New initiative will bring leadership tools and recognition to sports teams and leagues in the global race for climate action, resiliency, and justice.  

PORTLAND, Ore., April 19, 2021 –  Today, the Green Sports Alliance and Arc, a technology company owned by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), announced the Playing for the Next Generation campaign (“PLAY”). Through PLAY, GSA and Arc will collaborate in harnessing the transformative power of sports through the launch of a new program to drive global climate action and environmental leadership.

“The Green Sports Alliance is excited to launch PLAY at this important inflection point in green sports,” said Scott Jenkins, Co-Founder and Board Chair of GSA. “In our first ten years, we mobilized a movement; but in the next ten, we must leverage our collective influence and data to protect the communities and industry that we’ve dedicated our lives to. Our partnership with Arc allows us to quickly deliver vital tools and technologies tailored to the unique needs of our members and greater network.”

A 300-plus member trade organization, GSA plans to bring PLAY to the greater sports community in late 2021.  PLAY will guide global venues, teams, leagues, and conferences to benchmark environmental performance across priority metrics, map improvement pathways through individual and aggregate gap analysis reports, and power organizational journeys to “net-zero” through a series of sponsorable fan engagements and public celebrations.

“PLAY will allow us to deliver new sector-specific offerings that will not only add substantial value for sports organizations at all levels but will engage whole communities and inspire the next generation of fans, athletes, and leaders,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO of Arc, GBCI and USGBC, the creators of the pioneering LEED rating system. “With a growing portfolio of hundreds of LEED certified sporting facilities around the world, we are excited to work with the GSA and help activate this powerful and highly visible cultural platform.”

Supporting partners include longtime GSA member leagues including Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Soccer (MLS), and the Pacific-12 (Pac-12) Conference, as well as premier sports venues including, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, Mercedes-Benz Stadium (home to the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United), and Lumen Field (home to the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders).

PLAY will immediately incentivize and celebrate progress towards net-zero carbon, zero waste, and water positive initiatives, and will also roll out additional leadership categories over the first two years of programming to include sustainable food and nutrition, transportation, and environmental justice. In addition to proprietary recognitions, PLAY will serve as an optional onramp to LEED certification and other sports-specific, third-party certifying bodies.

Sports organizations can visit www.arcskoru.com/PLAY to learn more about PLAY and register to receive updates about product development and campaign launch.

About Green Sports Alliance

The Green Sports Alliance leverages the cultural and market influence of sports to promote healthy, sustainable communities where people live and play. The GSA inspires professional sports leagues, sports governing bodies, colleges, teams, venues, their partners and millions of fans to embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling, water efficiency, safer chemicals and other environmentally preferable practices. Visit greensportsalliance.org for more information.

About Arc

Arc is a technology company that is owned by Green Business Certification Inc. Arc believes that performance is the future of green building and helps users achieve green building certification, improve individual building sustainability, manage complex portfolios and transform cities and communities. Over 20,000 projects from around the world are using the platform to track and improve their data, covering more than 4.6 billion square feet of space in 130 countries, and impacting 9.71 million building occupants.

About Pac-12 Team Green

Pac-12 Team Green, a first-of-its-kind in collegiate athletics, promotes all of the greening and sustainability efforts taking place on and around the Pac-12 Conference and all 12 of its member universities. Elements include the annual Pac-12 Sustainability Conference, the Pac-12 Zero Waste Competition and the Pac-12 Sustainability Working Group.