The Amsterdam ArenA has its eyes set on the sun. Workers will begin installing 4,200 solar panels on its rooftop, which will generate approximately 930,000 kWh of electricity.

“At an earlier stage, the Amsterdam ArenA had already decided in favor of sustainable district heating and cooling,” said Henk Markerink, CEO of the Amsterdam ArenA. “Recently, a contract was signed for Dutch wind power, linked to the Oudendijk wind farm through Nuon. The installation of the solar panels is an important and logical next step towards the realization of a net climate neutral stadium by 2015.”

Covering 7,000 square meters (75,347 square feet), the panels will be placed on the non-moving parts of the stadium’s roof along the entire circumference above the rain gutter. It’s expected that the panels will prevent the emission of 430 tons of CO2.

The installation places the stadium among the top three “solar stadiums,” along with the Stade de Suisse in Bern and the Bentegodi Stadium in Verona.

(photo credit: Jonas Hansel via photopin cc)

The Starlight Avatar, a new “autoluminescent” plant, is the latest effort in exploring organic lighting as an alternative to traditional electric sources. The current plant variety developed by the St. Louis research company Bioglow has a lifespan of two-to-three months and is for indoor use. The website for Bioglow mentions that progress in improving the strength of the light emitted from their plants is being made, moving them closer to their mission of developing “novel ornamental plant varieties and green alternatives to electricity-consuming light sources.”

Maybe not yet ready to be integrated into the guest experience and landscaping at venues, but the possibilities are not hard to imagine.

On January 31, the first 20 plants will be available through an auction.

(Image: Bioglow)

Congratulations to MetLife Stadium and its food service partner, Delaware North Companies Sportservice, for being the first stadium in the world to earn a Certified Green Restaurant designation.

The stadium and its partner had to meet 61 different environmental measures, and some of their accomplishments include all waste kitchen oil converted to biodiesel fuel, donating all leftover food, and all polystyrene foam containers eliminated.

“We are so proud to be certified by the Green Restaurant Association,” said William Lohr, Sportservice general manager. “MetLife has been a great partner working toward the green certification. Earning this certification coupled with becoming ISO 14001 certified means that we can proudly say we are serving up the Greenest Super Bowl ever.”

MetLife Stadium will play host to the 2014 NFL Super Bowl on February 2.

(photo credit: picturesofyou- via photopin cc)

I remember going to events years ago and coming home smelling like cigarette smoke. Now, I only smell like my natural body odor because most places ban smoking inside. And a reaction to that ban—along with a growing concern for a healthier lifestyle—has seen the rise of the electronic cigarette (e-cig).

If you’re not familiar with an e-cig, it’s a device that simulates smoking a real cigarette by vaporizing a liquid solution. Some solutions have nicotine in them, while others are just flavored (e.g., cherry, coffee, mint, etc.). The solution’s ingredients are a concern for some non-smokers. The fear is that they are or can be just as harmful to the body as regular cigarette smoke.

This debate has created some great conversations about managing e-cig use in venues.

“Venues should allow e-cigs to be used inside. E-cigs are the future, and the future is now,” said Carl Rasmussen, a Dallas-based supporter of e-cigs. “Companies should encourage safe alternatives to traditional cigarette consumption for their attendees by openly accepting more people for profits while minding their choice to be healthier. It’s a win-win.”

For the Allen Event Center in Texas, e-cigs were initially not allowed under its non-smoking policy.

“As we received push back, we began to look into it and stated that the current no e-cig policy was a temporary policy as we researched the e-cigs, reviewed the FDA’s opinion, and internally reviewed if they fell under any current city ordinances,” said IAVM member David Angeles, interim general manager at the center, on VenueNet. “That bought us time, but in the end our attorney let us know that current ordinances don’t prohibit them. We were told the city could look to create an ordinance, but in our opinion, it was premature to do so since they are so new and the FDA and the e-cig companies are still jockeying in the courts (at least they were earlier in 2013). Creating a building policy allowing or prohibiting was up to us.”

Angeles said that the center chose to allow them to show its openness.

“And [we] began to document complaints about e-cig use that we could potentially use as support if we saw a need to create a building policy to not allow the e-cigs,” Angeles said. “Surprisingly, we have had little to no complaints regarding them, and the number of actual users are small.”

For most venues, e-cig policies may not even matter when it comes to attracting guests.

“E-cig policies wouldn’t stray my decision to attend a particular venue,” Rasmussen said. “I still have a strong vaping etiquette from my cigarette days, and I’m fine with going outside with the others to take a vape.”

What’s your opinion on e-cigs? How should venues police their use? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

(photo credit: pixelblume via photopin cc)

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