How Green is Our New Sports Field
Photo Credit: Jonathan Rausseo
I just got this letter from our partners at LOOP TECHNOLOGIES. They were the group that helped us with our new Sports Field; specifically, making sure that there is a hefty does of sustainability involved. I thought that I would share it with you. The depths to which they are willing to go to make sure that we made the best choice for the environment are ... well they are simply fantastic.
"We want to share some interesting sustainability information with you regarding the Matt Anthony Field Replacement project. L.M.L chose to ship the new turf rolls from Atlanta, Georgia to Montreal, Quebec via rail, rather than truck. Using standard emissions factors produced by the US EPA, we can estimate the CO2 emissions of various methods of freight transportation.
We used the following assumptions to determine the approximate CO2 produced for both rail and truck transportation:
Assumptions:
- Freight Distance (truck or rail): 1,200 miles (1,920 kms)
- Weight of shipment (as per L.M.L shipping documentation): 20,000 lbs (9,090 kgs)
Results:
As the graph below illustrates, shipping the turf rolls by rail rather than by truck decreased the resulting carbon emissions by a factor of roughly 10. Shipping by truck would produce approximately 3575 kg of COs, while shipping by rail produces approximately 305 kg of CO2.
If this type of information is useful, we would be happy to discuss opportunities to produce similar data for other University of Ottawa programs moving forward through Halsall or our sister company, Loop Initiatives, who you have already met with. Please let us know if you would like to discuss this further. I would be happy to set up a meeting with ourselves, or with Loop."Thanks to the people who made this project green.
-jon
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