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March 27, 2024

Environmental Initiatives

March 2024: Greening The Games Capital Projects and an intro to LEED

As the 2025 Canada Games are less than 500 days out, projects, practices, and processes that prioritize environmental sustainability are coming to fruition. As these initiatives continue to fall in place, we will use this platform to highlight stories of the journey towards a Canada Games with unprecedented consideration for sustainability. 

One of the initatives the Games is managing is its environmental impact by ensuring that construction projects are not only contributing to the growth of athletics in the St. John’s region, but do so in a sustainable manner. The 2025 Canada Games is using renovation projects for Games infrastructure as opportunities to incite positive environmental impacts within the community. These are a few examples of how the Canada Games is using their capital projects to tie community benefits to environmental consideration. 

• A solar powered score clock will be installed at The Swilers Rugby Football Club, capitalizing on an abundant and renewable energy source.

• A tree planting project and the development of an improved drainage system will occur at Pippy Park.

• The Greenbelt Tennis Club has incorporated a geothermal heating infrastructure within its design and planned construction. This will enable the early phases towards a transition from oil heating to geothermal heat pump (GHP) heating, drastically reducing CO2 emissions. 

• Beautification and natural regeneration planting projects will be carried out at The Caribou Complex, the MUN Campus, the NL Sports Centre, and the St. Pats Ball Park.

• The Aquarena will see several energy and water efficiency upgrades, as well as an initiative to improve air quality. 

• LED lighting is being installed in a minimum of nine different venues, enabling a long-term reduction in energy consumption.

• Several portable water stations are being installed at key venues, reducing the need for single-use bottles and eliminating the generation of plastic waste at various sites. A plan for these water stations will be developed post-Games for continued waste elimination. 

• The Fortis Canada Games Complex is designed in effort to achieve LEED Silver Certification LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the world's most widely used green building rating system. Receiving a silver certification ensures the building operates with resource efficiency, sustainable construction methods, environmental considerations for location and transportation, and more.

Stay tuned for future stories about the 2025 Canada Games’ commitment to sustainability.