March 19, 2008 - The Pepsi Center - Colorado's largest sports arena and the site of the 2008 Democratic Convention - has invested in massive green retrofits, from giant air circulating fans in the building's roof to the Zamboni that cleans the hockey rink's ice. The facility has also become the first U.S. sports arena to buy enough renewable energy to offset 100% of its electricity use.

"There's a significant challenge in retrofitting a building this large, but these are the right things to do for the environment," says Dave Jolette, vice president of venue operations at Kroenke Sports, owner of the arena. "Even though this building is less than a decade old, it needed some large scale modifications to get things started."

Green upgrades include:

• Giant downdraft fans that re-circulate air trapped near the roof, reducing the amount of energy needed to heat the arena bowl
• A cardboard recycling baler expected to divert more than 100 tons of cardboard from landfill each year
• Mechanisms for recycling grease from the arena's food service operations
• Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in the arena's two Club Level restaurants, yielding a projected energy savings 37,241 KWh annually, or 25.71 metric tons of CO2
• Water-saving upgrades to outdoor toilets and kitchen sprayers
• 52 solar panels on the arena's Blue Sky Grill restaurant, providing electricity to the venue and saving 13,641 KWh
  annually, or 9.42 metric tons of CO2

Fans are being encouraged to get in on the green act. The Pepsi Center's new Play Clean program promotes recycling of plastic cups, bottles, and clean paper products. The arena is also promoting a voluntary "No Idling Zone" for cars in front of the building's box office.