The 2009 Georgia Tech women’s softball team has a new home, not only one that reflects school colors but also one that incorporates green. The 750+ seat Softball Complex, which includes overflow berm seating, was designed to provide a competitive advantage to the university as well as promote and advance its sustainability initiatives.

Atlanta-based Rosser International Inc. designed and engineered the Georgia Institute of Technology Women’s Softball Complex with a goal of achieving LEED Silver certification. If awarded, it will be the first LEED certified softball field in the United States. Georgia Tech currently has two LEED certified buildings on its campus.

As a leading sports architectural firm, Rosser included state-of-the-art satellite, communications and broadcast capabilities throughout the facility. This was done so the school could take full advantage of the revenue-generating opportunities as it hosts NCAA Regional and Super Regional Tournaments at its new venue. Rosser also designed and managed the completion of the team’s batting tunnels and practice facility while incorporating a plan for future complex development. In February 2009, the team relocated to their new home at the corner of 8th and Fowler Streets in the heart of the downtown campus.

The project incorporates a number of sustainable measures in six different categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resource, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation and Design. “The project team has designed a new facility that will provide Georgia Tech Athletics with an NCAA Championship facility for women’s softball that will attract top recruits while also being conscious of the environment and the finite resources of our world,” said Kristin Z. Wlazlo, AIA, NCARB, project manager at Rosser.

The new sports complex sits on what once was a parking lot. “Creating a usable space with sustainability initiatives creates a win-win-win situation,” said George Bushey, Rosser’s design director. To minimize the heat island effect, Rosser designers provided shade over walkways and incorporated connectivity and walk-ability to shops, services, bike routes and public transportation. More than 50 percent of the site area was restored with native landscape materials, and part of the landscape design utilizes drought resistant native plants to reduce watering requirements by 50 percent.

Long Engineering Inc. served as civil engineering consultant and developed the concept for a sophisticated stormwater management system, and construction manager Barton Malow developed the concept into a reality within an extremely tight budget. The system includes two underground corrugated metal pipe cisterns, oversized field drainage pipes and additional site drainage to collect and store stormwater. The field itself will be irrigated completely by capturing rainwater, site runoff and field drainage. “This strategy significantly reduces the impact storm water has on the city’s sewage conveyance system while at the same time conserves water and maintains the integrity of a championship field,” Wlazlo said.

The sustainable design experts didn’t stop there. Waterless urinals and low-flow fixtures and faucets are incorporated throughout the complex and will serve as a test site for Georgia Tech administrators to determine whether to include these fixtures in other campus projects. They also implemented measures that will translate into a minimum of 14 percent better performance in standard energy consumption and a zero use of hydroflurocarbons and halons in the HVAC and fire suppression systems.

In collaboration with Rosser, Barton Malow instituted a construction waste management program to maintain sustainability throughout the entire build process. By diverting construction waste materials, demolition and land clearing debris from landfills, the program exceeded LEED requirements and gained exemplary status. They even made sure to select materials within a 500-mile radius of the project to conserve fuel and reduce emissions during transportation to the site. Finally, 20 percent of the purchased materials are either postindustrial or post-consumer recycled content.

Rosser engineers also instituted measures to reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous and potentially harmful to the comfort and well-being of occupants and implemented a green housekeeping plan that will reduce exposure to occupants and maintenance personnel of potentially hazardous chemicals, biological and particle contaminants.

The overall design also promotes a connection between indoor and outdoor spaces through daylight views and will use both individual and multioccupant lighting and thermal controls.

The $5 million project was designed to accomplish Silver LEED status, but it has already exceeded several LEED thresholds giving it the potential to score even higher with the accrediting authority. The cistern design exceeds the credit requirements by 50 percent; the anticipated water consumption savings are projected at 40 percent; and the construction waste management program is well above 95 percent.

With the smell of popcorn in the air and nothing but blue skies overhead, as the women of the 2009 Georgia Tech softball team take to the field, home-team and visiting fans alike will know that Georgia Tech built a stadium that everyone can root for.

For more information on the Georgia Tech Softball Complex, visit ramblinwreck.cstv.com.