North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Athletics Named 2024 Front Office Sports Most Sustainable Award Winner
7/23/2024 10:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics, Sustainable Wolfpack
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State Athletics has been named the winner of Front Office Sports' 2024 Most Sustainable Award, as announced by the organization on Tuesday morning.
The recognition, which is sponsored by both Front Office Sports and Sports Innovation Lab, is given to the athletics department that best makes a commitment to the global need for climate action and more sustainable solutions. The award measures sustainable initiatives such as limiting energy and water use, implementing recycling programs, LEED Certifications, an organization-wide investment in sustainability, and the measurement and tracking of these efforts to showcase longterm impact and success.
"NC State Athletics is thrilled to be recognized with this award," said Justin Lisk, who is NC State Athletics Assistant AD for Fan Experience and Marketing. "Our sustainability efforts over the past several years have truly been a team effort with buy-in from the top down.
"Our partnership with sustainably-minded individuals on campus has helped us form strategies to improve our impact on the environment. We will continue implementing and educating our fan base and community on these initiatives to help positively shape the way Wolfpack Nation views the importance of sustainability for years to come."
To limit energy consumption, NC State Athletics has upgraded many of its facilities to LED lighting, including Carter-Finley Stadium, Doak Field, the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center, Dail Basketball Center, Weisiger-Brown Athletics Building, and the batting cages at Doak Field and Dail Softball Field. The athletics department has also installed energy-saving motion sensors and partnered with the turf and grounds crews to implement the use of battery-powered maintenance equipment to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.
The Close-King Indoor Football Practice Facility, Reynolds Coliseum and the Carol Johnson Poole Golf Clubhouse have all achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at the Silver Level from the US Green Building Council.
Wolfpack Athletics has also limited water consumption at a number of its facilities, providing water bottle filling stations for fans at Carter-Finley Stadium and Reynolds Coliseum. Irrigation systems at Lonnie Poole Golf Course, Carter-Finley Stadium and Doak Field all follow sustainable practices to reduce water usage.
The Wolfpack has also emphasized department-wide recycling and compost efforts. In 2019, NC State opened its own compost processing facility to provide a closed-loop organic waste management system for campus. All of the compostable materials collected on football game days are taken to the NC State Compost Facility and Research Cooperative and processed into a nutrient-rich soil amendment used in research, campus landscapes and at the campus agroecology farm.
In 2015, NC State called fans to action with the sustainability effort titled Zero Waste Wolfpack, which is a recycling initiative driven by student interns and volunteers. In five years, the Pack diverted 85,604 pounds of compostable material and 422,694 pounds of recycling from landfill on football game days. The program has been honored with the 2019 Environmental Innovator of the Year Award from the Green Sports Alliance, 2018 City of Raleigh Environmental Award, and was the winner of the Waste Minimization Per Capita category in the 2021 GameDay Recycling Challenge.
NC State also worked with its apparel partner, Adidas, to use recycled materials in its uniforms. By 2023, all of the NC State football team's uniforms were made of recycled materials.
NC State University, which athletics is a part of, publishes an Annual Sustainability Report that shares progress toward the university's Sustainability Strategic Plan. In coordination with NC State's Sustainability Strategic Plan, NC State's emissions are tracked annually and have declined 23% since 2008.
"NC State Athletics is a longtime partner in campus sustainability efforts, and this award recognizes those significant contributions to wisely steward resources and improve efficiency," said Carla Davis, who is the Director of NC State's University Sustainability Office.
The recognition, which is sponsored by both Front Office Sports and Sports Innovation Lab, is given to the athletics department that best makes a commitment to the global need for climate action and more sustainable solutions. The award measures sustainable initiatives such as limiting energy and water use, implementing recycling programs, LEED Certifications, an organization-wide investment in sustainability, and the measurement and tracking of these efforts to showcase longterm impact and success.
"NC State Athletics is thrilled to be recognized with this award," said Justin Lisk, who is NC State Athletics Assistant AD for Fan Experience and Marketing. "Our sustainability efforts over the past several years have truly been a team effort with buy-in from the top down.
"Our partnership with sustainably-minded individuals on campus has helped us form strategies to improve our impact on the environment. We will continue implementing and educating our fan base and community on these initiatives to help positively shape the way Wolfpack Nation views the importance of sustainability for years to come."
To limit energy consumption, NC State Athletics has upgraded many of its facilities to LED lighting, including Carter-Finley Stadium, Doak Field, the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center, Dail Basketball Center, Weisiger-Brown Athletics Building, and the batting cages at Doak Field and Dail Softball Field. The athletics department has also installed energy-saving motion sensors and partnered with the turf and grounds crews to implement the use of battery-powered maintenance equipment to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.
The Close-King Indoor Football Practice Facility, Reynolds Coliseum and the Carol Johnson Poole Golf Clubhouse have all achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at the Silver Level from the US Green Building Council.
Wolfpack Athletics has also limited water consumption at a number of its facilities, providing water bottle filling stations for fans at Carter-Finley Stadium and Reynolds Coliseum. Irrigation systems at Lonnie Poole Golf Course, Carter-Finley Stadium and Doak Field all follow sustainable practices to reduce water usage.
The Wolfpack has also emphasized department-wide recycling and compost efforts. In 2019, NC State opened its own compost processing facility to provide a closed-loop organic waste management system for campus. All of the compostable materials collected on football game days are taken to the NC State Compost Facility and Research Cooperative and processed into a nutrient-rich soil amendment used in research, campus landscapes and at the campus agroecology farm.
In 2015, NC State called fans to action with the sustainability effort titled Zero Waste Wolfpack, which is a recycling initiative driven by student interns and volunteers. In five years, the Pack diverted 85,604 pounds of compostable material and 422,694 pounds of recycling from landfill on football game days. The program has been honored with the 2019 Environmental Innovator of the Year Award from the Green Sports Alliance, 2018 City of Raleigh Environmental Award, and was the winner of the Waste Minimization Per Capita category in the 2021 GameDay Recycling Challenge.
NC State also worked with its apparel partner, Adidas, to use recycled materials in its uniforms. By 2023, all of the NC State football team's uniforms were made of recycled materials.
NC State University, which athletics is a part of, publishes an Annual Sustainability Report that shares progress toward the university's Sustainability Strategic Plan. In coordination with NC State's Sustainability Strategic Plan, NC State's emissions are tracked annually and have declined 23% since 2008.
"NC State Athletics is a longtime partner in campus sustainability efforts, and this award recognizes those significant contributions to wisely steward resources and improve efficiency," said Carla Davis, who is the Director of NC State's University Sustainability Office.
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