's climate-related policies and the City’s Climate Action Plan, with costs of compliance incorporated into stadium finances and not passed on to CSU students, the City, or local taxpayers.
Discussion
Accurate assessment of the stadium's climate impact and adoption of robust mitigation strategies are necessary, not optional, to minimize climate impact and achieve compliance with current and evolving climate-related goals, policies, and standards. Accurate assessment and robust mitigation strategies are also necessary to ensure compliance and to avoid undermining CSU's climate-related policies and the City's Climate Action Plan (CAP).
Failure to adopt adequate climate-impact mitigation strategies at the outset will pose serious threats to climate-related policies and targets, and may shift future costs of mitigation resulting from the stadium onto Fort Collins residents and taxpayers to meet the City's CAP targets. While reliable cost estimates of climate impact mitigation have yet to be made, future cost will likely be tens of millions of dollars, a cost that should be borne entirely by stadium finances rather than by CSU students, the City, or local residents and taxpayers. Without adequate attention and resolution early on, climate impact will be an increasingly awkward and contentious political issue for the City and for CSU, possibly exacerbating other issues such as financial costs and liabilities.
To date, there has been no reliable assessment of the proposed stadium's climate impact. One "ballpark" analysis, extrapolated from calculation for a comparable stadium, guesstimated carbon emissions of approximately 90,000 metric tons (approx 100,000 tons) from constructing the main stadium. A more reliable determination of increased carbon emissions is needed, based on the actual stadium design and anticipated operations and maintenance, including assessment of net climate impact of significant alternatives, including renovation of Hughes stadium, so that options and projected costs will be considered & compared. Constructing a new stadium will also generate additional climate impact from removing or converting Hughes stadium to other uses.
To date, attention to reduction, minimization, and mitigation of the proposed stadium's climate impact has been cursory with only non-binding references to standards. In the IGA, CSU commits to "strive" to achieve LEED and "seeks to pursue a carbon neutral standard." However, these are non-binding statements, which are uncomfortably similar to greenwashing by Exxon and Haliburton. The IGA does not require that the stadium will meet specific standards for energy use, water, recycling, waste management etc, such as recognized in LEED through which large projects can be certified by the US Green Building Council. The IGA also contains no requirement to address broader climate impact. Lack of any firm requirement in the IGA for meeting specific climate-related goals, standards, and targets (such as established in the City's CAP) poses the real possibility that the cost of mitigating the stadium's climate impact will be borne by the City and local residents/taxpayers. Steps should be taken to ensure that neither the City or local taxpayers will end up bearing additional costs to meet CAP targets as a consequence of climate impact caused by the proposed stadium.
To ensure minimum climate impact from a new CSU stadium, plans and agreements must contain binding commitments for minimizing and mitigating climate impact. The result will be a stadium that is “climate neutral” in construction, operation, and maintenance and will ensure compliance with existing and anticipated future climate policies.
Proposal
Climate neutrality of a new CSU stadium can be achieved through a combination of the following:
- Investment in non-fossil fuel energy sources.
- Incorporation of minimum energy performance standards for efficient use of energy, materials, and water.
- Carbon offsets. Determination of equivalencies is an evolving field, and calculations should be based on best available information.
A program should be established to ensure that the CSU stadium is climate-neutral in relation to climate-related policies, including targets set by the City's Climate Action Plan, with the full cost of achieving climate neutrality borne by CSU with no additional climate-related costs transferred to the City or to local taxpayers. The program will have adequate institutional capacity and legal and financial authorities to enable achievement of its objectives. The program will be managed jointly by the City and CSU, under an agreement to be worked out. Program oversight and evaluation will be shared by the City and CSU.
The program should include mechanisms to:
Calculate the climate impact of the proposed new CSU, using state-of-the-art methods, for analysis in relation to climate-related policies, including the standards, targets and timeframe of the City's Climate Action Plan. Calculation of climate impact should also address removal or conversion of Hughes stadium. Calculation of climate impact should also anticipate effects of climate change on stadium operation. Net climate impact of alternative plans and designs will need to be calculated, to enable robust evaluation of options.
- Identify, assess, and recommend
options for minimization and mitigation of climate impact, in relation
to achieving climate neutrality and compliance with climate-related
policies. Minimization strategies should incorporate minimum energy
performance standards (MEPS), minimum water use and waste management
performance standards, and recycling/reuse.
- Calculate the
anticipated costs of options for minimization and mitigation of climate
impact needed to achieve climate neutrality, and assess and recommend
specific strategies whereby CSU can meet the financing requirement to
achieve climate neutrality, such as through grants, bonds, or by a
"'carbon tax" levied on construction and operation of the stadium. A
carbon tax would need to be calibrated to raise revenue in relation to
actual anticipated costs for minimization and mitigation of climate
impact. Plans for financing of minimization and mitigation need to be
ready prior to commencement of stadium construction, to enable rapid
start-up of minimization and mitigation actions. Strategies for
financing of minimization and mitigation need to ensure that neither CSU
students, the City or local taxpayers will bear costs of minimizing and
mitigating climate impact caused by the proposed stadium.
- Develop
investment proposals for mitigation of climate impact through specific
carbon offset projects, non-fossil fuel energy projects, and possibly
shifts in asset holdings from from fossil fuel-based assets to
non-fossil fuel-based assets.
- Monitor and evaluate the actual performance of climate-impact minimization and mitigation efforts undertaken; and recommend strategies and actions to improve the program's effectiveness. Monitor compliance with established targets and standards, and refer non-compliance problems to appropriate officials and authorities for enforcement.