Let us tell the third story about Son Heung-min. This time it is the physical backdrop, the stadium. LA's BMO Stadium is not a mere soccer field. This 22,000-seat stadium, designed with eco-friendliness as its goal from its opening in 2018, is physical proof of sustainability. Unlike ordinary stadium construction, BMO Stadium applied an integrated design premised on obtaining LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification even before groundbreaking. LEED is the world's most widely recognized eco-friendly building certification system, provided by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The certification result, which reviews everything from a building's design, construction, and operation to maintenance, aims at improving the process of building and managing a building — energy saving, water saving, carbon-emission reduction, and the like. Certification is divided into four levels: Certified (40–49 points) → Silver (50–59 points) → Gold (60–79 points) → Platinum (80 points or more), and BMO Stadium obtained a Gold grade, higher than planned.
[A view of BMO Stadium © BMO Stadium]
LEED certification in the sports-facility field is even more demanding. This is because the attributes a building must have — accommodating large crowds, high energy consumption, complex infrastructure — conflict with eco-friendly design. Tom Penn, one of LAFC's owners, said at the time of the Gold-certification announcement, "From the early stages of the project, we were committed to building an environmentally friendly stadium," and "we strove to build a building that uses minimal resources while having no impact on the environment."
The Economic Virtuous Cycle That Sustainability Creates
The eco-friendly technologies of BMO Stadium, which thus received LEED Gold certification, are producing concrete results. The stadium, built as an eco-friendly building to the extent of being certifiable, reduced energy consumption by 30% and cut water consumption by 40%, saving more than 770,000 gallons of water annually. There is also a rainwater-recycling system. Turning LA's dry climate to advantage, it collects the rainwater from the occasional torrential downpour and uses it for the turf and landscaping. Behind the green turf that visitors see hides such invisible wisdom. It is also equipped with mechanical conditioning facilities that use refrigerants with a low global-warming index, and devices to mitigate the heat-island effect are designed through the rooftop design.
The reason BMO Stadium's eco-friendly operation is important is economic sustainability. The operating-cost-saving effect from introducing eco-friendly technologies is considerable. Where does the cost saved by the reduced 30% of energy consumption and 40% of water use go? It is reinvested straight into the LAFC Foundation's social-contribution programs. It becomes the financial foundation of the various regional-mutual-prosperity partnership programs confirmed in Part 2 of the Son Heung-min series.
This investment may also connect to long-term investment in preparation for the 2028 LA Olympics. Among the LA Olympics scheduled for 2028, BMO Stadium is to be used as a venue for soccer, lacrosse, and more. The International Olympic Committee has, since 2020, taken sustainability as a core criterion for hosting the Olympics. BMO Stadium's eco-friendly operation know-how is expected to contribute directly to the successful hosting of the 2028 Olympics as well.
As Son Heung-min joined LAFC, stadium-development officials from various Asian countries are said to have begun taking interest in BMO Stadium. The new stadium of Tottenham Hotspur, the English club Son Heung-min previously belonged to, also introduced eco-friendly technologies on a large scale, but BMO Stadium has a point of differentiation in that it was designed on the premise of sustainability from the start. The key is that it is a newly built stadium in which green-building principles were planted from the beginning, not a renovation of an existing facility. That it possesses measurable results is also an important point. The concrete operating-cost-saving effects and environmental-protection results prove that eco-friendliness is not mere marketing but real management efficiency.
[Son Heung-min at his debut match at BMO Stadium © LAFC]
440 Bicycles Changing LA's Daily Life
One of the scenes surrounding BMO Stadium is the bicycles lined up around the stadium on match days. It is a daily scene created by 440 bicycle parking spaces. LA in the US is one of the cities heavily dependent on cars. BMO Stadium is challenging this environment. From bike lanes to EV charging stations, it uses the stadium itself as a testing ground for sustainable mobility. In fact, 5% of the parking lot consists of EV charging stations, and 20% is equipped with EV-ready infrastructure. Also, as part of "My Figueroa," a community-regeneration and development project jointly pursued by the City of LA and LAFC, a bike lane leading to the stadium was created.
What is interesting is the fans' reaction. People who at first found it odd that one could come to the stadium by bicycle in LA now accept coming by bicycle as a match-watching culture. A new routine has even appeared of stopping by nearby restaurants on a bicycle before and after matches.
We should pay attention to the economic and cultural sustainability that BMO Stadium is realizing. A stadium that spent more money on eco-friendly technology at the initial investment stage reduces operating costs over the mid-to-long term and recovers its investment. More importantly, the saved money leads to community contribution and even raises brand value. It is a time when a new perspective of "eco-friendly = management efficiency" is needed, breaking out of the fixed notion of "eco-friendly = cost burden." The team Son Heung-min chose was not simply a good team but an organization preparing for the future. It is a point for domestic sports facilities, too, to reflect on whether they are preparing for the future with such a long-term outlook.
by Editor L