Energy efficient scoreboard takes the field

Safeco Field reduced electricity usage 17 percent since 2006.

Safeco Field’s 10-year-old scoreboard in left field was comprised of incandescent bulbs, required a cooling system that was in operation 24-hours a day, and used 1.2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually. In February, Safeco Field began deconstructingit to replace it with a more energy efficient scoreboard.

At more than 99-feet wide, the new light emitting diode (LED) board will be approximately the same size as the old scoreboard and have greater image resolution, but will use 90 percent less energy than its predecessor. Given the improved quality and “significant impact in energy cost savings” the board will provide, the upfront investment was “an easy call to make,” says Seattle Mariners’ director of public information Rebecca Hale.

The need to replace the outdated scoreboard gave the organization an opportunity to boost its larger sustainability effort, which also includes a food waste recycling program and an energy conservation program (due to be rolled out in April). The scoreboard upgrade will not be pushed in any specific marketing campaigns, Hale says. The decision was made simply “because it was the right thing to do.”

Efficient LED bulbs are more reliable and longer lasting than incandescent lights, so another replacement board may not be needed for many years to come. The team will not disclose the cost of the new scoreboard and says that the amount it will save on energy bills is not yet known. The new board did qualify for an energy-efficient rebate from Seattle City Light.

Installation at Safeco Field is underway and the board should be fully wired and operational by mid-March, allowing just enough time to test it before the Seattle Mariners’ first home game of the season.

Other sports stadiums that have invested in energy-efficiency upgrades include Portland’s Rose Garden and Washington, DC’s Verizon Center.