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Considered as the most popular sport in Poland, football is more than a passion in the Eastern European country. It brings fans together and helps to reduce social isolation, especially in the most remote areas. The development of football infrastructure and the constant increase in numbers of the coaches in recent years, combined with the increased interest in football among young people, created the foundation upon which the Polish Football Federation (PZPN) was called to build its future strategy.

The Venezuela Football Federation (FVF) with the support of the FIFA Forward development programme, in line with the MA long-term strategy, decided to focus on the development of women’s football to increase the tremendous potential it can bring in Latin America. Through the Yara Women’s Technical Centre project, the objective is to improve all available infrastructure in a sustainable way and to provide the facilities with the latest and most innovative technologies.

The Atlanta Hawks have a competitive green streak that came out when they vied with the Miami HEAT to become the first NBA team with a LEED-certified home arena. For eight months, the Hawks worked hard to achieve LEED Certification for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (EBOM), and the team was awarded the LEED certification on April 7, 2009, becoming the first NBA arena in the world to achieve this certification for an existing facility. Today, many NBA arenas have achieved LEED certification including the Miami HEAT, the Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, and Portland Trail Blazers. To earn certification the arena invested in a variety of green improvements almost a decade after the building first opened. These upgrades included: HVAC, chiller, and lighting retrofits; reflective roof materials that reduce cooling needs; and water conservation measures such as low-flow bathroom fixtures that have cut water usage by 2 million gallons.

The Toyota Center and Houston Rockets had environmental responsibility on their radar even before the arena opened in 2003. “We started before we got into the building. We have always been very environmentally conscious at the Toyota Center—it’s always been a part of how we operate,” says Sarah Joseph, director of community relations at the Rockets. The push towards operational efficiency and eventually pursuing LEED certification stems from their green-minded owner, Leslie Alexander. “Environmental responsibility is extremely important to Mr. Alexander,” says Scott Manley, director of event operations at Toyota Center. The Toyota Center was the fourth NBA arena to receive LEED certification, earning LEED Silver for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance in 2010. “Applying for LEED was done on a voluntary basis, so we looked at that as an opportunity to take a leadership role,” says Manley.

In October 2010, the Amway Center became the first LEED Gold–certified designed and constructed professional basketball arena in North America. Today it remains the only NBA arena to be awarded LEED Gold certification within the New Construction standard. The arena uses approximately 25 percent less energy and 40 percent less water than arenas of similar size and type, saving the team hundreds of thousands of dollars each year—including close to $700,000 annually in energy costs alone. As a sports industry leader in advanced green building approaches for venue construction, the Amway Center is a local and national role model for efficiency and environmental stewardship. The Magic have worked hard to spread the green message embodied in their arena to fans nationwide, including through their role as hosts of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.

When Target Field received its LEED Silver New Construction (NC) certification shortly after opening in 2010—at the time, it was only the second ballpark in the U.S. to receive LEED certification—the U.S. Green Building Council called it the “Greenest Ballpark in America.” But the Twins didn’t stop there: The stadium went on to earn LEED Silver for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (EBOM) the following year.

The Cleveland Indians are among the sports industry vanguard in the installation of onsite renewable energy, among many other greening accomplishments. Their stadium, Progressive Field, was among the first major sports venues in North America to install onsite solar, during the summer of 2007, and the Indians were the first American League baseball team to do so. In 2012 Progressive Field also became the first Major League Baseball stadium to install a wind turbine. While the Indians’ greening work was kick-started by impressive cost savings from their expanded recycling program, it quickly spread to onsite renewables and environmentally preferable purchasing. The Indians also have several green projects on the horizon, with plans in the works for a 4,000-square-foot green roof and solar thermal technology.

In the sports greening space, the Trail Blazers are true to their name as industry leaders in green building and making a business case for environmentally intelligent operations. In January 2010 the Rose Garden Arena became the first professional sports arena in the United States (and in the world) to achieve LEED Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Existing Buildings standard. Three years later, the Blazers are still achieving incremental resource savings in energy, water and waste each year that continue to greatly benefit the team’s bottom line. To date the Blazers have saved close to $500,000 in pure profit after recovering their up-front green investments in full.

STAPLES Center in downtown Los Angeles is undoubtedly one of the busiest arenas in the world, hosting more than 250 events and nearly 4 million guests each year. The arena is home to four professional sports franchises—the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, the NHL’s 2012 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks—and also hosts many high-profile events, including the annual X Games and Grammy Awards. Other notable events include the 2004 and 2011 NBA All-Star Weekends, the 2002 NHL All-Star Game, the 2000 Democratic National Convention, and the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships. Since the arena opened in 1999, STAPLES Center’s operations team has aimed to run it as efficiently as possible. With the help of AEG, STAPLES Center has become a leader in environmentally better practices, boasting a 1,727-panel solar array atop its roof; high-efficiency lighting, equipment, and energy management systems; and waterless urinals, among other initiatives. AEG and STAPLES Center developed an environmental management system (EMS) to guide employees in reducing the environmental impact of STAPLES Center’s daily operations. As a result, the STAPLES Center became the first U.S. arena to receive an ISO 14001 certification in 2010.

The Seattle Mariners have been leading the environmental charge in stadium operations ever since Scott Jenkins, vice president of ballpark operations, joined the team midseason in 2006 and immediately set out to make the stadium’s operations more efficient. Since then, the Mariners have saved nearly $1.5 million in energy costs, and Safeco Field boasts the lowest energy intensity of all the Major League Baseball stadiums that participate in EPA’s EnergyStar program. Jenkins and the Mariners are founding members of the Green Sports Alliance and have received numerous awards for Safeco Field’s environmental initiatives, including the Washington Green 50 Special Leadership Award given by Seattle Business magazine in 2011.